The "Direct Instructional System for Teaching Reading" (DISTAR) is a highly structured, synthetic method of teaching reading that was developed to provide beginning and remedial reading instruction to primary school children who have had difficulty learning from other materials. To determine DISTAR's effectiveness as a teaching method, the 77 Bridgeport, Connecticut, teachers who used DISTAR were asked to complete an evaluative questionnaire. The responses from the 58 teachers completing the questionnaire were analyzed and compared to similar surveys of Chicago teachers using DISTAR. A summary of the findings showed that the Bridgeport teachers and their students liked using DISTAR, that DISTAR taught word attack skills better than it taught comprehension skills, that a teacher aide was necessary when using DISTAR, that DISTAR was an effective teaching method for all types of learners (especially slow and average learners), and that DISTAR enhanced attention span without stifling student creativity. The teachers expressed the need to improve DISTAR in several ways, including greater emphasis on comprehension skills, the addition of supplementary materials, and the revision of one of the DISTAR programs (DISTAR 111). (A copy of the questionnaire is attached.) (RL)