Authors of skills management systems may have misinterpreted and misapplied Benjamin Bloom's theory of mastery learning in developing their systems for teaching reading. Skills management procedures are inconsistent with Bloom's theory in the areas of management, learning tasks, skills hierarchy, and instructional methods. In addition, the four elements in teaching a skill--cues, reinforcement, participation, and feedback/correctives--are not systematically used in any management system that has been developed thus far. New instructional programs are needed that conform more closely to the mastery learning theoretical model, emphasizing the individual learner's style and pace of knowledge acquisition, if a true test of Bloom's theory is to be applied to the teaching of reading. (AEA)