A study examined the effects of different teacher styles on one variable related to classroom learning production. Subjects, 34 first grade middle- and lower-middle income students in a Catholic school matched by ability and randomly assigned to either an authoritarian, systematic, ordered, and controlling teacher or to a "laissez faire" teacher, were timed as they completed 20 computer-based reading instruction lessons. Results indicated that high-ability students in the less structured classroom were working at a lower rate than their ability would suggest and that this effect was not observed in the highly structured classroom. Findings suggest that teaching style affects the lesson completion rate of elementary students using computer-based lessons. (Three figures and two tables of data are included.) (RS)