The evaluation of the Voyager Universal Literacy System[R] was designed to provide a rigorous assessment of the effectiveness of the program with beginning readers. Using a quasi-experimental design, researchers conducted a systematic evaluation of changes in 398 kindergarten students' command of early reading skills in 4 Voyager and 4 comparison schools in 2 inner-city districts in 8 months from 2002 and 2003. The study provides strong evidence of the efficacy of the Voyager program. Overall and for 3 out of the 4 pairs of schools examined, a large and significant difference was found in favor of the Voyager students. Effect sizes of the program ranged from 0.23 to 1.32 in 7 test instruments. In addition, the average scores of Voyager students at the end of kindergarten were largely around the national average, whereas those of comparison students remained below the national average. Using analysis of covariance models, the study found that the Voyager program has statistically significant positive impacts on student achievement in 6 out of 7 assessments. It also shows that the greater the fidelity of the implemented program to the Voyager plan, the larger the gains in literacy scores.