Reading Mastery is a basal reading program which is aligned to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) uses the Direct Instruction Method to help students master essential decoding and comprehension skills. Through the program, students engage in phonemic awareness, letter-sound correspondence, sounding out of words, word recognition, vocabulary, oral reading fluency and reading comprehension. The curriculum emphasizes on instructing students in critical thinking skills and allowing students to acquire background knowledge. Students engage in lessons through carefully constructed instructional steps as they are learning new content, practicing through guided instruction and individualized practice and applying of skills learned through each lesson. Reading Mastery provides a specially designed with special font orthography which is used as a foundation to the curriculum and then gradually phased out and replaced with traditional orthography. Students are continuously assessed throughout the program and additional remedial exercises are provided throughout the curriculum to help guide and allow students to master the key concepts covered in each lesson.