Starting with the 1997-1998 school year, the Direct Instruction Reading/Language Arts Program was implemented in three elementary schools in a northwest urban public school system as a 3-year pilot study to improve the academic performance of at-risk students. Direct Instruction (DI) is aimed at providing effective learning for low-achieving elementary school students from disadvantaged backgrounds. DI was first implemented in 1968 at the University of Oregon in Eugene as part of Project Follow Through. Although the national evaluation of Project Follow Through favors the DI model in terms of both short- and long-term program effects, the findings from DI programs implemented across the United States are not always consistent. This study examines DI program effects on the reading ability of urban elementary school students at three grade levels who had been in the program for 2 consecutive years. Subjects were 93 fourth graders, 71 fifth graders, and 81 sixth graders. The evaluation reveals mixed findings. Performance of sixth grade DI schools was lower than that of sixth graders in control schools. (Contains 4 tables, 3 figures, and 22 references.) (SLD)