Any educational product can hire an evaluator, pre and
post test people, and come up with some "reliable and
validated" results. Evaluators make a lot of money
doing this, and they can usually find something that
improves. I would not use a product just because the
company was able to create that sort of data. 

Whatever their "data" says, I think "Hooked on
Phonics" is a terrible, terrible product. I have known
many students who purchased it, and all of them were
damaged by it. This company preyed on the shame that
many nonreaders have. The idea of learning to read
privately, without having to let anyone know that you
can't read, has great appeal. So they have made a lot
of money.

The product takes them through the materials, which I
do not believe are based in any real research or
theory (it's just a gimmick). Students can go through
the materials successfully, but when they get to the
end, they can't read at all. It hurts students because
they blame themselves, not the HOP product. They think
"well of course it didn't work. i am not capable of
learning to read."

I don't know any professionals, not even the
staunchest advocates of pure phonics instruction, who
think this is a good product. 

from Bruce Carmel
(Forgive me for dropping my credential but I do have a
PhD in Applied Linguistic-Literacy:))


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