1. A method of teaching reading skills to a student utilizing a computer based training program on a computer, the computer having components to implement the training program, comprising: a monitor screen to present instructions, audio component to provide audible instructions, and an interactive component to allow the student to respond to instructions, the method comprising: conducting, via the computer based training, a comprehensive assessment to determine the student's reading ability, wherein the comprehensive assessment comprises a tutorial stage, a practice stage and a test stage to assign an individualized training program to the student; said tutorial stage comprising a multi-stepped and graphically engaging set of instructions for explaining both the purpose and mechanics of a task; said practice stage comprises a criteria for demonstrating understanding of said task; said test stage comprises assessment materials corresponding to different grade levels; wherein the individualized training program is designed to be appropriate for the student based upon the student's grade level and level of intervention; creating the individualized training program based on the comprehensive assessment; implementing the individualized training program via the computer, the individualized training program comprising a series of training streams including: a series of phonemic awareness exercises; a series of reading comprehension exercises; a series of reading subskill exercises, said subskill exercises including at least a visual matching of a combination of letters having at least one vowel and at least one consonant; said computer based training program continually monitoring the student's progress whereby intervention in the practice and testing stages is automatically and selectively introduced to improve skill mastery; said intervention is introduced based on a precondition, wherein said precondition is satisfied when the student fails to satisfy mastery criteria of a particular task after one or more trials; said intervention comprises at least four or more of the following: an accelerating component, wherein said accelerating component is initiated to automatically move the student to the next skill level when the student demonstrates mastery in said particular task, a reviewing component, wherein said reviewing component is initiated to review the tutorial and practice stages when the student struggles with said particular task, a modifying component, wherein said modifying component is initiated to modify mastery criteria when the student struggles with said particular task, a recessing component, wherein said recessing component is initiated to present an alternative activity when the student struggles with said particular task, and a notifying component, wherein said notifying component is initiated to notify a teacher when the student demonstrates inability to master a particular skill despite prior interventions; and the computers records the student's performance, wherein said performance comprises percentage correct score, average response time, time spent on task, training starting date and training conclusion date.