I just got an email sent to a list for school principals that says:

Do you use READING-PROGRAM as an intervention program/supplemental program and have you found it to be successful? Do you like it and is it worth the cost??

This, I think, is how people who make decisions in and about schools get their information. They ask their friends. The question wasn't "Does anyone know of any evidence that this program DOES SOMETHING GOOD?" The question is "Do you like it?"