At least one finding shows strong evidence of effectiveness
At least one statistically significant positive finding
Meets WWC standards without reservations
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IES Performance Measure (findings for READ 180)
Rating:
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Meets WWC standards without reservations
because it is a randomized controlled trial with low attrition.
This review may not reflect the full body of research evidence for this intervention.
Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.
Characteristics of study sample as reported by study author.
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Wisconsin
Setting
The study takes place in a classroom setting in five Title I schools in the Milwaukee Public Schools in Milwaukee, WI.
Study sample
The schools participating in this study were all Title 1 schools, and the percentage of enrolled students at these schools who were eligible for Free/Reduced Price Lunch ranged from 67% to 95%. The percentage of ELL students at these schools ranged from <1% to 35%.
Intervention Group
READ 180 is a comprehensive reading intervention program designed to address individual student needs through adaptive instructional software, high-interest literature, and direct instruction in reading and writing skills. The READ 180 classes lasted for 90 minutes each day. Student were expected to remain in the intervention for a minimum of one year.
Using a structured instructional model, each class begins with 20 minutes of whole-group instruction, then students break into three small groups and rotate through the activities of small-group instruction, instructional software, and modeled and independent reading (20 minutes in each activity). Class ends with a 10 minute whole-group wrap-up to reflect on what was learned that day. During whole-group and small-group instruction, the primary text students use is an rBook, which is an interactive work text that is organized into nine topical workshops. READ 180 also provides teachers with a variety of assessment tools, including the Scholastic Achievement Manager (SAM) Time-on-Task Report, skills Test Reports, Scholastic Reading Inventory (SRI) Reports, and Reading Counts! Reports.
Comparison Group
READ 180 is a supplemental reading intervention, so students in both conditions were enrolled in a regular English and Language Arts (ELA) class. In addition to this ELA class, students in the comparison condition participated in a nonreading elective or study hall (during the time in which the Intervention group received READ 180).
Support for implementation
The program provided several professional development activities as resources for implementing the program. Scholastic provides start-up and READ 180 implementation training. In Year 1, new READ 180 intervention teachers were required to participate in three days of READ 180 start-up trainings. (In addition to teacher, building administrators also were required to attend a half-day orientation for the READ 180 during Year 1.) Teachers also were expected to participate in ongoing professional development sessions to learn about how to implement specific aspects of the curriculum as well as best practices in literacy and data analysis; these were delivered through online courses by Scholastic. Teachers also were required to participate in monthly roundtable sessions. Carroll University offered graduate-level coursework related to this program: teachers who did not have a reading teaching license could use to earn credits toward their reading license and teachers who had this license could receive credits toward a specialist license. Finally, teachers mentoring from more experienced teachers and coaches. A coach from Scholastic would conduct observations and provide feedback for READ 180 teachers on a monthly basis. The MPS project coordinator would also would observe classes and provide feedback, as would District Identified for Improvement (DIFI) supervisors, literacy coaches, or experienced READ 180 teachers.