WWC Quick Review of the Report "Evaluation of the Kansas City CDF
Freedom Schools® Initiative"1
Features of CDF Freedom Schools®
Summer educational program hosted by churches in predominantly African-American communities
Staffed by college interns who have participated in a training program
Focuses on reading using culturally appropriate literature
Encourages parental and community involvement
What is this study about? This study examined whether Children’s Defense Fund (CDF) Freedom Schools® improve students’ reading assessment scores.
More than 3,000 kindergarten through eighth grade students in Kansas City, Kansas and Kansas City, Missouri participated in the study. These children attended one of 18 Kansas City churches that hosted the CDF Freedom Schools® during the summers of 2005 through 2007.
The study examined data from standardized reading assessments that were collected during the first and last week of each summer session.
The study examined changes in reading assessment scores separately for 2,638 students who participated in the CDF Freedom Schools® program and for 508 students who did not participate in the program.
WWC Rating
The research described in this report is not consistent with WWC evidence standards
Cautions: The study examined test score changes for students who participated in the CDF Freedom Schools® program and for students who did not. The study does not provide evidence that these two research groups were initially equivalent. It is possible that there were differences between the two groups that could have influenced their reading scores. For example, students who chose to participate in the program may have been more academically motivated than those who chose not to participate. Because these two groups of students may be different from each other in ways that are not controlled for in the analysis, the difference in achievement score gains between the two groups cannot be attributed with confidence to the effect of the program.
What did the study authors report?
The study reported higher gains in reading assessment scores for students who participated in the CDF Freedom Schools® program than for students who did not participate.
The WWC does not consider these results to be conclusive because there is no evidence that the research groups were equivalent initially. The reported differences between the groups might reflect differences in the students that are not related to the CDF Freedom Schools® program.
1Philliber Research Associates. (2008).
Evaluation of the Kansas City CDF Freedom Schools Initiative. Accord, NY: Author.
WWC quick reviews are based on the evidence published in the report cited and rely on effect sizes and significance levels as reported by study authors. WWC does not confirm study authors’ findings or contact authors for additional information about the study. The WWC rating refers only to the results summarized above and not necessarily to all results presented in the study.
|Institute of Education Sciences