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READ 180 is a reading program designed for students in elementary through high school whose reading achievement is below the proficient level. The goal of READ 180 is to address gaps in students’ skills through the use of a computer program, literature, and direct instruction in reading skills. The software component of the program aims to track and adapt to each student’s progress. In addition to the computer program, the READ 180 program includes workbooks designed to address reading comprehension skills, paperback books for independent reading, and audiobooks with corresponding CDs for modeled reading.
No studies of READ 180 that fall within the scope of the Adolescent Literacy (AL) review protocol meet What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) evidence standards,2 but seven studies meet WWC evidence standards with reservations. The seven studies included 10,638 students, ranging from grade 4 to grade 9, who attended elementary, middle, and high schools in Arizona, California, Florida, New York, Ohio, Texas, and Virginia.3
Based on these seven studies, the WWC considers the extent of evidence for READ 180 on adolescent learners to be medium to large for comprehension and general literacy achievement. No studies that meet WWC evidence standards with or without reservations examined the effectiveness of READ 180 on adolescent learners in the alphabetics or reading fluency domains.
READ 180 was found to have potentially positive effects on comprehension and general literacy achievement for adolescent learners.
| Alphabetics | Reading fluency | Comprehension | General literacy achievement |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rating of effectiveness | na | na | Potentially positive effects |
Potentially positive effects |
| Improvement index4 | na na |
na na |
Average: +4 percentile points Range: –22 to +25 percentile points |
Average: +12 percentile points Range: +3 to +17 percentile points |
| na = not applicable | ||||
|Institute of Education Sciences
Adolescent Literacy