Effectiveness

Findings

The WWC review of beginning reading addresses student outcomes in four domains: alphabetics, reading fluency, comprehension, and general reading achievement. ⁵ The single Little Books study reviewed in this intervention report (Phillips et al., 1990) addresses student outcomes in the general reading achievement domain. ⁶

General reading achievement. On the Metropolitan Readiness Test, Phillips et al. (1990) found a statistically significant effect for all three treatment groups (home only, school only, and home and school) compared to the comparison group. These effects were substantively important but not statistically significant, according to WWC criteria (effect sizes of at least 0.25). The single study reviewed for this report had a strong design and was categorized as having potentially positive effects on general reading achievement.

Rating of effectiveness

The WWC rates the effects of an intervention in a given outcome domain as: positive, potentially positive, mixed, no discernible effects, potentially negative, or negative. The rating of effectiveness takes into account four factors: the quality of the research design, the statistical significance of the findings,⁶ the size of the difference between participants in the intervention and the comparison conditions, and the consistency in findings across studies (see the WWC Intervention Rating Scheme).