|
|
Read, Write & Type!™ Learning System is a software program with supporting materials designed to teach beginning reading skills by emphasizing writing as a way to learn to read. The program was developed for six- to nine-year-old students who are just beginning to read and for students who are struggling readers and writers. The main goal of Read, Write & Type!™ is to help students develop an awareness of the 40 English phonemes and the ability to associate each phoneme with a letter or a combination of letters and a finger stroke on the keyboard. Other goals of the program include identifying phonemes in words and fluency in sounding out, typing, and reading regularly spelled words.
One study of Read, Write & Type!™ met the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) evidence standards. The study included 150 students from first grade in five elementary schools. 1
The WWC considers the extent of evidence for Read, Write & Type!™ to be small for alphabetics and comprehension. No studies that met WWC standards with or without reservations addressed fluency or general reading achievement.
Based on the one study, Read, Write & Type!™ was found to have potentially positive effects on alphabetics and no discernible effects on comprehension. Findings on fluency and general reading achievement were not reported in the study.
| Alphabetics | Fluency | Comprehension | General reading achievement | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rating of effectiveness | Potentially positive effects | na | No discernible effects | na |
| Improvement index2 | Average: +8 percentile points Range: –10 to +29 percentile points |
na | Average: +3 percentile points Range: –2 to +15 percentile points |
na |
| na = not applicable | ||||
|Institute of Education Sciences
