Year One Evaluation Report/Impact Study: Illinois Striving Readers [Passport Reading Journeys vs. business as usual]
Dimitrov, Dimiter; Jurich, Sonia; Frye, Michael; Lammert, Jill; Sayko, Sarah; Taylor, Laura (2012). RMC Research Corporation. Retrieved from: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED600855
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examining514Students, grade9
Practice Guide
Review Details
Reviewed: September 2021
- Practice Guide (findings for Passport Reading Journeys)
- Randomized Controlled Trial
- 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.
Findings
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Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
Evidence tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Gates-MacGinitie Reading Tests (GMRT): Total |
Passport Reading Journeys vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Full sample;
|
517.10 |
517.16 |
No |
-- | |
|
Grade 9 EXPLORE |
Passport Reading Journeys vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Full sample;
|
11.99 |
12.34 |
No |
-- |
Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.
Sample Characteristics
Characteristics of study sample as reported by study author.
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Female: 43%
Male: 57% -
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Illinois
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Race Black 58% Other or unknown 12% White 30% -
Ethnicity Hispanic 5% Not Hispanic or Latino 95%
Study Details
Setting
The study was conducted in six high schools across four school districts in the state of Illinois. All schools were eligible for Title I and had not made or were at-risk of not making adequate yearly progress requirements per the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. The population examined in the study is ninth graders reading below grade level.
Study sample
At randomization the students were mostly African American (58 percent) followed by White (30 percent), Hispanic (5 percent) and other (7 percent). Most students were male (56.7 percent). The majority of students were eligible for free and reduced priced lunch (84.7 percent) and a few were in special education (17.6 percent).
Intervention Group
The study examined the effectiveness of a reading intervention for students struggling with reading. The Passport Reading Journeys program is comprised of ten lessons. Instructors are expected to cover each lesson over a 50-minute period or two shortened lessons over a 90-minute period. Lessons five and 10 are intended to re-teach or expand the information provided in previous lessons and could take two days to cover. Therefore, the entire program is expected to be completed in 12 days. The schools participating in the study implemented the lessons in a classroom setting using the 90-minute period. Six full-time reading implementation teachers were hired to implement the program. Each reading implementation teacher taught three to five Passport Reading Journeys Program classes and remained with their classes throughout the entire school year.
Comparison Group
The students in the comparison condition enrolled in elective classes that were not related to a reading supplemental intervention. The comparison group participated in their elective class while the treatment group received the Passport Reading Journeys program.
Support for implementation
The Passport Reading Journeys program developer provided teachers with professional development and support, which included: an initial training, online product training, coursework on adolescent literacy, and ongoing consultation. The initial training included two eight-hour sessions covering how to deliver the intervention with fidelity. The developer also provided individual support to teachers via trained experts who visited each school to observe how the program was implemented.
An indicator of the effect of the intervention, the improvement index can be interpreted as the expected change in percentile rank for an average comparison group student if that student had received the intervention.
For more, please see the WWC Glossary entry for improvement index.
An outcome is the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that are attained as a result of an activity. An outcome measures is an instrument, device, or method that provides data on the outcome.
A finding that is included in the effectiveness rating. Excluded findings may include subgroups and subscales.
The sample on which the analysis was conducted.
The group to which the intervention group is compared, which may include a different intervention, business as usual, or no services.
The timing of the post-intervention outcome measure.
The number of students included in the analysis.
The mean score of students in the intervention group.
The mean score of students in the comparison group.
The WWC considers a finding to be statistically significant if the likelihood that the finding is due to chance alone, rather than a real difference, is less than five percent.
The WWC reviews studies for WWC products, Department of Education grant competitions, and IES performance measures.
The name and version of the document used to guide the review of the study.
The version of the WWC design standards used to guide the review of the study.
The result of the WWC assessment of the study. The rating is based on the strength of evidence of the effectiveness of the intervention. Studies are given a rating of Meets WWC Design Standards without Reservations, Meets WWC Design Standards with Reservations, or >Does Not Meet WWC Design Standards.
A related publication that was reviewed alongside the main study of interest.
Study findings for this report.
Based on the direction, magnitude, and statistical significance of the findings within a domain, the WWC characterizes the findings from a study as one of the following: statistically significant positive effects, substantively important positive effects, indeterminate effects, substantively important negative effects, and statistically significant negative effects. For more, please see the WWC Handbook.
The WWC may review studies for multiple purposes, including different reports and re-reviews using updated standards. Each WWC review of this study is listed in the dropdown. Details on any review may be accessed by making a selection from the drop down list.
Tier 1 Strong indicates strong evidence of effectiveness,
Tier 2 Moderate indicates moderate evidence of effectiveness, and
Tier 3 Promising indicates promising evidence of effectiveness,
as defined in the
non-regulatory guidance for ESSA
and the regulations for ED discretionary grants (EDGAR Part 77).