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Project CRISS Reading Program and Grade 9 Reading Achievement in Rural High SchoolsProject CRISS Reading Program and Grade 9 Reading Achievement in Rural High Schools

Regional need and study purpose. Achieving reading proficiency in the early high school years, especially among poor and minority students, is a high priority. This study tests the effectiveness of Project CRISS (Creating Independence through Student-owned Strategies), a professional development intervention for high school teachers of core subjects.

Intervention description. Teachers are taught how to apply research-based learning strategies to content and curricular materials in core content areas.

Study design and period. With random assignment at the school level, this cluster randomized trial allows for an accurate assessment of effects on students while controlling for school-level factors. The sample comprises about 5,000 students in 52 rural and small town high schools. The study period is 2006–10.

Key outcomes and measures. The study uses the Stanford Diagnostic Reading Test, 4th edition to measure student comprehension in recreational reading, informational reading, and reading text from everyday situations.

Data collection approach. Student data collection for the study will occur during the 2008/09 school year (cohort 1) and 2009/10 school year (cohort 2). Results from the combined cohorts (26 treatment/26 control) will be analyzed, and an impact analysis will be completed in 2010.

Analysis plan. Outcome data will be subjected to analyses that make appropriate corrections for the nesting of students within schools to infer whether there are statistically significant program effects on students.

Principal investigators. Jim Kushman, PhD, Regional Education Laboratory Northwest.

Additional Information. Region, contact information, and references

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