Project CRISS Reading Program and Grade 9 Reading Achievement in Rural High Schools
Study design
Unlike past studies conducted by the developer, this study is being conducted by an independent party. It tests for effects on grade 9 students in schools that are randomly selected into either a Project CRISS treatment group or a non-Project CRISS control group. Random assignment means that schools have a 50/50 chance of being selected into the treatment group or control group. This method provides a more scientifically rigorous study of Project CRISS effectiveness than previous developer studies. This study of approximately 5,000 students in more than 50 high schools will add to the knowledge base of Project CRISS effectiveness and of adolescent reading strategies more generally.
A sample of 52 schools (26 treatment/26 control) has been recruited from rural and small town high schools (with 50 to 1,000 students) in northern California, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming. Schools were randomly assigned to a treatment or control group defined by state (six states) and high or low poverty census area (two groups). Because the intervention works to help all core content teachers apply and collaborate on schoolwide reading comprehension strategies, random assignment occurs at the school level. With a sample size of 52 schools, the study has the statistical power to detect an effect as low as 0.21 standard deviation units.
The design is a cluster randomized trial. Such a design allows for an accurate assessment of effects on students while controlling for any school-level factors that could bias the estimates of student effectiveness. The unit of assignment is the school, and the primary unit of analysis is the student. Students are nested within schools, but not within a teacher or classroom, because each high school student will receive the CRISS treatment from several teachers across core subject classes. Outcome measures will be taken on two occasions: at a baseline period (fall) and after students have been fully exposed to Project CRISS teaching strategies (spring).
In the treatment schools teachers will receive intensive Project CRISS training during year 1 and follow-up services during year 2. In treatment year 2—by which time teachers should understand the principles and mechanics of Project CRISS strategies and be implementing them in the classroom—grade 9 students will be tested in the fall and spring on reading comprehension. To induce schools to participate in a study requiring random assignment, control schools will be offered the Project CRISS intervention two years later.