WWC review of this study

The Enhanced Reading Opportunities study final report: The impact of supplemental literacy courses for struggling ninth-grade readers [Analysis of RAAL] (NCEE 2010-4021).

Somers, M. A., Corrin, W., Sepanik, S., Salinger, T., Levin, J., & Zmach, C. (2010). Washington, DC: National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance. . Retrieved from: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED511811

  • Randomized Controlled Trial
     examining 
    2,563
     Students
    , grade
    9

Reviewed: February 2018

No statistically significant positive
findings
Meets WWC standards without reservations
Literacy Achievement outcomes—Indeterminate effect found for the domain
Outcome
measure
Comparison Period Sample Intervention
mean
Comparison
mean
Significant? Improvement
    index
Evidence
tier

Credit Accumulation English Language Arts (ELA)

Reading Apprenticeship Academic Literacy (RAAL) vs. Business as usual

0 Days

Full sample;
2,563 students

18.80

18.10

No

--

Credit Accumulation English Language Arts (ELA)

Reading Apprenticeship Academic Literacy (RAAL) vs. Business as usual

1 Year

Full sample;
2,212 students

40.20

39.50

No

--

State test scores English Language Arts (ELA)

Reading Apprenticeship Academic Literacy (RAAL) vs. Business as usual

1 Year

Full sample;
1,140 students

0.00

-0.03

No

--


Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.

Characteristics of study sample as reported by study author.


  • Urban

Setting

Ninth-grade classrooms were nested within high schools located predominantly in large and midsize cities. All schools enrolled more than 1,000 students in grades 9 through 12, averaging 1,685 students per school. Thirty-eight percent of the students in the participating schools were eligible for Title I services and that 47% of the students were approved for free or reduced-price lunch.

Study sample

The study sample consisted of ninth-grade students reading one to five years below grade level. Other sample characteristics are not reported.

Intervention Group

The RAAL program aimed to improve student's skills by: "(1) student motivation and engagement; (2) reading fluency, or the ability to read quickly, accurately, and with appropriate expression; (3) vocabulary, or word knowledge; (4) comprehension, or making meaning from text; (5) phonics and phonemic awareness (for students who could still benefit from instruction in these areas); and (6) writing." In addition to improving general literacy skills the program also target improving content literacy (e.g., modeling, and explaining context-specific strategies that are most applicable in English, science, and social studies texts. RAAL is a year-long course that replaces a ninth-graders elective course (i.e., supplement to their regular ELA classes).

Comparison Group

Rather that attending the RAAL supplemental class, students randomly assigned to the comparison condition attended their school’s regularly offered elective classes.

Support for implementation

RAAL teachers attended a summer training institute held prior to each year of implementation. In addition, they attended two 2-day booster training sessions each year. Onsite support is also provided by the RAAL developers through instructional coaching visits to the schools.

Reviewed: February 2016

Meets WWC standards without reservations


Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.

Study sample characteristics were not reported.
 

Your export should download shortly as a zip archive.

This download will include data files for study and findings review data and a data dictionary.

Connect With the WWC

loading
back to top