WWC review of this study

Striving Readers study: Targeted and whole-school interventions—year 5.

Meisch, A., Hamilton, J., Chen, E., Quintanilla, P., Fong, P., Gray-Adams, K., ...Thornton, N. (2011). Rockville, MD: Westat.

  • Randomized Controlled Trial
     examining 
    1,023
     Students
    , grades
    6-8

Reviewed: November 2016

At least one statistically significant positive finding
Meets WWC standards with reservations
Comprehension outcomes—Indeterminate effect found for the domain
Outcome
measure
Comparison Period Sample Intervention
mean
Comparison
mean
Significant? Improvement
    index
Evidence
tier

Stanford Achievement Test, 10th Edition (SAT-10)

READ 180® vs. Business as usual

3 Years

Full sample;
1,023 students

641.74

640.33

No

--

Stanford 10 Vocabulary

READ 180® vs. Business as usual

3 Years

Full sample;
1,023 students

642.91

641.47

No

--
Show Supplemental Findings

Stanford Achievement Test, 10th Edition (SAT-10)

READ 180® vs. Business as usual

2 Years

Male, 2 years of exposure;
854 students

622.40

617.19

No

--

Stanford 10 Vocabulary

READ 180® vs. Business as usual

2 Years

Hispanic or Latino, 2 years of exposure;
657 students

630.89

625.89

No

--

Stanford Achievement Test, 10th Edition (SAT-10)

READ 180® vs. Business as usual

2 Years

Full sample;
1,520 students

624.44

620.85

No

--

Stanford Achievement Test, 10th Edition (SAT-10)

READ 180® vs. Business as usual

2 Years

African American, 2 years of exposure;
827 students

625.28

621.30

No

--

Stanford Achievement Test, 10th Edition (SAT-10)

READ 180® vs. Business as usual

3 Years

Male, 3 years of exposure;
587 students

641.26

638.07

No

--

Stanford Achievement Test, 10th Edition (SAT-10)

READ 180® vs. Business as usual

1 Year

African American, 1 year of exposure;
1,445 students

610.26

607.77

No

--

Stanford Achievement Test, 10th Edition (SAT-10)

READ 180® vs. Business as usual

3 Years

African American, 3 years of exposure;
550 students

640.80

638.14

No

--

Stanford 10 Vocabulary

READ 180® vs. Business as usual

1 Year

Hispanic or Latino, 1 year of exposure;
1,061 students

615.33

612.51

No

--

Stanford 10 Vocabulary

READ 180® vs. Business as usual

2 Years

Male, 2 years of exposure;
854 students

629.57

626.69

No

--

Stanford 10 Vocabulary

READ 180® vs. Business as usual

3 Years

Male, 3 years of exposure;
587 students

643.75

641.01

No

--

Stanford Achievement Test, 10th Edition (SAT-10)

READ 180® vs. Business as usual

2 Years

Hispanic or Latino, 2 years of exposure;
657 students

623.43

621.54

No

--

Stanford Achievement Test, 10th Edition (SAT-10)

READ 180® vs. Business as usual

1 Year

Female, 1 year of exposure;
1,075 students

614.00

612.05

No

--

Stanford 10 Vocabulary

READ 180® vs. Business as usual

1 Year

Male, 1 year of exposure;
1,479 students

615.91

613.60

No

--

Stanford Achievement Test, 10th Edition (SAT-10)

READ 180® vs. Business as usual

1 Year

Full sample;
2,555 students

610.24

609.11

No

--

Stanford 10 Vocabulary

READ 180® vs. Business as usual

1 Year

Full sample;
2,555 students

614.76

613.37

No

--

Stanford 10 Vocabulary

READ 180® vs. Business as usual

2 Years

Full sample;
1,520 students

629.83

628.20

No

--

Stanford 10 Vocabulary

READ 180® vs. Business as usual

1 Year

African American, 1 year of exposure;
1,445 students

615.52

614.22

No

--

Stanford 10 Vocabulary

READ 180® vs. Business as usual

2 Years

African American, 2 years of exposure;
827 students

631.07

629.77

No

--

Stanford 10 Vocabulary

READ 180® vs. Business as usual

3 Years

African American, 3 years of exposure;
550 students

641.95

640.49

No

--

Stanford Achievement Test, 10th Edition (SAT-10)

READ 180® vs. Business as usual

1 Year

Hispanic or Latino, 1 year of exposure;
1,061 students

612.64

611.53

No

--

Stanford 10 Vocabulary

READ 180® vs. Business as usual

1 Year

Female, 1 year of exposure;
1,075 students

613.77

612.44

No

--

Stanford Achievement Test, 10th Edition (SAT-10)

READ 180® vs. Business as usual

2 Years

Female, 2 years of exposure;
665 students

626.81

625.73

No

--

Stanford Achievement Test, 10th Edition (SAT-10)

READ 180® vs. Business as usual

1 Year

Male, 1 year of exposure;
1,479 students

607.93

606.83

No

--

Stanford 10 Vocabulary

READ 180® vs. Business as usual

2 Years

Female, 2 years of exposure;
665 students

630.63

630.00

Yes

 
 
1

Stanford 10 Vocabulary

READ 180® vs. Business as usual

3 Years

Female, 3 years of exposure;
436 students

642.11

641.87

No

--

Stanford Achievement Test, 10th Edition (SAT-10)

READ 180® vs. Business as usual

3 Years

Female, 3 years of exposure;
436 students

642.36

643.80

No

--
Literacy Achievement outcomes—Indeterminate effect found for the domain
Outcome
measure
Comparison Period Sample Intervention
mean
Comparison
mean
Significant? Improvement
    index
Evidence
tier

Stanford 10 Language Arts

READ 180® vs. Business as usual

3 Years

Full sample;
1,023 students

623.15

621.48

No

--
Show Supplemental Findings

Stanford 10 Language Arts

READ 180® vs. Business as usual

2 Years

Hispanic or Latino, 2 years of exposure;
657 students

612.77

609.28

No

--

Stanford 10 Language Arts

READ 180® vs. Business as usual

2 Years

African American, 2 years of exposure;
827 students

611.09

608.82

No

--

Stanford 10 Language Arts

READ 180® vs. Business as usual

3 Years

African American, 3 years of exposure;
550 students

623.17

620.64

No

--

Stanford 10 Language Arts

READ 180® vs. Business as usual

2 Years

Male, 2 years of exposure;
854 students

607.02

604.59

No

--

Stanford 10 Language Arts

READ 180® vs. Business as usual

3 Years

Male, 3 years of exposure;
587 students

619.88

617.57

No

--

Stanford 10 Language Arts

READ 180® vs. Business as usual

2 Years

Full sample;
1,520 students

611.23

609.12

No

--

Stanford 10 Language Arts

READ 180® vs. Business as usual

1 Year

African American, 1 year of exposure;
1,445 students

599.35

597.63

No

--

Stanford 10 Language Arts

READ 180® vs. Business as usual

1 Year

Female, 1 year of exposure;
1,075 students

605.11

603.00

No

--

Stanford 10 Language Arts

READ 180® vs. Business as usual

1 Year

Full sample;
2,555 students

599.10

598.40

No

--

Stanford 10 Language Arts

READ 180® vs. Business as usual

3 Years

Female, 3 years of exposure;
436 students

627.32

626.67

No

--

Stanford 10 Language Arts

READ 180® vs. Business as usual

1 Year

Hispanic or Latino, 1 year of exposure;
1,061 students

599.36

599.61

No

--

Stanford 10 Language Arts

READ 180® vs. Business as usual

2 Years

Female, 2 years of exposure ;
665 students

616.60

616.60

No

--

Stanford 10 Language Arts

READ 180® vs. Business as usual

1 Year

Male, 1 year of exposure;
1,479 students

595.12

594.96

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
    • B
    • A
    • C
    • D
    • E
    • F
    • G
    • I
    • H
    • J
    • K
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    • P
    • M
    • N
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    • Q
    • R
    • S
    • V
    • U
    • T
    • W
    • X
    • Z
    • Y
    • a
    • h
    • i
    • b
    • d
    • e
    • f
    • c
    • g
    • j
    • k
    • l
    • m
    • n
    • o
    • p
    • q
    • r
    • s
    • t
    • u
    • x
    • w
    • y

    New Jersey
  • Race
    Black
    58%
  • Ethnicity
    Hispanic    
    41%
    Not Hispanic or Latino    
    59%

Setting

The study took place in 20 public middle schools (19 after two schools merged) in Newark, New Jersey.

Study sample

The schools were selected based on several eligibility criteria: being Title I eligible, not already using READ 180®, serving at least two of the three middle school grades (6, 7, and 8), being categorized as “in need of improvement” under the No Child Left Behind Act, and serving a minimum of 25 eligible students. Schools were grouped into blocks based on the number of eligible students, the number of years the school had been identified as “in need of improvement”, the number of eligible students whose home language was not English, and the number of eligible students with an Individualized Education Program (IEP). Schools were then randomly assigned within each block to intervention and comparison groups. This cluster randomized controlled trial included 20 schools at randomization in May 2006, 19 after two comparison schools merged. For the outcomes measured in the analysis, the number of students varied, with larger numbers having 1 year of exposure (1,305 intervention, 1,255 comparison), somewhat fewer having 2 years of exposure (814 intervention, 706 comparison), and even fewer with 3 years exposure (552 intervention, 471 comparison). Students were eligible for READ 180® if they scored one standard deviation or more below the norm on the New Jersey Assessment of Skills and Knowledge (NJASK) reading subtest. The majority of students were African American (ranging from 51% in Year 5 to 58% in Year 1) and over 40% of students were Hispanic (ranging from 41% in Year 1 to 45% in Year 5). The sample was roughly equally split between students in grades 6, 7, and 8, with a slightly larger proportion of students in grade 6.

Intervention Group

Eligible students were assigned to classes of 21 students or fewer. READ 180® was implemented in classrooms as a replacement to the regular curriculum. The instructional model for READ 180® included five parts, totaling 90 minutes, which included whole-group instruction and small-group instruction with equally sized groups. Each 90-minute session included 20 minutes of whole-group instruction, 20 minutes of small-group instruction in reading comprehension strategies, 20 minutes of independent reading, 20 minutes of software use, and 10 minutes of whole-group wrap-up. Instruction lasted 1 to 3 years.

Comparison Group

Students in the business-as-usual comparison condition received the regular language arts curriculum.

Support for implementation

Professional development was provided to teachers of the READ 180® curriculum and their supporting staff. For teachers, this included 1 to 3 days of large-group training. Classroom support was provided by five Resource Teacher Coordinators (RTCs), who were teacher’s aides. RTCs also attended the teacher training. Technology coordinators for the READ 180® software provided support for technical issues encountered by the teachers. These technology coordinators had half day of training in Years 1 and 2. Finally, principals of READ 180® schools received 2 hours of training in Years 1 and 2.

In the case of multiple manuscripts that report on one study, the WWC selects one manuscript as the primary citation and lists other manuscripts that describe the study as additional sources.

  • Carr, M., Daft, J., Ek, P., Falk-Smith, A., Fong, P., Hamilton, J., … Thornton, N. (2010). Striving Readers study: Targeted and whole-school interventions—Year 3. Rockville, MD: Westat.

  • Hamilton, J., Gray-Adams, K., Meisch, A., & Petta, A. (2009). Striving Readers study: Targeted and whole school interventions—Year 2. Rockville, MD: Westat.

  • Hamilton, J., Meisch, A., Chen, E., Quintanilla, P., Fong, P., Gray-Adams, K., …Thornton, N. (2011). Striving Readers study: Targeted and whole school interventions—Year 4. Rockville, MD: Westat.

  • Hamilton, J., Meisch, A., Gray-Adams, K., Petta, I., & Chen, E. (2010). Evaluation of the Striving Readers program in Newark, New Jersey. Rockville, MD: Westat.

Reviewed: March 2016

Does not meet WWC standards


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.
 

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