WWC review of this study

U.S. Department of Education Grant Performance Report (ED-524B): CSR Colorado

N/A (2015). U.S. Department of Education.

  • Randomized Controlled Trial
     examining 
    6,146
     Students
    , grades
    7-8

Reviewed: January 2017

No statistically significant positive
findings
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

Gates-MacGinitie Reading Tests (GMRT): Total

Collaborative Strategic Reading (CSR) vs. Business as usual

1 Year

Full sample;
5,660 students

96.80

94.70

No

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

TCAP Reading Test

Collaborative Strategic Reading (CSR) vs. Business as usual

1 Year

Full sample;
6,146 students

617.20

607.10

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.


  • Female: 49%
    Male: 51%

  • Urban
    • B
    • A
    • C
    • D
    • E
    • F
    • G
    • I
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    • Z
    • Y
    • a
    • h
    • i
    • b
    • d
    • e
    • f
    • c
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    • j
    • k
    • l
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    • y

    Colorado
  • Race
    Black
    11%
    White
    19%
  • Ethnicity
    Hispanic    
    62%
    Not Hispanic or Latino    
    38%

Setting

This study took place in 18 schools in the Denver, Colorado area.

Study sample

In the intervention group, 52.7% of the students were male. In the comparison group, 49.3% of the students were male. In the intervention group, 21.5% of the students were White, 11.4% of the students were Black, and 59.9% of the students were Hispanic. In the comparison group, 16.3% of the students were White, 10.5% of the students were Black, and 65% of the students were Hispanic. In the intervention group, 66.5% of the students had free lunch status and 6.6% of the students had reduced price lunch status. In the comparison group, 73.5% of the students had free lunch status and 6% of the students had reduced price lunch status.

Intervention Group

Collaborative Strategic Reading (CSR) in a reading program focused on improving discipline-specific reading achievement. In this study, CSR was implemented in science and social studies classrooms in Denver Public Schools. There was extensive professional development, a focus on ELL students, and a parent outreach component. The project website indicates that the program includes the following: "students work together in collaborative groups to read text and apply comprehension strategies to better understand science, social studies and language arts content. CSR includes methods of monitoring comprehension, reviewing and synthesizing information, asking and answering questions, and taking steps to improve understanding." In this study, the professional development and research assistance were provided by SRI, Denver Public Schools and the University of Colorado at Boulder (CU Boulder). Padres y Jovenes Unidos, a Denver-based parent advocacy organization, provided the parent engagement activities. The evaluation report describes an extensive implementation study for both the CSR and the parent outreach components of the intervention, but detail is sparse with regard to the actual content of the CSR intervention and the specifics of the parent outreach activities.

Comparison Group

The students in the comparison condition did not receive the intervention. There is no information provided by the authors on what the comparison condition received. These students presumably received the typical social studies and science curricula in their schools. There is some indication that students in the first two randomized cohorts may have received some intervention elements because participating teachers taught both intervention and comparison classes.

Support for implementation

To ensure that the teachers used the procedures for teaching CSR effectively, initial and ongoing professional development, observation and feedback coaching sessions, peer teacher leader modeling and implementation problem solving, and coach check-ins were provided. The authors report that the cost per student for this project was $2600.

 

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