WWC review of this study

Striving Readers Study: Targeted & Whole-School Interventions -- Year 5 [READ 180 vs. business as usual]

Meisch, Allison; Hamilton, Jennifer; Chen, Eva; Quintanilla, Priscilla; Fong, Pauline; Gray-Adams, Karen; Petta, Ian; Thornton, Nancy (2011). Westat. Retrieved from: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED601086

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

Reviewed: September 2021

No statistically significant positive
findings
Meets WWC standards without reservations
Measures of general reading proficiency and English Language Arts outcomes—Indeterminate effect found for the domain
Outcome
measure
Comparison Period Sample Intervention
mean
Comparison
mean
Significant? Improvement
    index
Evidence
tier

Stanford Achievement Test-10 (SAT-10)

READ 180® vs. Business as usual

3 Years

Full sample - 3 years of exposure to READ 180;
1,023 students

623.15

621.53

No

--
Show Supplemental Findings

Stanford Achievement Test-10 (SAT-10)

READ 180® vs. Business as usual

2 Years

Full sample - 2 years of READ 180 exposure;
1,520 students

611.23

611.28

No

--

Stanford Achievement Test-10 (SAT-10)

READ 180® vs. Business as usual

1 Year

Full sample - 1 year of READ 180 exposure;
2,555 students

599.10

597.88

No

--
Reading 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) - reading comprehension subtest

READ 180® vs. Business as usual

3 Years

Full sample - 3 years of exposure to READ 180;
1,023 students

641.74

641.17

No

--
Show Supplemental Findings

Stanford Achievement Test 10th edition (SAT-10) - reading comprehension subtest

READ 180® vs. Business as usual

2 Years

Full sample - 2 years of READ 180 exposure;
1,520 students

624.44

622.58

No

--

Stanford Achievement Test 10th edition (SAT-10) - reading comprehension subtest

READ 180® vs. Business as usual

1 Year

Full sample - 1 year of READ 180 exposure;
2,555 students

610.24

608.46

No

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

Stanford Achievement Test, Version 10--Reading Vocabulary, subset of inference items

READ 180® vs. Business as usual

3 Years

Full sample - 3 years of exposure to READ 180;
1,023 students

642.91

642.97

No

--
Show Supplemental Findings

Stanford Achievement Test, Version 10--Reading Vocabulary, subset of inference items

READ 180® vs. Business as usual

1 Year

Full sample - 1 year of READ 180 exposure;
2,555 students

614.76

611.77

No

--

Stanford Achievement Test, Version 10--Reading Vocabulary, subset of inference items

READ 180® vs. Business as usual

2 Years

Full sample - 2 years of READ 180 exposure;
1,520 students

629.83

629.48

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.


  • 8% English language learners

  • Female: 43%
    Male: 57%

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    New Jersey
  • Race
    Black
    55%
    Other or unknown
    45%
  • Ethnicity
    Hispanic    
    43%
    Not Hispanic or Latino    
    57%

Setting

The study was conducted in 19 public middle schools in Newark, New Jersey. Initially, there were 20 middle schools participating in the study but two merged after randomization.

Study sample

The majority of students were Black (55%) and over 43% of students were Hispanic. The sample was roughly equally split between students in grades 6, 7, and 8, with a slightly larger proportion of students in grade 6. Fifty-seven percent of the sample was male, and 43% was female. Forty-two percent were in special education, 8% were English learners, and 58% were eligible for free or reduced-priced lunch.

Intervention Group

The study examined the effectiveness of a reading intervention for students struggling with reading. The intervention group received the READ 180® curriculum. The intervention sessions included five parts totaling 90 minutes each: 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 between 1 and 3 years.

Comparison Group

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

Support for implementation

Teachers received 1 to 3 days of large-group training. Classroom support was provided to teachers 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 a 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.

 

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