The Iowa Assessment of Skills and Knowledge for Automatic Word Recognition and Decoding (iASK)

During Phase I (completed in 2014), a prototype app was developed, consisting of a login screen, a back-end database, a library with over 800 items such as words, sound-files, and pictures, and a set of word matching activities. Pilot research with 59 middle school students demonstrated that the prototype operated as intended, and that students enjoyed and were able to successfully complete each of the word matching tasks in the time allotted. In Phase II of the project, the team will design additional activities, and fully develop the back-end assessment system and teacher dashboard. After the development phase is complete, a larger pilot study will assess the feasibility and usability, fidelity of implementation, and the promise of the app for promoting students' word recognition and reading comprehension. The researchers will collect data from 200 middle school students who struggle to read. Half of the students will be randomly assigned to use the app while the other half of students will use a paper-based exercise. Analyses will compare pre-and-post scores of student's vocabulary and reading comprehension.