A Summary of READ 180Effectiveness Research

Table of Contents

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

Council of City Schools (2000–2001) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

Los Angeles Unified School District CA (2000–2001) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

Department of Defense Schoools (1999–2000) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

Des Moines Independent Community School District, IA (2000–2005)) . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

Clark County School District, NV (2004–2005) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11

Fairfax County Public Schools, VA (2002–2003) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13

Iredell-Statesville Schools, NC (2002–2003) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17

Central Consolidated School District, NM (2002–2003) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19

Job Corps, CA (2002–2003) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21

New York City Public Schools, NY (2001–2002) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22

Phoenix Union High School District, AZ (2003–2006) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24

Introduction

READ 180® has been the subject of continuous scientific research since its inception. The original prototype was tested with thousands of students in the Orange County Literacy Project in Orlando,Florida. Since its publication in 1999, READ 180 has been studied in research projects with the Councilof Great City Schools, Los Angeles Unified School District, The Department of Defense Schools, DesMoines Independent Community School District in Iowa, Clark County School District in Nevada, FairfaxCounty Public Schools in Virginia, Iredell-Statesville Schools in North Carolina, Central ConsolidatedSchool District in Shiprock, New Mexico, the SIA Tech Job Corps centers in California, New York CitySchools, and Phoenix Union High School District. The research results are consistent across these sites:students in upper elementary classrooms through young adult programs reveal significant growth on multiple measures of reading comprehension. For those sites where comparison groups are available,the performance for students in the READ 180 program is significantly greater than the performance forthe comparison group. Furthermore, READ 180 results reveal significant and consistent findings acrosssubgroups including English-Language Learners (ELL), students receiving special education services(SPED), African-American students, and Native American students.

The following summary of research provides a short review of each study followed by a few of the keyfindings. Additional results that are not provided in this review and full reports of those summaries thatare included can be found on the Scholastic READ 180 Web site at http://teacher.scholastic.com/products/read180 and in the “Compendium of READ 180 Research”, also available on the ScholasticREAD 180 Web site.

The Scholastic Research and Validation Department is committed to the ongoing evaluation of READ 180. Current partnerships include five gold standard research studies. Four of these studiesreceived funding in 2006 from the United States Department of Education through the Striving Readersinitiative. These sites include: 1.) Memphis City Schools in Tennessee, 2.) Newark Public Schools in NewJersey, 3.) Springfield & Chicopee School Districts in Massachusetts, and 4.) The Ohio Department ofYouth Correctional Facilities in collaboration with the Ohio State Department of Education. The fifth goldstandard research study received funding through the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute forEducation Sciences (IES) and is designed to evaluate READ 180 in an after school setting.

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Council of Great City Schools(Boston, Houston, Dallas, Columbus)

During the 2000–2001 school year Scholastic Inc., in collaboration with The Council of Great CitySchools, recruited multiple districts to conduct an evaluation of the effects of READ 180 on readingachievement for low performing students in middle school. Scholastic Inc. contracted with a third-partyresearch company, Interactive Inc., to monitor and evaluate implementation and performance across allparticipating districts. Each district recruited two middle schools to establish two READ 180 classroomsserving a total of 120 students (four classes of 15 students in each of the two classrooms). Across allREAD 180 students in the three districts that provided Interactive Inc. with test scores from spring tospring (Boston, Dallas, and Houston), the difference in the growth on the Stanford Achievement Test-9(SAT-9) between the treatment (+22.94) and control groups (+17.24) is statistically significant (F=12.624,alpha = .000) and in favor of the students in the READ 180 classes. In Columbus, where the pretestswere administered in the fall of academic year 2000–2001, the difference in the growth on the readingcomprehension subtest of the SAT-9 between the treatment (+14.41) and control groups (-3.77) is statistically significant (F=13.182, alpha = .000) and in favor of the students in the READ 180 classes.The differences in growth in Columbus rise to the level of considerable educational significance.

Key Finding:• From spring 2000 to spring 2001, READ 180 students in Boston, Houston, and Dallas scored significantly higherreading gains on the SAT-9 than the students in the control group.

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Council of Great City Schools––Continued

Key Finding:• READ 180 students in Columbus, where pretests were administered in the fall and posttests in the spring, scoredsignificantly higher than the students in the control group on the SAT-9, from fall 2000 to spring 2001.

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Los Angeles Unified School District, CA

In the 2000–2001 academic year, designated eighth-grade students received READ 180 instructionunder the auspices of the Intensive Academic Support Program (IAS). Most of the IAS students wererepeating the eighth grade. Pre- and posttest data were collected for 537 students receiving the READ 180 program. A group of 536 students not participating in any special intervention, matched onpretest means, gender, ethnicity, and language proficiency, was chosen for comparison purposes.Overall, the READ 180 participants made significant gains of over 3 Normal Curve Equivalents (NCEs) in Reading and almost 2 NCEs in Language Arts (SAT-9). READ 180 participants scored significantlyhigher than the comparison group; the comparison group’s performance declined from pretest to posttest(May 2000 to May 2001). Analysis of the disaggregated READ 180 data showed that the participantswere primarily identified as Hispanic (78 percent), with 42 percent classified as Limited English Proficient(LEP) and 27 percent who had been recently reclassified from LEP. The gains of these students wereessentially identical to the entire READ 180 group. An analysis of LEP students also revealed significantreading gains. After one year in READ 180, LEP students gained 3.1 NCEs (SAT-9 Reading) while thecomparison group actually lost ground, losing 6.6 NCEs over the school year.

Key Findings:•Overall, READ 180 participants made significant gains of over three NCEs in SAT-9 Reading and almost 2 NCEsin SAT-9 Language Arts.

•After one year in READ 180, students designated as LEP gained 3.1 NCEs (SAT-9 Reading), while the comparison group actually lost ground.

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Department of Defense Education Activity Schools (DoDEA)

Scholastic evaluated the effectiveness of the READ 180 program in the DoDEA schools, where the program was implemented in nine schools in the U.S. and Germany with students from Grades 4 to 9during the 1999–2000 school year. Data analysis was limited to a sample of 128 students with matchingpre- and posttest TerraNova reading scores. Findings from the DoDEA study indicate that the READ 180program had an overall positive effect on the reading and language arts standardized test scores of theparticipating students. Results of the analysis on the TerraNova reading test showed a pretest mean of38.47 NCEs and a posttest mean of 41.95 NCEs in reading (a gain of 3.48 NCEs). Pretest and posttestmeans were significantly different at the .001 level. Results also reveal that students in on-model class-rooms revealed statistically significant reading growth compared to students in off-model classrooms. On-model students showed a pretest mean of 39.9 NCEs and a posttest mean of 47.3 NCEs in reading(a gain of 7.45 NCEs) while off-model students showed a pretest mean of 37.7 NCEs and a posttestmean of 39.1 NCEs in reading (a gain of only 1.37 NCEs).* Attitudes toward reading and self-esteem asa reader improved as well. Eighty-eight percent of the students indicated a negative response towardreading or self at the beginning of the school year. At the end of the year, the number of negativeresponses dropped to eight percent.

Key Finding:• Findings from the DoDEA study indicate that READ 180 had an overall positive effect on reading and languagearts standardized test scores. The overall gain on the Terra Nova Reading Test for all students in READ 180 was3.48 NCEs. Further analysis of these results by level of program implementation revealed that students in on-model classrooms revealed significantly greater reading growth compared to students in off-model classrooms.As seen in the graph above, students in on-model classes revealed an average gain of 7.45 NCEs, while studentsin off- model classes revealed a gain of only 1.37 NCEs.

*Analysis of covariance was conducted to correct for the significant difference between the on- and off-model students' mean pretest scores. Resultsconfirmed that the main effect of the on-model versus off-model comparison was statistically significant (at the .024 level) with the on-model students'scores showing greater gains.

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DoDEA––Continued

Key Findings:•The percentage of students with a negative attitude toward reading or self after READ 180 decreased significantly,from 88 to 8 percent.

• Ninety-five percent of the students made general statements indicating they thought their overall reading hadimproved. These included statements such as “I read much better,” “I read more difficult books,” as well as statements that noted specific improvements.

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Des Moines Independent Community School District, IA

More than 1,200 special education students participated in READ 180 in the Des Moines IndependentCommunity School District from 2000 through 2005. The district’s data on READ 180 from this five-yearperiod includes student level achievement results on the Stanford Diagnostic Reading Test (SDRT) areasof comprehension, vocabulary, total reading, the Scholastic Reading Inventory (SRI) and the Iowa Test ofBasic Skills/Educational Development (ITBS/ITED) Comprehension. Policy Studies Associates conducted an analysis of this data utilizing the multivariate, multilevel inferential technique of growthcurve modeling to determine the effects of READ 180 over multiple years of exposure. The study findingsindicated that for special education students in Des Moines, READ 180 had a positive and statisticallysignificant effect. Each additional year of participation in READ 180 was associated with annual increasesof approximately 30 Lexiles on the SRI, 6 scale-score points on SDRT 4 Comprehension, and 5 scale-score points on SDRT 4 Total—above and beyond the observed yearly growth in achievement.Respectively, these differences translate into 0.26, 0.40, and 0.33 years of growth, above and beyondexpected annual growth. Further, READ 180 students who remained in the program beyond the first yearhave higher mean scores on SDRT 4 Comp, Total, and SRI than students who left the program after onlyone year of participation, controlling for other factors in the model, based on growth curve analysis.These findings indicate that the effect of READ 180 on student achievement is positive, statistically significant, and robust.

Key Finding:•Based on growth curve analysis, READ 180 students who were in special education and remained in the programbeyond the first year had higher mean scores on SDRT 4 Comprehension and SDRT 4 Total than a comparisongroup of students who left the program after only one year of participation.*

*While the comparison group continued to make gains, they were not as large as gains for students who remained in READ 180 for an additional year.

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Des Moines Independent Community School District––Continued

Key Finding:• Each additional year of participation in READ 180 for students in special education was associated with additionalgains of approximately six scale-score points on SDRT 4 Comprehension, above and beyond observed yearlygrowth in achievement.

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Clark County School District, NV

Clark County School District first implemented READ 180 during the 1999–2000 school year. Studentachievement improved considerably and the district expanded the program. Fast forward to the2004–2005 school year: student dropout rates improved dramatically at Cimarron-Memorial High School.At Cimarron-Memorial, which began its READ 180 program with 1,945 students during fall 2004, thedropout rate decreased by 35 percent during school year 2004–2005, as compared to Clark CountySchool District overall, where the dropout rate decreased by 11 percent during 2004–2005.

Key Finding:• At Cimarron-Memorial High School, which began its READ 180 participation program with 1,945 students in fall2004, the dropout rate decreased by 35 percent during 2004–2005, while Clark County School District’s overalldropout rate decreased by 11 percent during 2004–2005.

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Clark County School District––Continued

Key Finding:• The growth made by the average READ 180 participant was equivalent to an advance of one grade level of reading ability. However, the growth experienced by English-language learners and students in special educationwas roughly equivalent to an advance of 1.5 grade levels.

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In addition, a district study of READ 180 English-language learner students and READ 180 students withspecial needs showed significant growth compared to general education READ 180 students. AlthoughSRI status scores showed special education students and English-language learners were reading at sig-nificantly lower reading levels than general education students at the beginning of ninth grade, an analy-sis of reading growth rates in these READ 180 students from 2004–2005 school year revealed that “stu-dents in these special populations grew at a faster rate than their peers during the ninth-grade schoolyear. As a result, the achievement gap between special and general education students was smaller bythe end of the ninth grade” (p.1, Zvoch & LeTourneau, 2006). The same was found to be true withEnglish-language learners and students considered proficient in English.

Fairfax County Public Schools, VA

Policy Studies Associates (PSA) was contracted by Scholastic to review and analyze data on READ 180in Fairfax County. Thirteen trained READ 180 teachers taught READ 180 to 548 seventh- and eighth-grade students in 11 middle schools during the 2002–2003 school year. Pre- and posttest differences inreading comprehension measured by the SRI show that the typical READ 180 participant experiencedgains in literacy. In addition, the average gains made by READ 180 participants were greater than onegrade level. Nearly half of the participating students (48 percent) achieved gains greater than the equivalent of two grade levels. Students who had the lowest reading comprehension level when theyenrolled in READ 180 experienced greater gains than students who started with higher levels of ability.The 25 percent of students with the lowest pretest scores averaged gains of 179 Lexiles, equivalent tomore than three grade levels.

Key Finding:• Overall, the average change in SRI scores for READ 180 students in Fairfax County Public Schools was 97Lexiles, with a moderate effect size of 0.46. Students classified as English for Speakers of other Languages(ESOL) constituted approximately 42 percent of the READ 180 sample and revealed an average change in SRI of91 Lexiles. No statistically significant differences in the magnitude of the SRI changes were found to be associatedwith other student characteristics such as gender, race, ethnicity, eligibility for ESOL, and eligibility for special education. All groups reveal consistent growth on the SRI.

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Fairfax County Public Schools––Continued

Key Findings:• Students enrolled in classes that fully implemented READ 180 averaged gains of 106 Lexiles, while students inclasses that minimally implemented the model averaged gains of 68 Lexiles, as assessed on the SRI.

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The data available for this analysis also suggest that levels of implementation of the READ 180 instruc-tional model are associated with different levels of improvement in reading comprehension. Studentsenrolled in classes that fully implemented READ 180 averaged gains of 106 Lexiles, while students inclasses that minimally implemented the model averaged gains of 68 Lexiles.

Fairfax County Public Schools––Continued

Key Findings:• African-American students averaged 752 Lexile scale score points on their intial SRI.

Among the 542 students participating in READ 180 during the 2002–2003 school year, 29 percent wereAfrican-American.1 African-American students participating in READ 180 had higher initial scores on theSRI, on average, on both their initial and final SRI. African-American students averaged gains of 112Lexile scale score points, while other students averaged a gain of 90 Lexile scale score points. The differences were not statistically significant (p=0.12, ANOVA), suggesting that all groups revealed similarbenefits from the intervention as measured by SRI.

1 Limited to students with two or more scores on the SRI and for whom teachers provided race/ethnicity information. 15

Key Findings:• African-American READ 180 participants averaged a gain of 112 Lexile scale score points between their initialand final SRI.

Iredell-Statesville Schools, NC

Iredell-Statesville Schools began implementing READ 180 in the 2002–2003 school year to increase liter-acy levels among students performing at level I or II, as defined by North Carolina’s achievement levelsfor students. In order to measure the effects of READ 180, results of the North Carolina End-of-GradeReading Comprehension Test were gathered for a sample of 441 students in Grades 4 to 8 who had both2002 and 2003 reading test scores. 106 of these students were learning disabled. The findings revealthat fifth-grade READ 180 students had the highest gains, with a mean score of 238.91 at the spring 2002pretest and 248.44 at the spring 2003 posttest, for a gain of 10.28 points. The growth for fifth-, seventh-,and eighth-grade READ 180 students is more than twice the expected growth. Students using READ 180in all grades showed gains greater than the expected growth for their grade level, and approximately 51percent of all students in Grades 4 to 8 revealed growth of at least one achievement level.

Key Finding:• On the North Carolina End-of-Grade Reading Comprehension Test, READ 180 students in Grade 5 attained anaverage gain that was double the expected growth. Students in Grades 4 and 6 also attained gains above andbeyond expected growth.

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Iredell-Statesville Schools-––Continued

Key Finding:• The findings reveal that READ 180 was successful in improving literacy skills of North Carolina students, asmeasured by the North Carolina End-of-Grade Test. Approximately 51 percent of all students in Grades 4 through 8revealed growth of at least one achievement level. Over 60 percent of the students in fifth and eighth gradesrevealed growth of at least one grade level.

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Central Consolidated School District, NM

Central Consolidated School District, located within the northeastern section of the Navajo Indian Reservation,piloted READ 180 in fall 2002 in Shiprock High School to increase student reading achievement among ninth- andtenth-grade students. One hundred percent of Shiprock’s 815 students are Native American. Thirty-nine studentsparticipated in READ 180 during the 2002–2003 school year, and 40 students participated during the 2003–2004school year. Native American READ 180 high school students from 2002–2003 and 2003–2004 school yearsshowed statistically significant reading growth, half achieving over one grade level, and a third achieving more thantwo grade levels in one year, as assessed on the SRI. The average gain made by READ 180 participants was 193Lexiles. Longitudinal data provided by the district also showed that gains from READ 180 were maintained duringthe following non-READ 180 fall 2003 semester.

Key Finding:• Native American high school students showed statistically significant reading growth, half achieving over onegrade level and a third achieving more than two grade levels in one year, as assessed on the SRI. Effect size was1.02 standard deviations, a large effect.

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Central Consolidated School District––Continued

Key Finding:• Native American high school students maintain their performance through winter 2004, following their participationin READ 180 during the 2002–2003 school year, as assessed on the SRI.

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Job Corps, CA

One division of Guajome Park Academy/SIA Tech, a California Public Charter School, provides instructionto Job Corps students at centers in California, Arizona, Georgia, and Florida. In the 2002–2003 academicyear, Guajome Park Academy/SIA Tech implemented the READ 180 program at four Job Corps sites inCalifornia. In collaboration with Scholastic Research, an independent researcher analyzed the studentachievement data that was collected by Guajome Park Academy/SIA Tech. Research findings indicate that READ 180 was successful in improving literacy skills of Job Corps students, as measured by the Test of Adult Basic Education (TABE) standardized test. The amount of time in the program was analyzed using two methods of association: correlations and multiple regression. Time in the program was found tohave a positive impact on TABE scores. The greatest gains were made by students who were in the READ 180 program for an average of 16 weeks. Interestingly, these students were also the lowest performing students at pretest.

Key Findings:• The growth from pretest to posttest reveals an average improvement of four grade levels for Job Corps studentsusing READ 180 for four to eight weeks, and an average improvement of five grade levels for students in READ180 for a minimum of nine weeks.

• The greatest gains on the TABE were made by students who were in the READ 180 program for an average of16 weeks.

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New York City Public Schools, NY

During the 2001–2002 school year, 652 students in Grades 4 to 8 in Community School District 23 inRegion 5 participated in READ 180. The staff of District 23 and Scholastic asked Policy StudiesAssociates (PSA) to assist in the analysis of data on end-of-year tests in reading and language arts(ELA). PSA compared test outcomes for READ 180 students to outcomes of their peers attending thesame schools who did not participate in READ 180 in the 2001 –2002 school year. READ 180 participantsaveraged a gain of 17.4 scale-score points, with a median of 19 scale-score points, while nonparticipantsin the same schools and grades averaged a gain of 14.8 scale-score points, with a median of 13 scale-score points. In addition, there were a larger proportion of READ 180 students (21 percent) scoringabove grade level on the ELA after one year of READ 180 than of other students (11 percent) whoscored below grade level. New York City expanded the READ 180 program to third grade in Region 8during 2004–2005. The third-grade READ 180 students scored 132 Lexiles at pretest and 323 Lexiles atposttest for a gain of 191 Lexiles. In addition, the number of third-grade Beginning Readers (BR)decreased from 31 percent to 9 percent after READ 180.

Key Finding:• Nearly twice as many below grade level students (21 percent) moved to above grade level after one year ofREAD 180 as compared to other students (11 percent).

• READ 180 participants averaged larger scale-score gains on the ELA exam between spring 2001 and spring2002 than nonparticipants (19 scale-score points for READ 180 vs. 13 for nonparticipants.)

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New York City Public Schools––Continued

Key Finding:• African-American READ 180 participants averaged a gain of 17.2 scaled score points on their ELA exam betweenspring 2001 and spring 2002, while African American students who were not participating in READ 180 averaged again of 14.9 points.

Eighty-five percent of the students participating in READ 180 during the 2001-2002 school year wereAfrican-American, compared with 83 percent of nonparticipating students in the District 23 elementaryand middle schools. READ 180 was used with students in 4th through 8th grade. Approximately sixtypercent of these students were in 4th and 5th grade.

African-American students participating in READ 180 during 2001-2002 had larger gains on the schooldistricts English/Language Arts (ELA) standardized test between spring of 2001 and spring of 2002 thannonparticipating African-American students. Participants averaged a gain of 17.2 scaled score points,while nonparticipants averaged 14.9 scaled score points.

Among African-American students who scored below the proficiency level established for their grade inthe 2000-2001 school year, 21 percent of READ 180 participants scored above the proficiency level in2001-2002 compared with 10 percent of nonparticipants. The difference was statistically significant(p=0.0, Chi Square), suggesting that READ 180 had a positive effect, above and beyond that observedfor similar African American students who did not receive READ 180.

Among READ 180 participants, more African-American READ 180 participants moved from belowproficiency level in 2000-2001 to above proficiency level in 2001-2002 than other participants (21 percentvs. 17 percent), but the difference was not statistically significant (p=.51, Chi Square).

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Phoenix Union High School District, AZ

In fall 2003, the Phoenix Union High School District (PUHSD) began using Stage C of READ 180 forstruggling readers in the ninth grade. These students were identified for READ 180 because they scoredbelow the seventh-grade equivalent on the Stanford Achievement Test 9 (SAT-9) administered during thespring of eighth grade. After one year of READ 180, ninth-grade participants averaged a gain of 14 NCEson the SRI between August 2003 and May 2004. More than half (57 percent) of the ninth-grade participantsachieved two or more years of growth in reading ability and 33 percent achieved four years’ growth ormore. Longitudinal results of READ 180 shown in the tenth-grade Arizona Instrument for MeasuringSuccess (AIMS) test demonstrated that ELL READ 180 participants outperformed matched nonparticipantson the AIMS reading test. On average, READ 180 ELL students achieved 654 scale score points. In contrast, nonparticipating ELL students earned 646 scale score points. In addition, former READ 180participants who scored in the bottom quarter (below 35 NCEs) on the eighth-grade SAT-9 Reading testaveraged 653 scale score points on the AIMS Reading assessment, while matched nonparticipating students with the same range of eighth-grade scores averaged 645 scale score points.

Key Finding:• One year after implementation of READ 180 in PUHSD in fall of 2003, the number of PUHSD students who metor exceeded proficiency on the Arizona Instrument for Measuring Success test increased by 33 percent, comparedto the statewide gain of 14 percent.

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Phoenix Union High School District-––Continued

Key Finding:• READ 180 ninth-grade students who were classified as English Language Learners (ELLs) outperformedmatched ELL nonparticipants on the tenth-grade AIMS Reading tests, with ELL READ 180 students achieving 654 scale score points, and matched ELL nonparticipants achieving 646 scale score points. This change in scoress for ELL READ 180 participants resulted in a significant decrease in the number of students who were classified as “Far Below the Standard” and an increase in students who were classified as “Approaching theStandard”, one year later.

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Seven percent of the students participating in READ 180 as ninth-graders during the 2005-2006 schoolyear were African-American. Among READ 180 participants, African-American students had slightly larger gains between their first and last SRI exam than other participants, but the difference was not statistically significant (p=0.20, ANOVA), suggesting that all groups reveal similar benefits from the intervention as measured by SRI. African-American participants averaged a gain of 11.9 NCEs, whileother participants averaged 9.4 NCEs.

Key Finding:• African-American READ 180 participants averaged a gain of 11.9 NCEs between their initial and final SRI.

Phoenix Union High School District-––Continued

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African-American participants also averaged larger gains between their eighth- and ninth-grade TerraNova reading exams, 9.2 NCEs, compared with 8.9 NCEs among other participants. The difference wasnot statistically significant (p=0.86, ANOVA), suggesting that all groups revealed similar benefits from theintervention as measured by the Terra Nova.

Key Finding:• African-American READ 180 participants averaged a gain of 9.2 NCEs on their Terra Nova reading test betweeneighth- and ninth-grades.

Phoenix Union High School District-––Continued

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