EdSurge News: Lindsay Unified School District
"Literacy for us is the gateway to equitable access to literally every other subject."
Text Choice Helped Boost This District’s Literacy Success—and Empower Students
By Kelli Anderson
Mar 19, 2019
"Literacy for us is the gateway to equitable access to literally every other subject."
By Kelli Anderson
Mar 19, 2019
This study focused on the impact of Reading Plus on student achievement as measured by the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) English Language Arts (ELA) assessment. Changes in the reading proficiency of students were measured in relation to the amount of Reading Plus reading practice the students engaged in during the course of the 2016-17 school year.
A quasi-experimental ex post facto methodology was used for this study. This design creates “treatment” and “comparison” groups ex post facto (after the fact) to approximate the random assignment of students that would occur in an experimental design study. Students who completed at least 80 Reading Plus lessons were matched with students who completed fewer than 20 Reading Plus lessons. Matching was based on student demographic characteristics and initial SBAC ELA performance to create “baseline equivalence” between the two groups. In this study, 408 students in grades 4-8 from a large suburban school district in Southern California were matched based on the described methodology.
Students who completed at least 80 Reading Plus lessons achieved nearly four times the SBAC ELA scale score gains in comparison to a group of demographically similar students who had minimal or no Reading Plus use (significant at p<.001). These scale score gains translated into larger percentages of Reading Plus students advancing to a higher SBAC ELA achievement level or maintaining their current achievement level.
Type of Study: Impact Study
Grades: 4-8
Participants: N = 408 Students
Implementation: Reading Plus
Measure: Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) English Language Arts
Publication: Reading Plus Brief, 2017
Authors: Reading Plus Research
This report focuses on a comparison between the Reading Plus InSight assessment and the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers English Language Arts/Literacy assessment (PARCC ELA) as well as the impact of the Reading Plus instructional intervention on student performance on the PARCC ELA assessment.
This school district study included students in grades 3-11 with valid PARCC ELA and InSight assessment data from spring 2018 (n = 2,121), and students in grades 4-11 who had valid PARCC ELA scores from spring 2017 and spring 2018 (n = 2,287).
The Reading Plus InSight assessment and the PARCC ELA assessment are strongly correlated and have equivalent expectations for proficiency, which makes InSight a strong predictor of PARCC ELA performance.
Students who completed at least 80 Reading Plus lessons consistently had the highest percentage rate of advancement to a higher PARCC ELA performance level assessment when compared to students who used Reading Plus less frequently.
Type of Study: Correlational & Impact Study
Grades: Elementary, Middle, High Grades 3-11
Participants: Part 1: 2,121 / Part 2: 2,287
Measure: Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers English Language Arts/Literacy (PARCC ELA)
Publication and Date: Reading Plus Research Brief, 2019
Type of Publication: Research Brief
Authors: Reading Plus Research Department
Type of Study: Correlational & Impact Study
Grades: Elementary, Middle, High Grades 3-11
Participants: Part 1: 2,121 / Part 2: 2,287
Measure: Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers English Language Arts/Literacy (PARCC ELA)
Publication and Date: Reading Plus Research Brief, 2019
Type of Publication: Research Brief
Authors: Reading Plus Research Department
This study focused on students identified by their schools as having specific learning disabilities (LD). Changes in the reading proficiency of these students were measured in relation to the amount of Reading Plus reading practice the students engaged in during the course of the 2013-14 school year. These outcomes were also compared with those of general education students.
Scores and levels on the reading portion of the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test 2.0 (FCAT) were used as the measure of reading achievement. At the time of the study, the FCAT was the standardized state test administered to all Florida public school students in grades three through ten.
Included in the study were students in grades 4-10 with valid 2013 and 2014 FCAT data (n = 111,881). Of these, 7,406 (6.6%) were classified as having specific learning disability.
Changes in scores and levels between the spring 2013 and spring 2014 administrations of the FCAT were examined in relation to LD status and the amount of reading practice students engaged in. The latter was quantified in terms of the number of reading practice lessons completed.
In all grade bands, a significant positive relationship was found between increasing amounts of Reading Plus practice and larger scale score gains on the FCAT (p < .001). This was true for all student groups regardless of their LD status.
As well, students who completed at least 100 Reading Plus lessons (~30 hours) were significantly more likely to advance from below satisfactory to satisfactory (FCAT level 3) or higher on the reading portion of the FCAT. This also was true regardless of a student’s LD status.
Type of Study: Impact Study
Grades: 4-10
Participants: N = 111,881 students (7,406 with specific learning disability)
Measure: FCAT 2.0
Publication: Reading Plus Brief
Authors: Reading Plus Research
The relationship between InSight and the TNReady English Language Arts (ELA) assessment has been evaluated following standards established by the National Center for Intensive Intervention (NCII). As detailed below, InSight meets both correlation and classification accuracy standards when analyzed in relation to the TNReady ELA assessment. Therefore, educators can be confident in InSight results and the subsequent intervention decisions they make for their students. Further, InSight provides a solid indicator of whether students are on track to meet TNReady ELA proficiency.
InSight is Strongly Correlated with TNReady
A statistical correlation measures the strength of the relationship between the results of two assessments. A value of 0.70 or higher* is considered a strong correlation and a key criterion of validity by the NCII. All correlation values between InSight and the TNReady ELA assessment across grades 6–8 meet this standard.
*NCII Technical Standard 3: Lower Bound of the Confidence Interval ≥ 0.60; previous
Center for Response to Intervention (CRTI) Technical Standard 4 = 0.70
InSight Accurately Classifies Students on TNReady
The NCII considers an Area Under the Curve (AUC) value of 0.80 or higher** to be convincing evidence that an assessment has meet the "classification accuracy” standard. This indicates that when InSight classifies a student as being proficient, there is strong evidence that the TNReady ELA would also classify the student as being proficient. All AUC values between InSight and the TNReady ELA assessment across grades 6–8 meet this standard.
**NCII Technical Standard 1: Lower Bound of the AUC Confidence Interval ≥ 0.80
InSight was also evaluated with another important classification statistic. The Overall Classification Accuracy is the percentage of students who were classified as proficient or not proficient on InSight who were also classified at that same level on TNReady ELA. Although the NCII requires this statistic as part of its evaluation process, it does not set a threshold criterion. Reading Plus believes that an assessment like InSight, which is used for screening and progress monitoring, should accurately classify 75% or more of students at the same overall proficiency level as the state or districted-mandated ELA assessment. InSight meets this level of classification accuracy in relation to TNReady ELA across grades 6-8.
The relationship between InSight and the Renaissance STAR Reading® assessment has been evaluated following standards established by the National Center for Intensive Intervention (NCII). As detailed below, InSight meets both correlation and classification accuracy standards when analyzed in relation to the STAR Reading assessment. Therefore, educators can be confident in InSight results and the subsequent intervention decisions they make for their students. Further, InSight provides a solid indicator of whether students are on track to meet STAR Reading proficiency.
InSight is Strongly Correlated with STAR
A statistical correlation measures the strength of the relationship between the results of two assessments. A value of 0.70 or higher* is considered a strong correlation and a key criterion of validity by the NCII. All correlation values between InSight and STAR Reading across grades 9–12 meet this standard.
*NCII Technical Standard 3: Lower Bound of the Confidence Interval ≥ 0.60;
previous Center for Response to Intervention (CRTI) Technical Standard 4 = 0.70
InSight Accurately Classifies Students on STAR
The NCII considers an Area Under the Curve (AUC) value of 0.80 or higher** to be convincing evidence that an assessment has meet the "classification accuracy” standard. This indicates that when InSight classifies a student as being proficient, there is strong evidence that the STAR Reading assessment would also classify the student as being proficient. All AUC values between InSight and STAR Reading across grades 9–12 meet this standard.
**NCII Technical Standard 1: Lower Bound of the AUC Confidence Interval ≥ 0.80
InSight was also evaluated with another important classification statistic. The Overall Classification Accuracy is the percentage of students who were classified as proficient or not proficient on InSight who were also classified at that same level on STAR Reading. Although the NCII requires this statistic as part of its evaluation process, it does not set a threshold criterion. Reading Plus believes that an assessment like InSight, which is used for screening and progress monitoring, should accurately classify 75% or more of students at the same overall proficiency level as the state or districted-mandated ELA/Reading assessment. InSight meets this level of classification accuracy in relation to STAR Reading across grades 9-12.