WWC evaluation of READ 180 program

What Works Clearinghouse seldom reports out studies that meet their evidence standards, so when they find some that meet standards, even with reservations, I do pay attention. Here is a brief description of this program and a link to the page with a brief chart and links to the full report.

"READ 180 is a reading program designed for students in elementary through high school whose reading achievement is below the proficient level. The goal of READ 180 is to address gaps in students’ skills through the use of a computer program, literature, and direct instruction in reading skills. The software component of the program aims to track and adapt to each student’s progress. In addition to the computer program, the READ 180 program includes workbooks designed to address reading comprehension skills, paperback books for independent reading, and audiobooks with corresponding CDs for modeled reading.

No studies of READ 180 meet What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) evidence standards,² but seven studies meet WWC evidence standards with reservations. The seven studies included 10,638 students, ranging from grade 4 to grade 9, who attended elementary, middle, and high schools in Arizona, California, Florida, New York, Ohio, Texas, and Virginia.³

Based on these seven studies, the WWC considers the extent of evidence for READ 180 to be medium to large for comprehension and general literacy achievement. No studies that meet WWC evidence standards with or without reservations examined the effectiveness of READ 180 in the alphabetics or reading fluency domains."

Interventions to Reduce Stereotype Threat in the Classroom

Stereotype threat arises from a fear among members of a group of reinforcing negative stereotypes about the intellectual ability of the group. The report identifies three randomized controlled trial studies that use classroom-based strategies to reduce stereotype threat and improve the academic performance of Black students, narrowing their achievement gap with White students.

Writing assignments can improve minority school achievement

A recently published study finds that personal writing assignments can improve both improve GPA and reduce the level of grade remediation. This is particularly effective for low achieving African American students. You can see the full article here.
Geoffrey L. Cohen,^1* Julio Garcia,¹ Valerie Purdie-Vaughns,² Nancy Apfel,³ Patricia Brzustoski³ (2009). Recursive processes in self-affirmation: Intervening to close the minority achievement gap. Science, Vol. 324. no. 5925, pp. 400 - 403

Meta-analysis of Reading Recovery studies

The What Works Clearinghouse recently reviewed 28 studies utililizing the Reading Recovery program, "a short-term tutoring intervention intended to serve the lowest-achieving (bottom 20%) first-grade students," conducted since 2005.

Here are their conclusions:

"Four studies of Reading Recovery^® meet What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) evidence standards, and one study meets WWC evidence standards with reservations. The five studies included approximately 700 first-grade students in more than 46 schools across the United States.³

Based on these five studies, the WWC considers the extent of evidence for Reading Recovery^® to be medium to large for alphabetics, small for fluency and comprehension, and medium to large for general reading achievement."

The overview of their review and links to the full report and appendices are here: http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/reports/beginning_reading/reading_recovery/

WWC Review of Dropout Prevention Studies

What Works Clearinghouse reviewed 84 studies--looking at 22 school and community based projects targeted to dropout prevention or recovery. Only 23 studies, looking at 16 projects, met WWC evidentiary standards. Tabular presentation indicates which studies demonstrated positive or potentially positive effects on at least one of these three outcome domains: "staying in school, progressing in school, and completing school." The overview with links to all sections of the report and appendices is here: http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/reports/dropout/topic/