Read Well® shows no discernible effects on reading achievement for elementary school English language learners¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (2 entries) · causal r? · q3
Currency · newest study 2010 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

Reading the evidence codes

q is the design tier, i the impact, n the sample, and the kind with its r the rigour judged within that kind: what each code means.

This claim: no standardized effect is recorded in observations/ for it yet, so no benchmark reading is possible.

q3 i? The WWC found no statistically significant or substantively important effects of Read Well® on reading achievement (DIBELS Nonsense Word Fluency and GORT-4) for English language learners. → Read Well® 2010

Evidence¶

Read Well® 2010¶

Read Well®. (2010). WWC Intervention Report. U.S. Department of Education, What Works Clearinghouse. http://store.cambiumlearning.com/resource.aspx?page=ProgramOverview&site=sw&parentId=019005451

q3 · i? · causal · r?

The WWC review of the Frasco (2008) randomized controlled trial reports no statistically significant differences on two reading outcomes. Appendix A3.1 prints effect sizes of –0.06 (DIBELS) and –0.02 (GORT-4), with a domain average improvement index of "–1.46 percentile points".

"Frasco (2008) reported a not statistically significant difference in reading gains, as measured by the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Literacy Skills (DIBELS) Nonsense Word Fluency subtest, and a not statistically significant difference in fluency and comprehension gains, as measured by the Gray's Oral Reading Test–Fourth Edition (GORT-4)."

Read Well® 2010 (2)¶

Read Well®. (2010). WWC Intervention Report. U.S. Department of Education, What Works Clearinghouse. http://store.cambiumlearning.com/resource.aspx?page=ProgramOverview&site=sw&parentId=019005451

q3 · i? · causal · r?

WWC-calculated improvement indices for the reading achievement domain in the Frasco (2008) study are slightly negative, "–1.46 percentile points" on average, across the DIBELS and GORT-4 findings.

"The average improvement index for reading achievement is –1.46 percentile points across the study, with a range of –2.30 to –0.61 percentile points across findings."

Discussion¶

Fast ForWord Language shows no discernible effects on reading achievement of elementary school English language learners — related
Read Well® shows potentially positive effects on English language development for elementary school English language learners — related
A randomized controlled trial of Once found no significant effect on end-of-year DIBELS scores when students received well below the intended dosage — related
Students in the Readable English intervention group showed significant improvements in reading fluency and comprehension compared to the control group — related

Page metadata

Field	Value
`type`	`claim`
`id`	`read-well-no-discernible-effects-reading-achievement-ell`
`title`	`Read Well® shows no discernible effects on reading achievement for elementary school English language learners`
`description`	`Read Well® shows no discernible effects on reading achievement for elementary school English language learners`
`status`	`review`
`evidence_strength`	`moderate`
`newest_evidence`	`2010`
`generated`	by `process:wiki-ingest` on `2026-10-07`
`trust`	unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content
`sources`	2 — `read-well-2010`, `read-well-2010-2`

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