The WWC rated Waterford Early Reading Program™ as having potentially positive effects on alphabetics, based on a substantively important average effect size with no statistically significant individual outcomes¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · causal r2 · q2
Currency · newest study 2007 · checked against its sources 2026-10-16 (automated, 1 of 1 entry) · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? Across nine alphabetics outcomes in one quasi-experimental study, the WWC-computed average effect size was large enough to be considered substantively important, but no individual outcome was statistically significant after corrections for clustering and multiple comparisons. → What Works Clearinghouse 2007

Evidence¶

What Works Clearinghouse 2007¶

What Works Clearinghouse, U.S. Department of Education. (2007). WWC Intervention Report: Waterford Early Reading Program™. July 16, 2007. http://www.pearsondigital.com/pdfs/werp/researchsummary-werp.pdf

q2 · i? · causal · r2

WWC re-analysis of the Hecht & Close (2002) quasi-experimental study (76 Kindergarten students in six Ohio schools, intervention matched to comparison). The WWC found none of the nine alphabetics effects statistically significant after clustering and multiple-comparison corrections, while the "average effect size across all nine outcomes" was large enough to be considered substantively important according to the WWC criteria.

"Hecht & Close (2002) reported statistically significant positive effects of the Waterford Early Reading Program™ for all nine outcomes. However, the WWC analysis found that none of these effects were statistically significant. The average effect size across all nine outcomes was large enough to be considered substantively important"

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

• Alphabet Knowledge and Print Awareness — outcome: instruction changes it

Related Claims¶

• No individual alphabetics outcome reached statistical significance in the WWC analysis — possibly the same claim (merge candidate)
• The Frechtling, Zhang, and Silverstein (2006) study showed a substantively important positive average alphabetics effect, while Hecht (2003) did not — related
• Alphabetics improvement-index findings for Waterford Early Reading Program™ were inconsistent across outcomes, ranging from –26 to +37 percentile points — related
• The evidence base for Waterford Early Reading Program™ is thin: only one of 36 reviewed studies met WWC evidence standards, and extent of evidence was rated small for both domains — a broader claim this one bears on
• In the qualifying quasi-experimental study, at-risk Kindergarten students using Waterford Level One for 15-minute daily sessions were matched to comparison students and pretested in fall and posttested in spring — related
• Waterford Early Reading Program™ showed no discernible effects on comprehension, with a small non-significant effect size on vocabulary — related
• Author-reported statistically significant program effects did not remain significant after WWC corrections for clustering and multiple comparisons — related
• Statistically significant effects reported by the CDP studies were not statistically significant as recalculated by the WWC — related
• Everyday Mathematics® has potentially positive effects on mathematics achievement for primary students, with a substantively important but statistically non-significant effect size of 0.27 — related
• Waterford Early Reading Level One™ shows no discernible effects on preschool children's print knowledge — related
• Evidence base for Waterford Early Reading Level One™ is small, with no standards-meeting studies in four of six outcome domains — related
• Waterford Upstart participation shows statistically significant positive effects on early literacy skills in matched quasi-experimental cohorts — related
• WWC rates MTP-S as having potentially positive effects on general achievement, with a small extent of evidence — related
• Earobics® has potentially positive effects on reading fluency, with no statistically significant fluency findings — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• The WWC rates The Expert Mathematician as having potentially positive effects on middle school mathematics achievement — a narrower finding that bears on this claim