Four supplemental reading comprehension curricula evaluated under real-world conditions¶

Element · All elements
Evidence · 5 claims (5 for) · 4 studies (4 causal), q3 · 1 of 4 report an effect size · 5 claims rest on one study

Description¶

The study evaluated four supplemental fifth-grade reading comprehension curricula: Project CRISS (developed by CRISS), ReadAbout (developed by Scholastic), Read for Real (developed by Chapman University and Zaner-Bloser), and Reading for Knowledge (developed by the Success for All Foundation). The curricula were "designed to supplement—not replace—the core curriculum being used by each teacher." Schools were randomly assigned to use one of the four treatment curricula or to a control group, and teachers in treatment schools developed their own strategies for incorporating the assigned curriculum into daily schedules. Developers provided teacher training and follow-up support, and teachers and schools could discontinue use if they believed the curricula were ineffective or too challenging to use.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Teachers in intervention schools incorporated the assigned curriculum into their daily schedules and core reading instruction as a supplement, with developer-provided training and follow-up support.

Constraints¶

• Reading for Knowledge was not implemented with the second cohort because 9 of the 18 schools assigned to it elected not to continue implementing the intervention in the second year.

Target Learners¶

• fifth-grade students in Title I schools

Target Learning Goals¶

• reading comprehension of informational text in content areas such as science and social studies

Claims¶

• Four supplemental reading comprehension curricula had no positive impact on fifth-grade students' test scores, with negative impacts in some cases [+M]
• After one school year of implementation (first cohort), the curricula produced no statistically significant positive impacts, and four statistically significant negative impacts were observed. [+M]
• Reading for Knowledge had a statistically significant negative impact on students' reading comprehension scores in the study's first year [+M]
• ReadAbout had a positive and significant impact in the study's second year among teachers with one year of experience using the intervention [+M]
• A large randomized trial found no statistically significant effects of Project CRISS® on standardized grade 5 comprehension measures (James-Burdumy et al., 2009) [+M]

Related Elements¶

• Four supplemental reading comprehension curricula evaluated in a federal study
• Four supplemental reading comprehension curricula evaluated in a large-scale RCT

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• James-Burdumy, S., Deke, J., Lugo-Gil, J., Carey, N., Hershey, A., Gersten, R., Newman-Gonchar, R., Dimino, J., Haymond, K., and Faddis, B. (2010). Effectiveness of Selected Supplemental Reading Comprehension Interventions: Findings From Two Student Cohorts (NCEE 2010-4015). Washington, DC: National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. http://ies.ed.gov/ncee