In 2009, the U.S. Institute of Education Sciences (IES) allocated $120 million to establish the Reading for Understanding (RfU) initiative. This initiative responded to concern that children's improvement in reading comprehension had leveled off over the previous few decades, coupled with the observation that research on reading comprehension had…

This brief provides a summary of Tier 3 or "promising" evidence of Istation's Early Reading program in improving K-3 student performance in reading and English language arts (ELA). This quasi-experimental study examined whether students who attended schools that piloted Istation's Early Reading program during the 2017-18 school year had…

LXD Research conducted a third-party, mixed-methods efficacy study of 95 Percent Group's Phonics Core Program (95 PCP) to determine the program's impact on fourth and fifth grade students' literacy outcomes. Outcomes included Istation's Indicators of Progress (ISIP) Advanced Reading and the State of Texas Assessments of Readiness (STAAR). LXD…

LXD Research analyzed data from over 3,200 students in grades K-2 who participated in using the 95 Phonics Core Program in a school district in MO during 2021-2022. The demographic breakdown of this sample included 75% White students, 23% Low Income students, 9% ESL students, 13% SPED students. Schools in the district were paired for similar ELA…

Online learning continues to grow at unprecedented rates. K-12 had more than 275,000 students enrolled in full-time virtual schools in 2011--2012 and over 2 million participating in at least one online course. Despite this growth, there is little research on model formation and model validation for online learning. Two research-based models were…

The present evaluation study sought to determine how LightSail is implemented within schools in three public school districts, Evergreen Public Schools (EPS), Denver Public Schools (DPS), and Oakland Unified School District (OUSD). Case studies conducted in a subsample of schools within the three districts included classroom observations,…

The "2018 Teacher Prep Review" examines the results of rating 567 traditional graduate programs, 129 alternative route programs, and 18 residencies preparing both elementary and secondary teachers. The Review includes recommendations for programs to make changes to improve the quality of teachers entering the profession and highlights…

Much is known about short-term--but very little about the long-term--effects of reading interventions. To rectify this, a detailed analysis of follow-up effects as a function of intervention, sample, and methodological variables was conducted. A total of 71 intervention-control groups were selected (N = 8,161 at posttest) from studies reporting…

The present study is a follow up study to a quantitative intervention study where two intervention programs, Reciprocal Teaching and Inference Training, were practiced. This study aims at capturing the potentials benefits and qualitative aspects of one of the programs evaluated, Reciprocal Teaching. More specifically, I have investigated the video…

In designing professional learning for system-level leaders, two participant roles emerge as key: learners of content and agents of change. For learners, the principles of strong instruction apply. Exposure to content must occur repeatedly, be connected to prior knowledge, and is most effective when communities of learners work together. As change…

With teacher quality repeatedly cited as the most important "schooling" factor influencing student achievement, there has been increased interest in examining the efficacy of teacher training programs. This paper presents the results of research investigating the relationship between teachers who graduate from different training programs…

As evidence-based reform becomes increasingly important in educational policy, it is becoming essential to understand how research design might contribute to reported effect sizes in experiments evaluating educational programs. The purpose of this study was to examine how methodological features such as types of publication, sample sizes, and…

This resource is a compilation of three documents that support the teaching of spelling in today's schools: a discussion of "Why Spelling Instruction Matters", a checklist for evaluating a spelling program, and tables of Common Core State Standards that are linked to spelling instruction. "Why Spelling Instruction Matters"…

"Education Matters" is the monthly newsletter of the Association of American Educators (AAE), an organization dedicated to advancing the American teaching profession through personal growth, professional development, teacher advocacy and protection. This issue of the newsletter includes: (1) The War on Progress: Why the National…

Early identification and intervention for students at risk for reading failure is essential to establish the foundational skills necessary for students to become skilled readers. The focus on evidence-based practices and data-driven decision making leads educators to consider additional instructional approaches, such as formative assessment (FA)…