At a glance
- Program: Read 180®
- Subjects: Literacy Curriculum, Intervention Curriculum
- Report Type: Efficacy Study
- Grade Level: Elementary, Middle
- Region: Southeast
- District Urbanicity: Suburban, Rural
- District Size: Large
- Implementation Model: 80+ Minutes
READ 180 students outperformed their peers on the TCAP reading and math assessments.
During the 2004–2005 school year, Sevier County Public Schools (SCPS) in East Tennessee implemented READ 180 with academically at-risk fifth- and seventh-grade students who performed in the lowest quartile of the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP).
Of the 113 students participating in SCPS’s READ 180 program, 33 were in fifth grade and 80 were in seventh grade. Fifty-nine percent of the sample were male, and 72% were classified as economically disadvantaged. The ethnic demographics of the READ 180 sample were representative of that of the district population, which was predominately White (94%), with a smaller representation of Hispanic students (4%), African American students (1%), and students of other ethnicities (1%).
Nave (2007) obtained TCAP Achievement Test scores from 113 READ 180 students, as well as from a comparison group of 47 nonparticipating peers.
READ 180 participants exhibited significantly greater gains on the TCAP Reading and Language Arts test than their nonparticipating peers. The performance for READ 180 fifth-grade students improved by 24.1 points on the TCAP Reading and Language Arts test, while the performance for the comparison group declined by an average of 2 points (Graph 1). Similarly, READ 180 seventh-grade students gained an average of 23.9 points on TCAP, while the comparison group declined by an average of 8.3 points. The difference in TCAP Reading and Language Arts performance between READ 180 students and the comparison group is statistically significant for both fifth- and seventh-grade students, with approximately 26% and 42% of the variance in these scores accounted for by READ 180, respectively.
GRAPH 1. Sevier County Public Schools READ 180 and Non-READ 180 Students, Grades 5 and 7 (N=160)
Change in TCAP Reading and Language Arts Scale Score by Grade, 2004 to 2005
These improvements in performance for the READ 180 students were also apparent for fifth and seventh graders on the TCAP Mathematics assessment. READ 180 fifth-grade students gained, on average, 22.3 points, while the comparison group lost, on average, 0.7 points (Graph 2). Further, READ 180 seventh-grade students gained, on average, 28.5 points on the TCAP Mathematics test, while the comparison group gained, on average, 3.9 points.
GRAPH 2. Sevier County Public Schools READ 180 and Non-READ 180 Students, Grades 5 and 7 (N=160)
Change in TCAP Mathematics Score by Grade, 2004 to 2005
Nave, J. (2007). An assessment of READ 180 regarding its association with the academic achievement of at-risk students in Sevier County schools. EdD dissertation, East Tennessee State University, United States—Tennessee. Retrieved April 9, 2008, from ProQuest Digital Dissertations database. (Publication No. AAT 3271894).