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READ 180/System 44: Tigard-Tualatin School District

At a glance

  • Promising Evidence
  • Programs: System 44®, Read 180®
  • Subjects: Literacy Curriculum, English Language Development, Intervention Curriculum
  • Report Type: Efficacy Study, Study Conducted by Third Party
  • Grade Level: Middle
  • Region: West
  • Implementation Model: 40-59 Minutes, A/B Model
  • District: Tigard-Tualatin School District, OR
  • Participants: N = 61
  • Outcome Measure: Smarter Balanced Assessment English Language Arts/Literacy Summative Assessment, HMH Reading Inventory, English Language Proficiency Assessment for the 21st Century
  • Study Conducted by: Forge Research Group
  • Evaluation Period: 2017–2018

Read 180 now incorporates the comprehensive foundational literacy skills scope and sequence from System 44.

Overview

System 44 / READ 180 Universal mixed-model classroom students achieved 1.7 times greater gains on the Oregon state assessment than initially same-scoring Oregon peers.

The Tigard-Tualatin School District (TTSD) is the 10th largest school district in Oregon, serving over 12,700 students from diverse ethnic backgrounds. In the 2017–2018 school year, 36% of students were eligible to receive free or reduced-price lunch through the National School Lunch Program.

Three middle school teachers in TTSD utilized READ 180 Universal and System 44 for differentiation in an ELA intervention classroom during the 2017–2018 school year. Students were placed in the System 44 and READ 180 Universal integrated mixed-model classroom for daily 45-minute instruction in addition to a regular ELA class based on the Reading Inventory® and state assessment scores. Students rotated through whole-group instruction, small-group learning, independent reading, and personalized lessons in the System 44 or READ 180 Universal online student application. During the school year, teachers received coaching support consisting of classroom observations, lesson planning, strategies on effective differentiated reading instruction, and data-informed instruction.

Forge Research Group analyzed outcome data provided by TTSD including the Smarter Balanced Assessment (SBA) English Language Arts & Literacy (ELA) summative test and the English Language Proficiency Assessment for the 21st Century (ELPA21). Students who completed at least 150 minutes of System 44 and/or READ 180 Universal sessions were included in the analysis (N = 61).  Because of the personalized and self-paced nature of the programs, some students worked in System 44 for the entire year (N = 13), some students began in System 44 and then progressed to READ 180 Universal (N = 12), and some students worked in READ 180 Universal for the entire year (N = 36).

Results

Student ethnic backgrounds included Asian (3%), White (25%), Hispanic (59%), Native American (10%), and multiple (3%); 48% were classified as current and 23% as recent English learners (EL), and 2% were classified as students with disabilities (SWD). The majority (61%) scored in the 10th or less percentile on the SBA ELA in 2017.

TTSD 6th–8th grade mixed-model classroom students demonstrated accelerated growth toward grade-level ELA achievement during the 2017–2018 school year. Students averaged a statistically significant 37-point increase in SBA ELA overall scale score and achieved 1.7 times greater gains than expected compared to initially same-scoring Oregon peers (Graph 1). On average, students scored better than 12% of their peers in 2017 but better than 14% of their peers in 2018. Additionally, EL students achieved statistically significant gains on the Reading, Writing, Listening, and Speaking domains of the ELPA21 (Graph 2). The percentage of EL students achieving a Proficient level on the ELPA21, indicating overall English language ability, increased from 0% in 2017 to 10% in 2018.

The mixed-model classroom students averaged a statistically significant 113 Lexile® (L) gain on the Reading Inventory and students with at least moderate program implementation (completed 7+ segments of the software) gained 123% more Lexile scores than would be expected based on the average growth of a national sample (Graph 1). Disaggregation of the data by gender, ethnicity, and EL classification indicated that mixed-model implementation was associated with significant gains in the Reading Inventory Lexile scores for all categories of students (Graph 3).

Wf1085077 Read 180 2020 Ntl Ttsd Efficacy Study 2017 18 Universal System 44 Mixed Model Web Version V Js4 01

GRAPH 1. Tigard-Tualatin School District Mixed-Model Classroom Students, Grades 6–8 (N = 61) Overall Gains in SBA ELA Scale Score and Reading Inventory Lexile Score Compared to Expected Gains, 2017–2018

Note. Expected and actual gain in the Reading Inventory includes students who completed at least 7 READ 180 Universal segments (moderate implementation).

Wf1085077 Read 180 2020 Ntl Ttsd Efficacy Study 2017 18 Universal System 44 Mixed Model Web Version V Js4 02

GRAPH 2. Tigard-Tualatin School District Mixed-Model Classroom EL Students, Grades 6–8 (N = 30) Change in English Language Proficiency Assessment for the 21st Century (ELPA21) in Scale Scores by Domain, 2017 to 2018

Note. * = statistically significant increase at p < .05. The increase in ELPA21 overall proficiency determination level was also statistically significant (t = 2.41, p = 0.03).

Wf1085077 Read 180 2020 Ntl Ttsd Efficacy Study 2017 18 Universal System 44 Mixed Model Web Version V Js4 03

GRAPH 3. Tigard-Tualatin School District Mixed-Model Classroom Students, Grades 6–8 (N = 61) Change in Overall Reading Inventory Lexile Scores and by Student Category, Fall 2017 to Spring 2018

Note. * = statistically significant increase at p < .05. Data was suppressed for groups with less than 4 students.