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System 44: Fayetteville Public Schools

At a glance

  • Demonstrates a Rationale
  • Programs: System 44®, Read 180®
  • Subjects: Literacy Curriculum, Intervention Curriculum
  • Grade Level: Elementary, Middle, High
  • Region: Southeast
  • District Urbanicity: Urban, Suburban
  • District Size: Medium
  • Implementation Model: 80+ Minutes, Connected Implementation (2+ HMH programs)
  • District: Fayetteville Public Schools, AR
  • Participants: N=152
  • Outcome Measure: Reading Inventory
  • Evaluation Period: 2010–2011
  • Study Conducted by: Scholastic Research

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

Overview

Improved reading skills on the Reading Inventory after one semester of System 44.

Nestled in the Ozark Mountains, Fayetteville Public Schools (FPS) enrolls 8,400 students, including both children of employees of the University of Arkansas and immigrant families who work in the city’s burgeoning poultry industry. Seventy-three percent of students are White, 11% are African American, 9% are Hispanic, 4% are Asian/Pacific Islander, 1% are American Indian/Alaskan Native, and 2% are multiracial. Currently, more than 43 languages are spoken by district students.

During the 2010–2011 school year, FPS piloted System 44 with general education students, English learners (EL), and students with disabilities in Grades 3–11 in eight elementary schools, one K–7 school, two middle schools, two junior high schools, and one high school. Placement criteria included results from the Augmented Benchmark Examinations, Northwest Evaluation Association Measures of Academic Progress (MAP®), Reading Inventory®, Phonics Inventory®, and teacher recommendations. System 44 was implemented during a 90-minute reading block. During that time, System 44 was used as a stand-alone program or integrated into an existing READ 180® program.

Results

Reading Inventory Lexile® (L) data was analyzed for 152 System 44 students in Grades 3–11 who had both fall 2010 and winter 2011 scores. Results demonstrated that System 44 students improved, on average, from a pretest score of 113L to a midyear score of 218L, resulting in a statistically significant gain of 105L. Moreover, significant Lexile growth was evidenced at all school levels (Graph 1). Further analysis showed that students who completed a greater number of System 44 software topics averaged greater Lexile gains than those students who completed fewer topics (Graph 2). Students completing 60 or more topics averaged a gain of 124L, nearly twice the gain of students completing fewer than 40 topics (gain of 69L).

2 1 Fayetteville Graph 1

GRAPH 1. Fayetteville Public Schools System 44 Students, Grades 3–11 (N=152)

Performance on Reading Inventory, 2010–2011

Note. The 2010–2011 gains were statistically significant for all students (t=8.81, p=.00), the elementary students (t=7.48, p=.00), the middle school students (t=4.13, p=.99), and the junior high/high school students (t=2.30, p=.04).

2 1 Fayetteville Graph 2

GRAPH 2. Fayetteville Public Schools System 44 Students, Grades 3–11 (N=152)

Change in Reading Inventory Lexile Score as a Function of System 44 Software Usage, 2010–2011