At a glance
- Programs: System 44®, Read 180®
- Subjects: Literacy Curriculum, Intervention Curriculum
- Report Type: Efficacy Study
- Grade Level: Middle
- Region: Southeast
- District Size: Large
Read 180 now incorporates the comprehensive foundational literacy skills scope and sequence from System 44.
Middle school students demonstrate oral reading fluency and comprehension gains on FORF and FCAT.
This profile focuses on the achievement outcomes from a public school district in northeastern Florida that serves approximately 122,000 students in 175 schools. The district’s student population is 45% African American, 41% White, 7% Hispanic, 4% multiracial, 4% Asian/Pacific Islander, and less than 1% American Indian/Alaskan Native. Fifty-five percent of all students are eligible to receive free or reduced-price lunch and 14% are students with disabilities.
During the 2008–2009 school year, a public school district in northeastern Florida piloted System 44 with 63 middle school students in nine classes. Students were placed into System 44 if they performed poorly on the Reading Inventory® and exhibited poor word-reading skills on the Phonics Inventory®. Of the 63 middle school students participating in System 44, 76% were African American, 16% were White, and 8% were Hispanic. Eighty-one percent qualified for free or reduced-price lunch and 71% were students with disabilities who were classified as having either learning, intellectual, or emotional disability. Teachers integrated System 44 into a 90-minute reading block. In three of the nine classrooms, a stand-alone version of System 44 was implemented. In six classrooms, System 44 was incorporated into an existing READ 180® program. In all classrooms, students were expected to use the software for 15–20 minutes per day. For the purposes of this report, both models were analyzed together.
In order to measure changes in oral reading fluency, data from the Florida Oral Reading Fluency (FORF) assessment was obtained from 48 System 44 students with fall 2008 and spring 2009 scores. Dependent t-tests revealed that these students improved, on average, from a fall pretest score of 62 words correct per minute (WCPM) to a posttest score of 73 WCPM, resulting in a statistically significant gain of 11 WCPM (Graph 1). System 44 students also exhibited improvements in their reading comprehension as measured by performance on the Reading Inventory. Results indicate that the 52 students who had pretest and posttest Reading Inventory data averaged a statistically significant gain of 147 Lexile® (L) measures over the course of the 2008–2009 school year (Graph 2).
GRAPH 1. Northeastern Florida Public School District System 44 Students, Grades 6–8 (N=48)
Performance on FORF WCPM, 2008–2009
Note. The gain in words correct per minute (WCPM) was statistically significant (t=3.27, p=.00).
GRAPH 2. Northeastern Florida Public School District System 44 Students, Grades 6–8 (N=52)
Performance on Reading Inventory, 2008–2009
Note. The gain in Lexile was statistically significant (t=6.37, p=.00).
Consistent with these findings, System 44 students demonstrated gains on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT®) Reading test. Overall, the 59 students who had spring 2008 and spring 2009 FCAT Developmental Scale Scores (DSS) achieved an average pretest score of 1051 and an average posttest score of 1182, resulting in a statistically significant gain of 131 DSS points (Graph 3).
GRAPH 3. Northeastern Florida Public School District System 44 Students, Grades 6–8 (N=59)
Performance on FCAT, 2008–2009
Note. The gain in DSS scores was statistically significant (t=3.61, p=.00).