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System 44: Stamford Public Schools

At a glance

  • Demonstrates a Rationale
  • Programs: System 44®, Read 180®
  • Subjects: Literacy Curriculum, Intervention Curriculum
  • Report Type: Efficacy Study
  • Grade Level: Elementary
  • Region: Northeast
  • District Urbanicity: Suburban
  • District Size: Large
  • Implementation Model: 40-59 Minutes
  • District: Julia A. Stark School, Stamford Public Schools, CT
  • Participants: N=39
  • Outcome Measure: Reading Inventory
  • Evaluation Period: Winter to Spring 2010
  • Study Conducted by: Scholastic Research

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

Overview

Accelerated reading growth on the Reading Inventory after one semester of System 44.

Julia A. Stark School, in the Stamford Public Schools (SPS) district, is situated in southeastern Connecticut. SPS enrolls approximately 15,500 students in Grades PreK–12. The district’s student body is predominantly White (40%), while most of the remaining students are Hispanic (32%), African American (21%), Asian/Pacific Islander (7%), and American Indian/Alaskan Native (less than 1%). Approximately 43% of all SPS students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch.

From February to June 2010, 39 SPS students in Grades 4 and 5 at Julia A. Stark School were identified for placement into System 44. Students were selected for inclusion in the program based on low performance on the Reading Inventory® and Phonics Inventory®. System 44 was implemented during a 45- or 60-minute reading block. During that time, System 44 was used as a stand-alone program or integrated into an existing READ 180® program. In all classrooms, students were expected to use the System 44 software for 20 minutes each day. For the purposes of this study, both models were analyzed together due to sample size constraints.

Results

In winter and spring 2010, Reading Inventory data were collected for the System 44 students. After one semester of instruction, findings indicated that, overall, these students made significant gains in reading comprehension. On average, System 44 students improved their Reading Inventory performance from 119 Lexile® (L) measures at pretest to 229L at posttest, resulting in a significant gain of 110L (Graph 1). Further analysis revealed that students who completed more than 30 topics on the software averaged higher gains on the Reading Inventory than those who had completed fewer than 30 topics on the software (141L vs. 69L) (Graph 2).

2 1 Julia Graph 1

GRAPH 1. Julia A. Stark School System 44 Students, Grades 4–5 (N=39)

Performance on Reading Inventory, 2010

Note. The gain in Lexile was statistically significant (t=5.81, p=.00).

2 1 Julia Graph 2

GRAPH 2. Julia A. Stark School System 44 Students, Grades 4–5 (N=39)

Change in Reading Inventory Lexile Score as a Function of Software Usage, 2010

Note. The gain in Lexile was significantly higher for students who completed more than 30 topics on the System 44 software (t=3.88, p=.06)