LearnPlatform by Instructure, a third-party edtech research company, worked with Discovery Education (formerly DreamBox Learning) to develop a logic model for Reading Park. This logic model provides the program roadmap, program inputs, outputs, activities, and outcomes. The logic model is designed to satisfy Level IV requirements (Demonstrates a Rationale) according to the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). The next phase in this research is to plan an ESSA Level III study to examine the extent to which Reading Park impacts student achievement.
The Center for Research and Reform in Education at Johns Hopkins University found Reading Plus to have “strong evidence” to support ESSA. Reading Plus was reviewed by the team at Evidence for ESSA in 2019. Reading Plus was evaluated in a randomized controlled trial examining the impact of the program on the reading proficiency development of 426 fourth- and fifth-grade students in a northeastern U.S. urban school district.
“The study found that students who engaged in Reading Plus showed significantly greater improvements in reading proficiency than did control students who received other types of targeted reading instruction… The results of this study qualify Reading Plus for the ESSA ‘Strong’ category.” – EVIDENCE for ESSA, Johns Hopkins University
The Reading Plus InSight assessment was reviewed by the National Center for Intensive Intervention (NCII) as an academic screener. NCII evaluated InSight across a range of technical standards and concluded that InSight had “convincing evidence” of validity, reliability, and classification accuracy.
NCII published its review of InSight in June 2019. NCII’s Academic Screening Tools chart is a national list that evaluates the quality of assessments in reading and other academic areas. “Convincing evidence” is the top score granted in NCII’s criteria.
The What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) is a trusted source of scientific evidence on education programs and solutions that works to answer the question, “What works in education?” As part of the Institute of Education Sciences in the U.S. Department of Education, WWC reviews research, determines which studies meet rigorous standards, and summarizes the findings to inform decisions and improve student outcomes.
In recent years, the WWC has not regularly updated their reviews of literacy programs, and studies listed for most education publishers are from prior to 2014. While the WWC has not reviewed Reading Plus’ most recently submitted research, it has found Reading Plus to have potentially positive effects on comprehension for adolescent learners. Learn more about Reading Plus’ WWC Summary of Evidence, which includes a thorough study of Miami-Dade regions II and III reflecting statistically significant positive effects, examining 13,128 students in grades 5-9 across 98 schools.
The Council of Administrators of Special Education (CASE) endorses Reading Plus—a research-based program that is proven to meet the needs of special education students.
CASE is an international professional educational organization which is affiliated with the Council for Exceptional Children whose members are dedicated to the enhancement of the worth, dignity, potential, and uniqueness of each individual in society.
Reading Plus aligns with the WIDA Standards Framework and is a WIDA-certified resource for use with English language learners. The WIDA PRIME V2 correlation for the Reading Plus product was completed in April 2018.
Conducted by a WIDA-certified correlator, the Prime V2 correlation identifies how the components of the 2012 Amplification of the English Language Development Standards (K-12) and the Spanish Language Development (SLD) Standards (K-12) are represented in Reading Plus instructional materials. The PRIME V2 correlation found that Reading Plus excels in a variety of areas, such as:
