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January 31, 2008The Enhanced Reading Opportunities Study |
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From MDRC: According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, a majority of ninth-graders in low-performing high schools begin their freshman year with significant reading difficulties. This report presents early findings from the Enhanced Reading Opportunities (ERO) study, a demonstration and random assignment evaluation of two supplemental literacy programs --- Reading Apprenticeship Academic Literacy and Xtreme Reading --- that aim to improve the reading comprehension skills and school performance of struggling ninth-grade readers. The supplemental literacy programs are full-year courses targeted to students whose reading skills are two to five years below grade level as they enter high school. This report focuses on the first of two cohorts of ninth-grade students who are participating in the study and discusses the impact that the two interventions have had on their reading comprehension skills. On average, across the 34 participating high schools, the supplemental literacy programs had a statistically significant impact on improving student reading comprehension test scores. The average student in the study sample started the year reading at a grade-level equivalent of 5.1. Those students assigned to the ERO classes were reading at a 6.1 grade equivalent by the end of the year, compared to a 5.9 grade equivalent for students in the control group. Despite the improvement in reading comprehension, however, 76 percent of the students who enrolled in the ERO classes were still reading at two or more years below grade level at the end of ninth grade. First-year implementation was not without its challenges. The ERO classes did not begin until six weeks into the school year on average, and implementation fidelity was classified as poorly aligned with the program model in 10 of the schools.
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