Title of Study:  READ 180

Author(s): What Works Clearinghouse

Summary:
This review summarizes results from seven studies of Scholastic’s READ 180 reading intervention curriculum that meet WWC’s evidence standards with reservation.  The studies included one randomized controlled trial and six quasi-experimental trials of students reading below grade level.

Sponsoring entity(s): U.S. Department of Education

Date conducted: 2009

Location of the study: This study can be accessed through the What Works Clearinghouse website.

Setting(s) addressed:

• Classroom

Targeted population(s):

• Different studies addressed grades 4 through 9

Primary sources of evidence used in the study or report:

• Review of published research

Primary Technology Application(s) Addressed:

• Instructional software

Major education topic(s) addressed:

• Reading

Major findings/conclusions:

• Two of the six studies assessing reading comprehension found statistically significant gains. Students using READ 180 improved their reading comprehension an average of 4 percentile points.
• Both studies assessing general literacy found statistically significant gains.  Students using READ 180 improved general literacy an average of 12 percentile points.
• None of the studies reviewed examined the effects of this product on reading fluency or alphabetics.

Practical implications of the findings:

• Each of the seven studies reported student outcomes after one year of using the intervention.  Effects after multiple years of use were not measured.

Reviewer Comments:
Additional research results are available from the Scholastic website at http://teacher.scholastic.com/products/read180.  Most of these studies do not meet the high evidence standards of the What Works Clearinghouse.