[Reading Application]™ supports Achievement of Early Literacy Skills among students with IEPs

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Saturday 9:45 am - Gold 2
  In Roundtable Session: Teacher Education and Professional Development

Abstract

This study explores how [Reading Application], a personalized digital learning program, can help “unforget” the educational potential of pre-kindergarten students with Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) while imagining new futures for inclusive literacy education. Drawing on histories of marginalization and advances in adaptive learning technology, we examined reading achievement in a Florida district during the 2023–2024 school year. Using a quasi-experimental design with propensity score weighting and linear regression, we compared 238 students with IEPs who regularly used the program to 72 matched peers who did not. Students using [Reading Application] significantly outperformed their peers on end-of-year standardized reading tests (effect size=0.61, p<0.001). Results suggest that carefully designed adaptive technologies can address longstanding inequities and expand opportunities for inclusive education.

Authors

• Amanda Siebert-Evenstone, Age of Learning

• Eric H. Setoguchi, Age of Learning, Inc.

• Hee Jin Bang, Age of Learning