Building Reading Comprehension with Leveled Nonfiction Reading Resources from a Highly Used Instructional Content Platform

• In Event: 3-101 - Using Education Technology to Systematically Enhance Teaching and Learning Across Grades and Content Areas

Integrative Statement

Introduction
[The digital reading resource] is​ ​an​ ​adaptive, software-as-a-service ​Instructional​ ​Content​ ​Platform​ ​in​ ​use​ ​by​ ​more​ ​than​ ​15​ ​million​ ​students​ ​and​ ​1.4 million​ ​teachers​ ​in​ ​U.S.​ ​classrooms​ ​aims​ ​to​ ​improve​ ​comprehension,​ ​vocabulary,​ ​and​ ​motivation outcomes​ ​for​ ​students​ ​in​ ​grades​ ​3-12​ ​by​ ​providing:​ ​1)​ ​high-interest​ ​nonfiction​ ​content​ ​that’s​ ​accessible for​ ​everyone;​ ​2)​ ​a​ ​library​ ​of​ ​content​ ​that​ ​covers​ ​a​ ​wide​ ​range​ ​of​ ​topics​ ​to​ ​motivate​ ​readers​ ​of​ ​all​ ​ages and​ ​ethnic​ ​groups;​ ​3)​ ​texts​ ​at​ ​an​ ​appropriate​ ​reading​ ​level​ ​with​ ​a​ ​rich​ ​vocabulary;​ ​and​ ​4)​ ​the​ ​ability​ ​for teachers,​ ​parents,​ ​and​ ​students​ ​to​ ​review​ ​progress​ ​in​ ​a​ ​timely,​ ​actionable​ ​way.
Hypothesis
The research team conducted an independent evaluation of [The digital reading resource] to determine whether students who used [The digital reading resource] twice a week for a minimum of 12 weeks would see an increase in reading proficiency over a control group of students receiving business-as-usual instruction.

Study Population
The sample was comprised of 1,238 ​5th​​ ​grade​ ​students (53% male, 47% female) and 63 teachers in​ ​two​ ​large,​ ​diverse​ ​districts​ ​in​ ​CA and​ ​FL. The race/ethnicity of the sample included: 4% Asian, 21% Black, 13% Latino, 32% White, and 27% other. The majority (53%) of the sample had a home language of English, while 38% and 5% spoke Spanish or another language respectively.

Methods
For the efficacy study, a true, group-randomized, experimental design was used to control for most threats to internal validity (Cook & Campbell, 1979; Murray, 1998) where teachers were randomly assigned into treatment (access to Newsela, n=32) and control (business-as-usual English Language Arts instruction, n=31) conditions. The study relied on hierarchical modeling techniques to determine whether the Newsela intervention treatment was more effective than business-as-usual for improving reading proficiency on the STAR Reading Assessment and the Motivation to Read Survey. Student demographics (i.e., gender, ethnicity, and EL status) and student baseline reading comprehension and motivation were included as moderators of interest. For the formative research study, additional data were collected via teacher interviews with a select sample of 10 treatment teachers and surveys of all participating teachers from both conditions in order to make recommendations regarding usability, feasibility and social validity.

Results
When we compared the control group to the treatment group, students who used [The digital reading resource] at recommended dosage saw an additional growth of 113% in size compared to the BAU group. A small percentage of students (6%) used [The digital reading resource] daily, and they saw an additional 255% growth in reading comprehension when compared to the BAU group.

The​ ​effect​ ​for​ ​the​ ​​Motivation​ ​to​ ​Read​ ​Profile​​ ​was​ ​consistently​ ​positive,​ ​particularly​ ​in​ ​FL​ ​where​ ​effect sizes​ ​ranged​ ​from​ ​0.19​ ​to​ ​0.24. In​ ​the​ ​formative​ ​study,​ ​teacher​ ​interviews​ ​and​ ​surveys​ ​revealed​ ​that​ ​teachers’​ ​philosophies and district standards​ ​around reading​ ​instruction​ ​aligned​ ​with​ ​[The digital reading resource]’s​ ​theoretical​ ​framework.

Authors

• Dan Cogan-Drew, Newsela
  Presenting Author

• Kylie Flynn, WestEd
  Non-Presenting Author

• Larry Thomas, WestEd
  Non-Presenting Author