Evaluation of Middle School Reading Intervention Programs Using Student Growth on Gates-MacGinitie Reading Tests

• In Event: Roundtable Session 11
  In Roundtable Session: Evaluating Programs and Practices That Foster Literacy and Language Development

Abstract

This study compared academic effects of Language! Live with Corrective Reading, Soar to Success, and Wilson reading intervention programs for middle school students reading below grade level. Student progress was captured using beginning and end of year Gates-MacGinitie scores. Compared with the combination of the three intervention programs, results showed that Language! Live did not significantly outperform for Grade 6 students and most minority subgroups; underperformed significantly for Whites; and was not significant for Grade 7, Grade 8, and special education student groups. No significant gain differences among the four individual intervention programs were observed for all subgroups except for Whites. These results support existing literature which suggests gains in reading from reading intervention programs are program neutral.

Authors

• Mei-Hui Wang, Anne Arundel County Public Schools

• Christopher Grandieri, Anne Arundel County Public Schools

• Amanda R. Adley, Anne Arundel County Public Schools

• Kristy Pence, Anne Arundel County Public Schools