READ 180: Alvord Unified School District

Data from the California Standards Test of English Language Arts (CST ELA) and the Reading Inventory^® were collected from 83 READ 180 after-school students (46 fourth graders and 37 fifth graders) in the 2010–2011 school year (Cohort 1) and 126 after-school students (47 fourth graders and 79 fifth graders) in the 2011– 2012 school year (Cohort 2).

As Graph 1 displays, in Cohort 1, both fourth and fifth graders demonstrated gains in reading achievement after one year of READ 180, as measured by the CST ELA. The percentage of students scoring at the Basic, Proficient, and Advanced levels increased from 46% in 2010 to 70% in 2011. In tandem, the percentage of students scoring at the Below Basic and Far Below Basic levels decreased from 55% in 2010 to 30% in 2011. As Graph 2 displays, in Cohort 2, both fourth and fifth graders again demonstrated gains in reading achievement after one year of READ 180, as measured by the CST ELA. The percentage of students scoring at the Basic, Proficient, and Advanced levels increased from 48% in 2011 to 80% in 2012. In tandem, the percentage of students scoring at the Below Basic and Far Below Basic levels decreased from 52% in 2011 to 19% in 2012.

These findings held for students with disabilities and ELs, who also showed improvements on the CST ELA. In Cohort 1, 75% of students with disabilities and 45% of ELs improved one or more performance levels. Forty-eight percent of students overall made such improvements. In Cohort 2, 33% of students with disabilities and 56% of ELs improved one or more performance levels. Fifty-six percent of students overall made such improvements.

Consistent with the CST ELA findings, both fourth- and fifth-grade READ 180 students evidenced significant gains in reading comprehension (Table 1). In Cohort 1, READ 180 students made statistically significant gains on the Reading Inventory from pretest to posttest. Forty-six percent of fourth graders exceeded their individual fall-to-spring Lexile^® growth expectations, as did 54% of fifth graders. Similarly, in Cohort 2, READ 180 students made statistically significant gains on the Reading Inventory from pretest to posttest. Fifty-one percent of fourth graders exceeded their individual fall-to-spring Lexile growth expectations, as did 51% of fifth graders.

Again, these findings held for students with disabilities and ELs. In Cohort 1, READ 180 students with disabilities made statistically significant gains on the Reading Inventory from pretest to posttest, as did ELs. Twenty-five percent of students with disabilities exceeded their individual fall-to-spring Lexile growth expectations, and 45% of ELs exceeded their individual fall-to-spring Lexile growth expectations. In Cohort 2, READ 180 students with disabilities again made statistically significant gains on the Reading Inventory from pretest to posttest, as did ELs. Seventy-five percent of students with disabilities exceeded their fall-to-spring Lexile growth expectations, and 43% of ELs exceeded their fall-to-spring Lexile growth expectations.