Across all grade groups, students in special education who completed 120+ Reading Plus lessons (about 50+ hours) during the school year achieved significantly larger reading proficiency gains than students who did not engage in Reading Plus instruction.

These results show that students in all tier groups who engaged in the recommended amount of Reading Plus instruction over the course of the 2018-2019 school year significantly increased their capacity to comprehend increasingly complex texts, developed their capacity to understand higher levels of general academic vocabulary, and improved their reading efficiency. Students who completed more Reading Plus lessons achieved significantly larger gains than their peers who engaged in little or no Reading Plus practice. The results also showed that students who engaged in more Reading Plus instruction developed more reading confidence and increased their interest in reading. This in turn increases the likelihood that they will continue to use reading as a means to expand their knowledge, to be entertained, and to seek inspiration.

Study Design:

This report describes the progress achieved by Reading Plus students who received special education services while enrolled in grades 2 through 12 during the 2018-2019 school year. Data are reported for all students who completed the Reading Plus InSight silent reading assessment on at least two occasions, once near the start of the school year and again during the spring, so that growth over the school year was measured.

Students Excluded
Students for whom valid reading rates could not be calculated.

Distribution of Students

• Elementary School (ES, Grades 2 through 5) n=899
• Middle School (MS, Grades 6 through 8) n=3,274
• High School (HS, Grades 9 through 12) n=3,655

Key Results:

Among students enrolled in special education, Reading Plus instruction generally had a positive effect on students’ self-reported reading interest and reading confidence (self-efficacy). Previous research has found that reading motivation and reading success are closely linked.

The post SPED National Results 2018-2019 School Year appeared first on Reading Plus.

This study focused on Special Education students identified by their schools as having specific learning disabilities (LD). Changes in the reading proficiency of these students were measured in relation to the amount of Reading Plus reading practice the students engaged in during the course of the 2013-14 school year. These outcomes were also compared with those of general education students.

Scores and levels on the reading portion of the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test 2.0 (FCAT) were used as the measure of reading achievement. At the time of the study, the FCAT was the standardized state test administered to all Florida public school students in grades three through ten.

Study Design:

Included in the study were students in grades 4-10 with valid 2013 and 2014 FCAT data (n = 111,881). Of these, 7,406 (6.6%) were classified as having specific learning disability.

Changes in scores and levels between the spring 2013 and spring 2014 administrations of the FCAT were examined in relation to LD status and the amount of reading practice students engaged in. The latter was quantified in terms of the number of reading practice lessons completed.

Key Results:

In all grade bands, a significant positive relationship was found between increasing amounts of Reading Plus practice and larger scale score gains on the FCAT (p < .001). This was true for all student groups regardless of their LD status.

As well, students who completed at least 100 Reading Plus lessons (~30 hours) were significantly more likely to advance from below satisfactory to satisfactory (FCAT level 3) or higher on the reading portion of the FCAT. This also was true regardless of a student’s LD status.

The post Raising the Reading Achievement of Students with Learning Disabilities appeared first on Reading Plus.