Righting Reading in Middle School: Readable English Helps Underperforming Adolescent Readers

Abstract

This study measured the effectiveness of Readable English, a reading fluency and comprehension program, on underperforming sixth, seventh, and eighth grade rural, American English-speaking students over the course of one school year. Students were randomly assigned to either the intervention condition ( n = 167) or the typical practice condition ( n = 177). Middle school students in the intervention condition scored statistically significantly higher than students in the typical practice condition on measures of EasyCBM CCSS Comprehension (partial η 2 effect size [ES] = 0.10 [moderate]), EasyCBM Passage Reading Fluency (PRF) rate (ES = 0.18 [large]), EasyCBM PRF reading accuracy (ES= 0.08 [moderate]), WRMT-3 Oral Reading Fluency (ES = 0.13 [approaching large]), and WRMT-3 Passage Comprehension (ES = 0.25 [large]). Moderate grade level growth in measures of oral reading fluency led to extensive growth of reading comprehension skills. The eyewatering cost estimates to accelerate reading remediation per middle school student ($800 to $3,800 per student) and the paucity of research-proven interventions require innovating ways to combine and leverage the benefits of technology and intensive, effective curriculum instruction. The data show that Readable English is a strong reading program able to close reading gaps and grow students to grade level reading proficiency.