When a little bit means a lot: The effects of a short‐term reading program on economically disadvantaged elementary schoolers

Abstract The effect of two short‐term summer school intervention programs on the reading achievement of elementary school children at‐risk for academic failure was investigated. Children entering second through fourth grades in the fall were given short (three week) reading intervention programs in either a school‐ based program or one designed and implemented by a for‐profit company specializing in enhancing student academic achievement. Children entering grade one in the fall did not receive the for‐profit condition. For children entering grade one, significant reading improvement was found for the summer based program over a control group which received no intervention. For children in grades two through four, children in both the school based and the for‐profit groups made significant reading improvement over the control group. The findings are discussed in terms of the relative costs and contact hours of the two intervention programs and the implications of the power of a short‐term relatively inexpensive school based program on the reading achievement of students seriously at‐risk for reading failure.