Closing the Literacy Gap: A Study of Read 180 and Differentiated Reading

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to compare the effect of two remedial readingprograms on closing the literacy gap. This study was set in a suburban school district(District X) in the Midwest outside of Kansas City. The population consisted of 8th gradestudents enrolled in the Read 180 program during the 2009-2011 school years, andstudents enrolled in Differentiated Reading during the 2011-2012 school year. Duringthe course of this study the district aligned the English curriculum across the district, andthe Differentiated Reading program was developed to assist students who wereperforming below grade level. This study was designed to determine which program wasmost effective in increasing student achievement as measured by the Scholastic ReadingInventory (SRI) assessment and the Communication Arts portion of the MissouriAssessment Program (MAP) assessment. Academic Achievement as measured by theSRI assessment was the first dependent variable. The independent variables included thereading program (Read 180 or Differentiated Reading), socioeconomic status(Free/Reduced or Full Pay), gender, and ethnicity (Minority or Non-minority) of thestudents enrolled. Analyses used to address the research questions revealed a significantdifference between students enrolled in Differentiated Reading and students enrolled inRead 180 as measured by the SRI scores. Specifically a significant difference was foundbetween male students enrolled in Differentiated Reading and male students enrolled inRead 180. However, most of the analyses revealed no significant difference inachievement as measured by SRI scores or CA MAP scores between students enrolled inRead 180 or Differentiated Reading. Recommendations for future research include acohort study to determine student growth over multiple years in the Differentiated Reading program. Additionally, it is recommended that the study be expanded to includea qualitative component that analyzes the student and teacher perceptions of theeffectiveness of the Differentiated Reading program compared to the effectiveness of theRead 180 program.