Project Summary

The Springfield and Chicopee, MA school districts contracted with The Education Alliance to assess the impact on student achievement of the U.S. Department of Education's Striving Readers program, using a randomized control trial in five high schools. The objective is to test the effectiveness of Read 180 developed by Scholastic, Inc. and Xtreme Reading, part of the Content Literacy Continuum developed by the University of Kansas for high school students who are reading at least two years below grade level.

The evaluation is also focused on a rigorous assessment of the implementation and impact of a school-wide literacy program, Content Enhancement Routines for Teachers, also developed by the University of Kansas. Evaluation methods include hierarchical linear modeling and an interrupted time series analysis. Evaluators also assess overall implementation, with a particular emphasis on intervention fidelity in classrooms.