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An Analysis of the effectiveness of the READ 180 Reading intervention Program

CollaborativeActionResearchProjectProposal
Vanessa Vitiello
William Paterson University
EDLP6030-60
December 12, 2014

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Introduction
A student stares out the window at the missing shingles on the roofs of the neighboring
houses. Shes idly planning out her grocery-shopping list in her head; shes in charge of cooking
for her family. Her teacher drones on about The Giver, questioning the unresponsive class about
Lowrys symbolism. Three students dutifully listen on and take notes while many in the class
daydream or chat quietly about their own teenage lives. This is the reality of what is happening
in Language Arts classrooms.
Society as a whole pays a cost for this disengagement; Torgenson (2002) notes that children
with low reading skills become adults with low reading skills, making it difficult for these
individuals to find jobs in a job market that demands increasingly higher levels of literacy. It is
the job of schools to ensure that these students are prepared for the future. One of the largest
factors in overall student academic achievement is reading level. However, students who begin
kindergarten eager to learn are often unmotivated by eighth grade, with truancy rates rising with
each grade level (U.S. Department of Education).
The Academy of Earth and Space Science (PANTHER) has been utilizing Scholastic's READ
180 program with students who score below grade level upon entry into the school their
Freshman year. In an effort to increase student Lexile levels the program is being utilized district
wide. The course is titled Strategic Reading and has been a mandatory entry level course for the
majority of the incoming freshman for the past five years. The program is designed to meet the
specific needs of students whose reading comprehension and achievement is below grade level.
The program blends instruction from the teacher in both whole class and small group instruction
with innovative computer software that tracks students' progress and customizes instruction to

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their individualized needs. According to Scholastic, in order to see progress, it is essential for
students to follow the rotational schedule and spend an equal amount of time gaining instruction
in differentiated forms through small group rotation.
The Strategic Reading course has been taught for five years to varying degrees of success in
relation to the improvement of student Lexile scores. In the past the program was not
implemented at PANTHER Academy as directed by Scholastic. The school only supplied three
of the six necessary components. This academic year the program is being implemented with all
six necessary components. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the value of the READ 180
program and determine if the Strategic Reading course can be implemented to greater effect
when all six components are practiced. When PANTHER completely adopts the READ 180
program and follows the structured guidelines set by Scholastic how will it affect student
motivation, reading compression and fluency for freshman in English I?
The READ 180 program requires instructional technology to implement the topic software
that guides student individualized spelling, reading fluency, comprehension and vocabulary
instruction. The technology component of the program has been provided to past cohorts. A
library that provides a range of literary text for sustained silent reading is used for both
independent and modeled reading through audio books. A comfortable reading area is strongly
recommended to enable the students to relax and appreciate the literature. The components for
the reading center have not be provided in the past. Daily small group and whole group
instruction focusing on informational text is part of the program. The whole group component of
the program has not been provided daily in past cohorts however small group instruction has
been observed. The program recommends that the class consist of three groups of no more than
five students for the most efficient results. This is not a component that was followed last year.

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Students should be exposed to each learning center for twenty minutes daily and this requires a
time frame of at least eighty minutes. This year will be the first year PANTHER is providing
students with a class period that allows a sufficient amount of time to access all areas of
instruction daily.
Components of READ 180

2013/2014 Year One

2014/2015 Year Two

Reading Library

Yes (limited)

Yes (complete)

Reading Center

No

Yes

Small Group

Yes

Yes

Whole Group

No

Yes

Compute Center

Yes

Yes

80 Minute Period

No

Yes

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Literature Review
There is much research that indicates a structured program like READ 180 is enormously
beneficial for at risk student success. Calhoon et al. (2010) conducted a study that supports the
methodology of READ 180. It explored the arrangement and the implementation of successful
methods in teaching reading skills in corrective reading programs. After debating if there could
be a better way to design remedial reading programs to maximize students with reading
disabilities response to treatment, the authors found adding specific interventions tailored to a
students need, as opposed to general group interventions, increased reading comprehension.
Papalewis (2004) identified five traits of positive reading mediations for secondary level students
that are utilized in the READ 180 program and enhanced student-reading skills:
(a) Assessment of individual student needs
(b) Use of appropriate instructional materials
(c) Use of specific accelerative teaching strategies
(d) Creation of fluent responders
(e) Recognition of student success.
She further argued the focus on intervention strategies as opposed to remedial teaching was
most beneficial for older, struggling readers because generalized reading workbooks taught by
paraprofessionals were avoided and, instead, individualized instruction was employed from
trained teachers that used research-based strategies.
Historically
Reading standards provide a framework for teachers and students to follow. These standards
allowed states to monitor and assess the progress of each student through such methods as the
Standardized Testing and Reporting Program (STAR) and the high school proficiency assessment

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(HSPA). In many Title I districts such as Paterson New Jersey the scores that are being produced
are not meeting state standards.
In response to the national adolescent literacy crisis, the United States Federal Government
attempted to overhaul literacy and academic expectations in a new education reform, the No
Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB, 2001). However, policy makers have given little
attention to the middle and high school levels, where students continue to struggle in the area of
literacy (Miller, 2014). There are enormous needs specific to older struggling readers.
According to Wanzek et al. (2010) students with poor reading scores at the 9th grade level needed
a wide variety of comprehension and vocabulary skills with well-defined instruction to improve
their reading ability. The issues of the students challenged their teachers because students were
often disengaged due to numerous literacy needs that were compounded through the years.
By middle school, students report less motivation to read (Unrau, 2006); yet reading
independently, on ones own without direct guidance from a teacher or peer, is highly correlated
with academic achievement (Cunningham & Stanovich, 1998). The amount of time students
spend reading independently has also been shown to be correlated with increased vocabulary as
well as better comprehension (Cullinan, 2000). Students who complete homework gain
additional time practicing skills learned at home, and this results in higher academic achievement
(Flowers & Flowers, 2008). This association between time spent practicing independently and
school achievement also applies to independent reading, where students who spend more time
reading independently experience greater school success (Greaney, 1980). The Core Curriculum
State Standards is an approach implemented in an effort to alleviate the achievement gap and
increase student achievement in the areas of reading and writing (Common Core State Standards
Initiative).

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Reading Interventions
Reading Intervention programs have been praised as well as criticized over the years. There
have been differences in findings regarding the results of studies lead to determine the success of
such programs. Slavin et al. (2008) conducted a best- evidence synthesis of effective reading
programs at the secondary level (as cited by Murrey, 2014). The results indicated Compass
Learning a computer assisted reading program offered no significant results. The Reading Edge,
which emphasizes cooperative learning, presented a decline in overall motivation of students.
The Peer Assisted Learning Strategies (PALS) also a cooperative learning program revealed no
significant difference in reading fluency. The Accelerated Reader program based on
individualized leveled reading showed limited evidence of strength.
READ 180
The READ 180 program is directed to help struggling readers and has been based on over 25
years of literacy research. It was initiated based on Ted Hasselbrings research with the basic
goal of upward movement in literacy skills. Hasselbrings research team at Vanderbilt University
began studying issues in adolescent literacy in 1985 (Hasselbring, 1999). They decided to look at
how technology impacts literacy. His research indicated that there are four essential skills that all
struggling readers must master: phonemic awareness, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.
Based on this concept he found there was a potential for improvement with older adolescent
students and this became the basis for READ 180. The essential principles of the program have
remained the same since the beginning. Using a combination of three main components
including instructional reading, modeled and independent reading strategies, this program offers
students the opportunity to achieve reading fluency (Hasselbring, 1999).

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Purpose and Research Question

NJASK 5
NJASK 6
NJASK 7
NJASK 8

Reading Scoresi NJASK 2012/2013

Total
Proficiency
School
Points
Score
20.0
11.8
8.7
18.0
9.2
7.5
18.0
9.8
8.1
18.0
9.3
8.8

District

State

10.6
8.4
9.1
9.4

12.0
9.7
10.4
10.7

Many students do not come to high school with the necessary tools to achieve their desired
results. Reading comprehension, decoding and vocabulary skills are important for students to
succeed in all courses. READ 180 is a program that has a primary focus on these areas. Since
this program is used to bring students up to grade level quickly it is relevant to determine how
effective it is in accomplishing this task. This research study is guided by two primary research
questions. What are the results when comparing this years freshman students literacy skill with
students who did not have access to the complete program but also participated in the Strategic
Reading course last year? Can the course Strategic Reading be improved or expanded?

Napier Academy was randomly selected for NJASK data.

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IchosetouseaVenndiagramtoillustratetheconnectionbetweenthetopicquestionandsub
questions.TheVenndiagramshowshowbothofthesubquestionsarerelatedtoeachotheras
wellasthetopic.Thisdiagramdemonstratesallpossiblelogicalrelationsbetweenthequestions
inthecleanestform.UsingtheVenndiagramthequestionsandtopicarevisualizedasaunionof
twosets,topicquestionandsubtopicquestion,aswellassubquestionandsubquestion.
In order to fully grasp the effect of READ 180 on all students it is important to include all
students. Inclusion is widely practiced in PANTHER Academy and collaboration is a strategy
that many teachers utilize on a regular basis. I and one other teacher, who would like to
collaborate with me, teach a Strategic Reading course. Collaboration will also take place with
freshman English teachers by surveying student progress in English I next semester after
students have completed the Strategic Reading course.
The teachers at PANTHER are eager to acquire statistics and resources that will help them to
increase student performance, not only for the students benefit but also for their own
improvement regarding the evaluation process concerning Student Growth Objectives (SGOs).
Student progress will be monitored using surveys, standardized tests and interviews. To ensure
objective results the administration will monitor students scores. This will take place during
SGO evaluations and walk through observations. All Strategic Reading students will be involved
in monitoring their own progression as well through the programs computer generated reports.
READ 180 is a structured routine program that targets skill development in many significant
areas. Phonics is a skill that is not a primary focus in many schools and is instead fused into the
Language Arts curriculum through other means. The lack of specific phonemic instruction has
caused many students to fall behind. Phonemic Awareness and Phonics skills have been

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instrumental components when teaching students to read. "Yet, recognizing the emphasis placed
on reading by both state and federal accountability measures, the problem lies in risking a
student performance decline on reading assessments as a result of combining reading with ELA
instruction into a single class" (Bigham, 2014). The READ 180 program develops fluency
through repeated reading in the software, modeled reading in the audiobooks and eReads. There
are also structured engagement techniques conducted by the teacher and independent reading text
comprehension that are utilized on a daily basis (Scholastic).

Another aspect of the program is that texts are carefully measured for text qualities such as
levels of meaning, structure, knowledge demands, and language clarity. To keep students
engaged the software and the rBook instruction uses motivating videos to help students build
mental models that promote text comprehension. The academic vocabulary is supported through
explicit instruction in the rBooks as well as the systematic introduction of content-relevant
vocabulary in the software. Another asset of the rBook is that it presents carefully scaffolded
instruction on the key types of writing such as essays that are argumentative,

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11

informational/explanatory, and narrative. The inclusion of whole- and small-group differentiated

writing instruction moves students from teacher-led paragraph and multi-paragraph rBook
writing to independent practice. The small group instruction helps to ensure that students are
keeping up with instruction and allows the instructor the opportunity to develop individualized
lessons based on student needs.
Last

but not least, interest levels when engaging students in literacy has been proven to be

extremely important and 50% of READ 180 readings focus on diverse people and cultures both
within and outside of the United States college and career readiness skills. In effect, to better
facilitate READ 180s targeted skills, each rBook Workshop focuses on informational articles,
which target higher order thinking skills that are designed to help students analyze, synthesize,
and evaluate (Scholastic).
With a collection of tools that are believed to enable accelerated growth effectiveness, it is
hypothesized that READ 180 students who participate in the program as directed who have
access to all materials required by the program will consistently outperform the group of students
who did not have access to the proper resources. Additionally, data from schools across the
country show that when READ 180 is implemented with fidelity, students frequently improve
their reading levels by 25 years of growth as measured by Lexiles (Scholastic). Scholastic
claims the READ 180 program has been proven to improve performance on state test results,
reduce the dropout rate improve reading achievement for African-American students, NativeAmerican students, Latino students as well as improve reading achievement for English language
learners and students who receive special education services.

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Methodology
The goal of this research experiment is to determine if READ 180 is more effective when
followed to specifications when improving literacy and students to read regularly at home. The
research centers around monitoring students who participated in the program during the 20132014 academic year and comparing them to the students who are participating in the program
during the current 2014-2015 academic year as well as surveying the time students spend
autonomously reading at home. There will be a significant dependence on data collection via
student individualized progress reports provided by the programs computer based instructional
program and relying on participant honesty for this study. This is going to be a short range study
one semester and focuses on students reading below grade level in an effort to determine if
alternative forms of literature used in the READ 180 program would increase independent
reading and student academic progress.
The participants of this research study will be twenty 9th grade students ten of which
participated in the READ 180 program last year. The participants were chosen based on their
attendance records indicating that they will be in class at least 90% of the academic year. All
students began the program reading below grade level.
The student participants consist of African American and Hispanic ninth grade students. The
participants ranged from in age from thirteen to sixteen. Three of the participants are English
Language Learners (ELLs) and two are classified with Individual Education Plans. These
student participants are not pulled out of class for supplemental instruction or ELL services. The
reading levels of the participants were determined to be below grade level (partially proficient
and below basic) by means of the Scholastic Reading Inventory (SRI) and the STARS

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13

Renaissance standardized test. The STARS Renaissance was administered by the Paterson Public
School district and evaluated by Renaissance Incorporated. The SRI was administered by myself
and evaluated by Scholastic READ 180. The study focuses on below grade level students for the
purpose of determining if proper implementation of READ 180 improves at-risk students
progress and motivates them to read more for enjoyment.
The data collection will be completed using reading logs, student interest surveys, individual
student interviews, teacher interviews, data from STARS and the READ 180 computer program.
The comparison data collection period will be one semester, and the data will be analyzed using
the grounded theory approach using both Qualitative and Quantitative data. Elements from
experiencing, enquiring and examining the research will be used to help support the most reliable
findings.

Triangulation Matrix
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
Controlling Question:
If the school fully adopts
the READ 180 program
and follows the structured
guidelines set by
Scholastic how will it
affect the reading
comprehension and
fluency of 9th grade
students?

DATA SOURCE 1

DATA SOURCE 2

DATA SOURCE 3

Analysis of existing data

from computer center
2013-2014 as well as
scores from this academic
year.

Observations and field

notes. I will take detailed
logs recording student time
spent on task reading, level
of engagement, note taking
and classroom oral
participation.

Interview and survey of

second Reading teacher and
students who are in the
Strategic Reading class.

Experiencing Enquiring Examining

Experiencing Enquiring Examining

Experiencing Enquiring Examining

Subsidiary Question 1:
What are the results when
comparing this years
freshman students'
literacy skills and
independent reading with
students who participated
in and incomplete

Analysis of data sources Observation of students in

using Year One READ
10th grade Language Arts
180 results and Year Two classroom.
READ 180 results as well
as data obtained outside of
READ 180 via the
districts Renaissance and
Benchmark assessments

Interview and survey of 10th

grade Language Arts
teachers and students from
Year One who completed
the READ 180 program.

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program of READ 180
last year?

for Year One students.

14

Experiencing Enquiring Examining

Experiencing Enquiring Examining

Experiencing Enquiring Examining

Subsidiary Question 2:
How can the course
Strategic Reading be
improved or expanded?

Interview and survey of Interview and survey of

teachers at the conclusion Year Two students in the
of the study
Strategic Reading program
Experiencing Enquiring Examining
Experiencing Enquiring Examining

Data was collected from Year One in 2013/2014 and data will be collected during the
2014/2015 academic year to compare with Year Two. Year One students will be instructed by 10th
grade classroom teachers in all subject areas and will not receive any further supplemental
reading instruction. Year Two, participants will be instructed by their 9th grade classroom
teachers for all subject areas and will receive supplemental instruction for reading using the
READ 180 program. Students will be required to read at home for homework, keeping a daily
reading log. The students will also be evaluated on their reading comprehension by their
classroom teacher via classwork, homework and READ 180s SRI and the Success Zone.
The Success Zone is the fourth computer zone that appears only after students have
demonstrated mastery of all concepts of the Reading, Word and Spelling Zones. The computer
records and saves readings to the teachers server so that the teacher may evaluate progress. This
comparative study will determine if there is an increase in academic success and in the amount of
time spent reading at home when participants are given a choice of materials in contrast to when
material was chosen for them.
The controlling question of this study revolves around examining if the existing theory
presented by Scholastic regarding their READ 180 program being most successful when used as

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15

directed is valid when comparing differing levels of implementation. My students will be

observed and compared to students from a previous group and the evidence will suggest if the
programs claims are accurate in this situation.
Data was collected on the students comprehension, spelling, word recognition and
vocabulary last year. The same data is currently being collected on the students in the course this
year. Comparison of the data will help to demonstrate if there is a significant difference in
student success. Alternate sources of data that measure the same skills will be used to ensure
validity of students scores. The school district currently uses formative assessments to measure
student progress and areas of weakness examining these multiple sources of data will help check
for validity.
The benefit of teaching and having taught the students whose data will be used for
comparison last year will enable me to note similarities and differences. Students interaction and
classroom engagement can be a very useful tool when determining the effectiveness of a
program. The surveys and interviews will be conducted with both teacher and student input. This
year another teacher outside of my classroom will be teaching the program and her input will
help gather an objective viewpoint regarding the experiential data source for the study. Survey
and interviews with Language Arts teachers who are currently working with students who
completed the program last year will be used to evaluate whether students who completed the
course demonstrate any significant advantage over students who did not take the course. Student
surveys will be used to evaluate their point of view regarding the academic progress they have
noticed as a result of READ 180.

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REVERSE TIMELINE
December 1,
2015

Action Research Report due to Advisor

Summary of AR due to Advisor (30 credit
candidates)

November 1,
2015
October 1, 2015

Report of Findings due to Advisor

September 2015

Document findings and complete CARP

August 2015

Develop charts and organizers to analyze data.

July 2015

Begin developing portfolio-review and revise

literature review.

June 2015

Print final student data- distribute final surveyscollect student journals-interview students- sit with
cooperating reading teacher to compare results

May 2015

Administer 2nd round of teacher interviews and

student surveys.

April 2015

Administer 2nd Scholastic Reading Inventory (SRI)Review SRI, Benchmark and STARS data-Document
progress in both grade levels

March 2015

Begin comparing and recording data while

reevaluating data and validity based on comparison
with STARS-Begin teacher surveys and interviewsObserve students in class during program rotation
while taking detailed logs.

February 2015

Create Surveys, administer surveys and document

students initial scores through READ 180 and STARS
assessment dataAssign student journals for documentation of
independent reading.

January 2015

Request administrative permission to conduct action researchSend Letters to parents and students outlining my research and
goals for the project-Obtain signed forms giving permission for
student participation in the study

Revision of Sections I, II, II, IV due to advisor

(suggested)

16

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December 16,
2014

Action Research Proposal Submitted

17

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18

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