Achieve3000 High School Lexile Study

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National High School Lexile Study National Lexile Study Number of Schools 700 Number of Students 54,158Achieve3000 Solutions ®KidBiz3000®, TeenBiz3000®, and Empower3000™: These research–based solutions extend teachers’The first Web-based, differentiated literacy solutions reach without increasing workloads or time de-that reach every student at his or her Lexile® level. mands and are proven to accelerate reading com-Powered by a proprietary software engine that dis- prehension, fluency, writing proficiency, vocabularytributes grade–appropriate assignments to the entire development, and high-stakes test scores.class, but tailors them according to each student’sreading level, Achieve3000 Solutions enables teach-ers to move their students up surely and steadily,level by level.

National High School Lexile Study Executive Summary In a national study of high school students using Empower3000, students more than tripled their expected growth norms. Students exceeded their “expected” Lexile 125 gains by 68 points 100Lexile Points 75 50 25 0 ■ Key Findings • Students at all grade levels made significant gains • According to national data, high school English Lan- compared to gains expected with “normal” instruc- guage Learners made nearly three-and-a-half times tion, more than tripling the expected growth norms. their expected Lexile gains and gained an average of 237 Lexile points. • Students reading two or more years below grade level at the beginning of the school year made gains • The quality of the work and the number of reading of nearly three-and-a-half times the expected growth sessions that students submit on Achieve3000 norms, effectively closing the gap for the most strug- are statistically significant predictors of their Lexile gling readers. performance. • Students who completed at least two reading sessions per week made the highest Lexile gains on average, more than four times the expected growth norms. 1

National High School Lexile Study Results that Count: Achieve3000 Increases High School Student Performance at All Levels 9th-grade students exceeded their expected Lexile gains by 71 points Students across all highLexile Points school grade levels and populations made significant gains in Lexile reading performance over and above the gains expected with regular instruction. 9 10 11 12 Grades Methodology Lexile Measurement of Reading Growth: To determine the effects of Empower on the literacy developed in partnership with MetaMetrics™, delivers a development of students, Achieve3000 designed a Lexile score for the student. The actual growth achieved study measuring student Lexile growth with a pre- and is compared to the expected yearly growth norms, a a post-test using the LevelSet™ assessment. LevelSet, MetaMetrics calculation.1 ■ The Assessment Measure Developed by Achieve3000 in conjunction with Meta- to reading and text measurement that has become the Metrics Inc., LevelSet offers a scientific means of match- most widely adopted reading measure in use today. ing students to informational texts. Developed by MetaMetrics Inc., Lexile measures are the result of more than 20 years of ongoing research. LevelSet is administered up to three times yearly—an initial assessment to establish a baseline score (based A key advantage of the Lexile scale is that the Lexile on the Lexile Framework®) at the beginning of the school Framework measures both text and reader using the year, an interim assessment halfway through the school same scale. This means that the ability to comprehend year, and a post-assessment at the end of the school and the material being comprehended are being evalu- year—providing a summative measurement of student ated by the same criteria, lending it greater scientific progress. The Lexile Framework is a scientific approach validity. 2

National High School Lexile StudyClosing the Gap: Results with Our MostStruggling ReadersAccording to national data, high school students reading two or more years below grade level made nearlythree-and-a-half times the expected Lexile reading gains. Average Lexile gain of 126 points 160 88-point Lexile gain; this is nearly three-and-a-half 120 times the expected LexileLexile Points growth. 80 40 0Struggling readers across all grade levels using Empower3000 made significant growth over and abovethat expected with normal instruction. 10th-grade students exceeded their expected Lexile gains by 93 points Below-level readers across all high school grade levels andLexile Points populations made significant gains in Lexile reading performance over and above the gains expected with regular instruction. 9 10 11 12 Grades 3

National High School Lexile Study Closing the Gap: English Language Learners In a study of high school English Language Learners, students made nearly three-and-a-half times the expected Lexile reading gains. Average Lexile gain of 237 points 167-point Lexile gain above the average expected growth; this is nearly three-and-a-halfLexile Points times the expected Lexile growth of 70 points Closing the Gap: Special Education Students In a study of high school Special Education students, students made nearly double the expected Lexile gains. Average Lexile gain of 106 points 47-point Lexile gain above the average expected growth; this is nearly double the Lexile Points expected Lexile growth of 59 points. 4

National High School Lexile StudyEffect of Frequency of Program Use on Lexile GainsNumber of Reading Sessions CompletedAchieve3000 found a statistically significant relationship between the number of reading sessions completedon Achieve3000 Solutions and student nonfiction Lexile/reading growth. High school students who used theprogram at least twice weekly made the highest Lexile gains, more than four times the expected growth norms.Frequency of Usage Results for High School Students * The number of reading sessions that a student completes on Achieve3000 is a predictor of his or her Lexile performance gains. Students using program less Students using program at Students using program than once weekly: least once weekly: at least twice weekly: Average Lexile gain of 89 points Average Lexile gain of 107 points Average Lexile gain of 128 points 58-point Lexile gain above the average 76-point Lexile gain above the average 97-point Lexile gain above the average expected growth; this is nearly triple the expected growth; this is nearly three- expected growth; this is more than four expected growth and-a-half times the expected growth times the expected growthIn order to assess the effect of the frequency of use on student Lexile gains, Achieve3000 assigned students fromwithin its study to one of the following categories:•Group 1 (1–39): Fewer than 40 •Group 2 (40–79): 40-79 read- •Group 3 (80+): 80 or more read- reading sessions completed over ing sessions completed over the ing sessions completed over the the 10-month school year; fewer 10-month school year; between one 10-month school year; two or than one reading session weekly. and two reading sessions weekly. more reading sessions weekly. 5

National High School Lexile StudyEffect of Usage for High School Students using program less than once weekly:English Language Learners Average Lexile gain of 216 points 146-point Lexile gain above the average expected growth; this is more than triple the expected growth Students using program between once and twice weekly: Average Lexile gain of 258 points 188-point Lexile gain above the average expected growth; this is more than three- and-a-half times the expected growth Students using program at least twice weekly: Average Lexile gain of 289 points 219-point Lexile gain above the average expected growth; this is more than four times the expected growthEffect of Usage for High SchoolSpecial Education Students Students using program less than twice weekly: Average Lexile gain of 95 points 36-point Lexile gain above the average expected growth; this is more than one- and-a-half times the expected growth Students using program at least twice weekly: Average Lexile gain of 186 points 127-point Lexile gain above the average expected growth; this is more than triple the expected growth 6

National High School Lexile StudyEffect of Quality of Program Use on Lexile GainsReading Activity ScoresIn addition to analyzing the frequency of use, Achieve3000 also analyzed the quality of program use. Themultiple-choice activity is a critical component of the Five-Step Literacy Routine and is a simple indicator ofthe degree to which students are applying themselves to the program. This formative assessment allowsprogress monitoring of overall understanding of the text read.Quality of Usage Results for High School Students To assess the effect of the quality of use on student Lexile gains, Achieve3000 assigned students from within its study to one of the following categories: •Group 1 (Less than 65% or greater than 90%): Students who averaged less than 65% or greater than 90% on the multiple-choice portion of the Five- Step Literacy Routine. •Group 2 (Between 65% and 90%, Students averaging less than Students averaging between inclusive): Students who averaged 65% or greater than 90%: 65% and 90%, inclusive: between 65% and 90%, inclusive, on the multiple-choice portion of the Five- Average Lexile gain of 82 points Average Lexile gain of 115 points Step Literacy Routine. A score within this range typically indicates that the student is applying himself to his work 51-point Lexile gain above the 84-point Lexile gain above the aver- and reading in his instructional zone. average expected growth; this is age expected growth; this is more Achieve3000 recommends that teach- more than two-and-a-half times the than three-and-a-half times the ers monitor student scores to ensure expected growth expected growth performance in this range. 7

National High School Lexile StudyEffect of Quality of Program Use on High SchoolEnglish Language Learners Students averaging less than 65% or greater than 90%: Average Lexile gain of 216 points 146-point Lexile gain above the average expected growth; this is more than triple the expected growth Students averaging between 65% and 90%, inclusive: Average Lexile gain of 281 points 211-point Lexile gain above the average expected growth; this is more than four times the expected growthEffect of Quality of Program Use on High SchoolSpecial Education Students averaging less than 65% or greater than 90%: Average Lexile gain of 101 points 42-point Lexile gain above the average expected growth; this is more than one- and-a-half times the expected growth Students averaging between 65% and 90%, inclusive: Average Lexile gain of 127 points 68-point Lexile gain above the average expected growth; this is more than double the expected growth 8

National High School Lexile Study Reading Connections: Explicit Reading Comprehension Strategy Instruction and Application Achieve3000 provides explicit instruction on the seven key comprehension strategies for informational text. Two new features of the program, the Lesson Plans and the Reading Connections, help address this need. The Lesson Plans that provide this direct, explicit instruction are available within the Learning Center, and one lesson plan is always attached to the daily article. Within each article, students are encouraged to apply the strategies of summarization and generating questions. Reading Connections Results for High School StudentsLexile Points ■ Key Findings: • Students completing 15 or more Reading Connections • Students completing 15 or more Reading Connections over the course of the school year averaged Lexile had one-and-a-quarter times the Lexile growth com- gains of 120 points, nearly four times the expected pared to students not completing Reading Connec- growth. tions, with average Lexile gains of 24 points more for the school year. 9

National High School Lexile Study Graded Thought Questions: The Reading-Writing Connection Research shows a direct connection between reading and writing. Writing instruction helps improve reading comprehension. The Thought Question is the fourth step in the Five-Step Literacy Routine and purposefully engages students in a formal writing process that allows them to apply knowledge they have acquired and express their thoughts through writing. Thought Questions Results for All High School StudentsLexile Points ■ Key Findings: • Students who completed fewer than one Thought • Students who completed at least two Thought Ques- Question per week averaged gains of 98 Lexile points, tions per week averaged Lexile gains of 137 Lexile more than triple the expected Lexile growth. points, nearly four-and-a-half times the expected Lexile growth. • Students who completed between one and two Thought Questions per week averaged Lexile gains of • Completing Thought Questions is associated with 115 Lexile points, more than three-and-a-half times significant gains in Lexile reading scores, with students the expected Lexile growth. completing two or more per week outperforming students completing fewer than one per week by 39 Lexile points. 10

National High School Lexile StudyAfter School UsageResearch on adolescent literacy suggests that the amount of reading students do during out-of-schoolhours is an accurate predictor of their in-school academic achievement. If after-school programs can mo-tivate young people to read more and explore their interests through reading, this research suggests thatacademic performance will improve. 64% of Achieve3000 High Schools high school students After School Usage across the nation logged in after 64% school hours. These students logged in 540,101 times after school during the 2009-2010 school year. 11

National High School Lexile StudyEndnotes:¹ Normal Growth—Using MetaMetrics’ findings on growth norms to calculate the expected monthly growthexpected yearly growth norms, Achieve3000 calculated for a student at that reading level. Achieve3000 thenthe expected Lexile gain for each student. This calcula- multiplied the expected monthly growth by the numbertion was based on the length of time from the student’s of months the student spent on the program to arrive atpre- to post-test as well as the student’s initial reading an “expected Lexile gain” score for each student.level. Achieve3000 first used MetaMetrics’ expectedAppendixReferring to Page 5: Effect of Frequency of Program Use on Lexile GainsWhen a comparison of means was performed between group (p = .05). An analysis of variance (ANOVA) wasthe three usage categories (1–39, 40-79, 80+), a sta- performed to compare the group means.tistically significant difference was found between eachANOVA – Lexile Gains Sum of Mean df F Sig. Squares Square Between Groups 8998483 2 4499241.687 134.284 .000 Within Groups 1.8E+009 54155 33505.456 Total 1.8E+009 54157A Bonferroni post-hoc test found that all three groups were statistically significantly different from each other (see below).Bonferroni Test - Multiple ComparisonsDependent Variable: Actual Lexile Gain 95% Confidence Interval (I) Overall Reading (J) Overall Reading Mean Differ- Std. Error Sig. Sessions Sessions Groups ence (I-J) Lower Bound Upper Bound 40-79 -17.983(*) 1.734 .000 -22.13 -13.83 1–39 80+ -39.056(*) 2.645 .000 -45.39 -32.72 1-39 17.983(*) 1.734 .000 13.83 22.13 40–79 80+ -21.073(*) 2.802 .000 -27.78 -14.36 1-39 39.056(*) 2.645 .000 32.72 45.39 80+ 40-79 21.073(*) 2.802 .000 14.36 27.78* The mean difference is significant at the .05 level. 12

National High School Lexile StudyReferring to Page 7: Effect of Quality of Program Use on Lexile GainsWhen a comparison of means was performed between groups (p = .05). The students who averaged betweenthe two usage categories (less than 65% or greater 65% and 90%, inclusive, on their activities made signifi-than 90%; between 65% and 90%, inclusive) a statisti- cantly higher Lexile gains.cally significant difference was found between the usageIndependent Samples Test – Lexile Gains t-test for Equality of Means Sig. Mean Dif- Std. Error 95% Confidence Inter- t df (2-tailed) ference Difference val of the Difference Equal variances -21.259 54156 .000 -33.400 1.571 -36.480 -30.321 assumed Equal variances -21.282 54129.718 .000 -33.400 1.569 -36.477 -30.324 not assumedGroup Statistics Average Std. Error N Mean Std. Deviation Activity Score Mean Actual Lexile Less than 65% or 26282 81.61 179.242 1.106 Gain greater than 90% Between 65% and 27876 115.01 185.970 1.114 90%, inclusive 13

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Achieve3000 High School Lexile Study

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