Ccir efficacy studies

Conspiracy Code™: Intensive Reading
Executive Summary
Research Base
Efficacy Study
November 2010

1
EXECUTIVE
SUMMARY
REPORT
Conspiracy
Code™:
Intensive
Reading
Research-‐Base
Documentation
Efficacy
Study
Report
BACKGROUND
AND
OBJECTIVE
The
Conspiracy
Code:
Intensive
Reading
program
was
developed
by
Florida
Virtual
School
(FLVS)
and
360Ed,
Inc.
to
deliver
content
within
an
online
game-‐based
environment
to
improve
student
reading
skills.
An
independent
research
firm,
Educational
Research
Institute
of
America
(ERIA),
was
contracted
to
perform
a
literature
search
providing
research-‐base
documentation
outlining
best
practices
as
identified
by
educational
experts
and
academic
research
in
the
area
of
reading
instruction
as
well
as
game-‐base
technology.
ERIA
also
executed
a
semester-‐long
study
with
high
school
teachers
and
students
to
determine
the
educational
efficacy
of
this
reading
improvement
program
compared
to
a
control
group.
METHODOLOGY
Location:
The
research
site
for
the
efficacy
study
was
a
high
school
with
approximate
enrollment
of
1,300
students
(grades
9-‐12)
located
in
the
urban
fringe
of
a
large
Florida
city.
Groups:
Both
a
Conspiracy
Code
Group
(90
students)
and
a
Control
Group
(90
students)
of
struggling
readers
were
selected
from
either
grade
9
or
10.
A
randomized
selection
of
students
was
not
possible
due
to
scheduling
limitations.
To
provide
quantifiable
results
of
reading
improvement,
students
in
each
group
were
given
the
same
pretest
and
posttest
to
measure
learning
gains.
Students
in
both
groups
were
identified
as
being
required
to
take
an
intensive
reading
course
based
on
their
Florida
Comprehensive
Assessment
Test:
Reading
(FCAT)
scores
from
the
spring
of
2009.
Each
of
these
students
scored
at
a
Level
1
(minimal
success
with
grade-‐level
content)
or
Level
2
(limited
success
with
grade-‐level
content).
The
Conspiracy
Code
students
received
instruction
in
a
computer
lab
while
the
Control
Group
classes
were
conducted
in
a
traditional
classroom.
Timeline:
The
study
took
place
over
the
second
semester
of
the
2009-‐2010
school
year.

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SUMMARY
The
literature
search
provided
an
abundance
of
research
support
for
melding
solid
pedagogy
with
online
game-‐based
technology
to
deliver
engaging
explicit
reading
instruction
to
strengthen
reading
skills
of
secondary
students.
Cognitive
neuroscience
research
(CNR)
and
related
brain-‐based
learning
(BBL)
principles
serve
as
the
pedagogical
foundations
for
Conspiracy
Code.
Conspiracy
Code’s
gameplay
design
and
assessment
architecture
are
modeled
around
the
12
principles
set
forth
in
the
Caine
and
Caine
research
of
brain/mind
learning.
The
design
team
also
considered
findings
from
Le
Tellier‘s
work
on
how
to
strengthen
and
build
long-‐term
memory.
Meta-‐analysis
supports
the
effectiveness
of
computer-‐assisted
instruction
(Liao,
1992;
Bayraktar,
2001;
and
Means,
Toyama,
Murphy,
Bakia,
&
Jones,
2009).
Studies
have
shown
positive
results
on
using
technology
to
teach
reading
and
suggest
that
students
may
demonstrate
greater
persistence
on
computers,
interacting
with
texts
for
more
time
than
when
using
traditional
reading
instruction
materials
(National
Reading
Panel,
2000).
Best
practices
and
academic
research
are
the
foundation
for
Conspiracy
Code’s
explicit
reading
instruction
relying
on
such
expertise
as
Biancarosa
&
Snow
(2006)
and
Graves
&
Avery
(1997)
for
scaffolding
instruction;
Marzono
for
vocabulary
development;
and,
Kellough
&
Kellough
(2003)
for
tapping
multiple
learning
modalities
and
intelligences
to
help
all
students
perform
well.
The
results
of
the
efficacy
study
show
the
Conspiracy
Code
Group
outperformed
the
Control
Group
by
statistically
significant
margins,
validating
Conspiracy
Code’s
game-‐based
instruction
for
reading
intervention.
1. The
Conspiracy
Code:
Intensive
Reading
program
was
successful
in
improving
the
reading
achievement
of
struggling
grade
9
and
10
students.
In
a
one
semester
study
Conspiracy
Code
students
increased
the
students’
reading
scores
from
pretesting
to
posttesting
by
6%.
2. The
Conspiracy
Code:
Intensive
Reading
program
was
even
more
successful
with
students
who
scored
the
lowest
on
the
pretests.
The
pretest/posttest
scores
of
students
scoring
in
the
lowest
half
on
the
pretests
were
analyzed
separately
from
the
total
group
of
students.
The
average
increase
for
these
low-‐scoring
students
increased
by
9%,
surpassing
the
increase
of
the
total
group
of
students.
3. In
just
one
semester,
Conspiracy
Code:
Intensive
Reading
students
made
statistically
significant
learning
gains.
Increases
in
pretest/posttest
scores
were
statistically
significant
for
comprehension,
vocabulary,
and
total
test
scores.
The
Control
Group
did
not
make
any
gains
over
the
same
period;
in
fact,
students
lost
ground
in
all
three
tested
areas.

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4. The
Conspiracy
Code
students
were
more
effective
users
of
comprehension
strategies
than
were
the
Control
Group
students.
The
results
showed
a
statistically
significant
difference
between
the
two
groups
favoring
the
Conspiracy
Code
students.
Seventeen
percent
more
Conspiracy
Code
students
than
Control
Group
students
scored
60%
or
higher
correctly
on
the
Think
Along
Assessment.
5. The
Conspiracy
Code
Group
included
72%
grade
9
students
and
only
28%
grade
10
students.
The
Control
Group
included
49%
grade
9
students
and
51%
grade
10
students
which
most
likely
accounted
for
higher
pretest
scores.
The
use
of
Conspiracy
Code:
Intensive
Reading
was
the
only
variable
to
account
for
the
fact
that
the
Conspiracy
Code
students
made
significant
gains
and
caught
up
to
the
higher
grade
level
Control
Group
students.
6. There
is
significant
commonality
(correlation)
between
the
Conspiracy
Code
Reading
Assessment
and
the
Florida
Comprehensive
Assessment
Test
(FCAT).
Correlations
between
scores
achieved
by
the
total
group
of
students,
including
both
Control
and
Conspiracy
Code
Group
students
were
quite
high.
All
were
statistically
significant
at
the
<.01
level
of
significance.
Here
are
some
of
those
correlations:
• The
correlation
between
students’
FCAT
score
in
spring
2009
and
FCAT
scores
in
spring
2010
was
.65.
• The
correlation
between
students’
FCAT
score
in
spring
2009
and
the
pretest
total
score
on
the
Conspiracy
Code
Reading
Assessment
was
.61.
• The
correlation
between
students’
FCAT
score
in
spring
2010
and
the
posttest
total
score
on
the
Conspiracy
Code
Reading
Assessment
was
.51.
CONCLUSION
Overall,
Conspiracy
Code:
Intensive
Reading
was
found
to
be
based
on
proven
pedagogy
and
to
be
very
effective
in
providing
reading
support
to
struggling
students.
Results
were
studied
for
various
demographic
variables
including
gender,
grade
level,
ethnic
background,
socio-‐
economic
status,
and
first
or
second
language
dominances;
and,
although
there
were
some
small
differences,
none
were
significant.
All
demographic
groups
showed
significant
learning
gains
using
Conspiracy
Code:
Intensive
Reading.
The
results
provide
evidence
that
the
Conspiracy
Code:
Intensive
Reading
program
was
equally
effective
for
all
students.
The
study
also
revealed
that
the
students
in
the
Conspiracy
Code
Group
achieved
significantly
better
results
than
the
Control
Group
students.

Conspiracy Code™: Intensive Reading
Research Base
November 2010
Elizabeth Haydel, Author
Dr. Roger Farr, Reviewer
Kimberly Munroe, Reviewer

Table of Contents
Overview 3
Section 1: Effective Use of Technology 8
Section 2: Effective Instructional Strategies 15
Section 3: Meeting the Needs of All Learners 23
Section 4: Support for Teachers 27
Section 5: Effective Strategies to Teach Reading 31
Conclusion 41
Works Cited 42

Educational Research Institute of America
The Purpose for this Report
Developing students’ reading skills and comprehension in a way that is
exciting and engaging for students, as well as instructionally effective, is one
of the biggest challenges educators face. Florida Virtual School (FLVS), in
collaboration with 360Ed, Inc., developed Conspiracy Code: Intensive Reading
to meet this challenge.
Conspiracy Code: Intensive Reading is an online course for intensive reading
taught entirely through a game-based environment. In order to ensure optimal
engagement and effectiveness for students, Conspiracy Code: Intensive Reading
was designed to align with best practice as identified by educational experts and
academic research. The purpose of this report is to share the research and theory
that supports the content and instructional approaches upon which Conspiracy
Code: Intensive Reading was created.
Intensive Reading is the second course created in the Conspiracy Code™ series.
Conspiracy Code™ is a revolutionary line of courses that meld research-supported
pedagogy and online, game-based technology. Designed to appeal to a
generation of teenagers who have grown up using technology and increased
their use of technology and media dramatically over the past five years (Kaiser
Family Foundation—Rideout, Foehr, & Roberts, 2010), Conspiracy Code™
creates an appealing, interactive learning environment in which students can
collaborate, explore, and build life-long skills around core course content.
The game in which students learn in Conspiracy Code™ takes place in the
fictional locale of Coverton City, where an organization known as Conspiracy
Incorporated uses nefarious means to seek world power. As students play the
games, they adopt the personas of two high school students, Eddie Flash™ and
Libby Whitetree™, and are teamed with a sentient computer known as B.E.N.
(Bio-Electronic Navigator).
This game-based environment is designed to appeal to young people, who
spend an average of 1 hour and 13 minutes per day playing video games (Kaiser
Family Foundation—Rideout, Foehr, & Roberts, 2010). In addition, Conspiracy
Code™ was designed to appeal to educators by offering them an opportunity to
engage students in active learning that facilitates development of 21st–century
skills (critical thinking, collaboration, and communication) using the efficiencies
provided by technology.
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The Forces behind the Development of Conspiracy Code:
Intensive Reading
There are three driving forces behind the development of the Conspiracy Code:
Intensive Reading program. These are described more fully below, but in brief
they are:
1. The ability to read and comprehend is essential for success in school,
work, and life.
2. Reading continues to be a problem area in schools—especially for
struggling older readers in middle school and high school. To be
come successful comprehenders, these older readers must have
explicit instruction in the strategies needed to comprehend—not
isolated drill on separate skills.
3. Innovations in technology hold promise for helping to solve these
problems, and to enable all students to read at the levels needed in
the 21st century.
The Importance of Reading
Reading is essential to success in school, work, and society (National Reading
Panel, 2000; National Research Council, 1998). A student’s ability to make sense
of grade level texts can ensure either success or failure in school, depending on
the student’s ability to comprehend. Comprehension is a complex process, in
which many factors play a role, including the active process of the interaction
between the reader and the text, the understanding of the language and
vocabulary in the text, and the learning and use of specific strategies for
comprehension (National Reading Panel, 2000).
The Need for Explicit Instruction in Reading
According to The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), 8 million U.S.
students in grades 4 through 12 read below grade level (NCTE, 2010). Student
test results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and
the ACT document the causes for concern for adolescent literacy. In 2005, fewer
than 50% of high school graduates demonstrated readiness for college-level
reading, as shown by their ACT scores. While NAEP reading scores of grade 4
and grade 8 students have improved slightly (33% of grade 4 students performed
at or above the proficient level in 2009 compared to 29% in 1992; 32% of grade 8
students performed at or above the proficient level in 2009 compared to 29% in
1992), the scores still show cause for concern, with only slightly above one-third
of students performing at or above the proficient level (National Assessment of
Educational Progress, 2010). Furthermore, an analysis of the 2009 scores for
reading at grade 4 and grade 8 still show racial/ethnic gaps, gender gaps,
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and gaps by type of school (NAEP, 2010). The news at grade 12 is even more
disheartening. The percentage of students performing at or above the proficient
level decreased from 40% to 35% from 1992 to 2005, and performance gaps still
“Current difficulties in reading largely originate from rising demands for
literacy, not from declining absolute levels of literacy. In a technological
society, the demands for higher literacy are ever increasing, creating more
grievous consequences for those who fall short.”
— National Research Council, 1998, p. 1
exist. The data seems to suggest that schools are doing a slightly better job
teaching grades 4 and 8 students to decode and comprehend, but have still
not solved the puzzle of how to effectively improve the comprehension of
higher-level students in reading.
Meeting the needs of these struggling readers is not easy. Reading
comprehension is a complex cognitive activity, involving many skills and
varied strategies. While some learn to read and comprehend without explicit
instruction, most students benefit from instruction in reading comprehension
processes and strategies.
Whether they read or listen to texts, or do both at the same time, readers must
use a variety of reading strategies, such as drawing conclusions and making
inferences, in order to make sense of what they read. Readers who struggle to
comprehend texts often have trouble using such strategies (Dole, Duffy, Roehler,
& Pearson, 1991). For these struggling readers, explicit instruction in reading is
particularly important.
The demands of the 21st century will require high levels of literacy for students
to succeed in school, in work, and in a world in which increased and constant
levels of communication are made possible and expected through varied, new
technologies. To meet these demands, students must learn to be highly effective
comprehenders of varied texts and media.
5

The Promise of Technology for the Delivery of Effective
Reading Instruction
Only recently, technology was not advanced enough to deliver effective
reading instruction; effective teachers using research-supported strategies had
to engage with students in traditional classroom settings to make progress in
developing reading skills and comprehension. Today, however, technology
shows great promise in delivering effective instruction in reading.
An early meta-analysis supported the effectiveness of computer-assisted
instruction (Liao, 1992) and continuing research has supported these early
findings. Bayraktar (2001) conducted a meta-analysis to evaluate the impact of
computer-assisted instruction and concluded that the use of computers was more
effective than more traditional methods of instructional delivery (Bayraktar,
2001). The North Central Regional Educational Laboratory conducted another
meta-analysis in 2003 and concluded that technology had a small, positive,
and significant effect on student outcomes when compared with traditional
instruction (North Central Regional Educational Laboratory, 2003). A more recent
analysis conducted by the U.S. Department of Education in 2009 concluded the
same; students in online conditions outperformed those in more traditional
environments (Means, Toyama, Murphy, Bakia, & Jones, 2009).
According to the National Reading Panel (2000) computers can be particularly
effective in supporting the teaching of reading; the panel concluded that the
positive results of studies on using technology to teach reading suggest that
using computer technology for reading instruction is a promising development
for educators (National Reading Panel, 2000). The Panel’s findings also
suggested that students may demonstrate greater persistence on computers,
interacting with texts for more time than when using traditional reading
instruction materials.
Furthermore, the technology environment is a native home for young people
today. Technology plays a powerful role in the daily lives of young people,
with a 2010 study
by the Kaiser Family
Foundation reporting
that young people
today spend more than
7 ½ hours on average
per day engaged with
media of different kinds (Kaiser Family Foundation—Rideout, Foehr, & Roberts,
2010). It is reasonable that students will be particularly engaged when instruction
is designed to meet their needs using a blend of mediums that they choose to use
almost three hours each day on average (1:29 for computer use; 1:13 for video
game use) (Kaiser Family Foundation—Rideout, Foehr, & Roberts, 2010).
“The meta-analysis found that, on average, students in
online learning conditions performed better than those
receiving face-to-face instruction.”
— Means, Toyama, Murphy, Bakia, & Jones, 2009, p. ix
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The Organization of this Report
This report is organized in five sections that describe the research that supports
the Conspiracy Code: Intensive Reading program’s:
• Effective use of technology to deliver instruction (Section 1);
• Integration of effective instructional strategies (Section 2);
• Ability to meet all students’ needs (Section 3);
• Support of teachers (Section 4); and
• Delivery of effective strategies to teach reading (Section 5).
“Society needs educational systems that
are designed for a world of possibilities and
teachers who can help students survive
and master that world.”
— Caine & Caine, 1997b, p. 2
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Section 1: Effective Use of Technology
Technology has become an integral part of the operations of most businesses
and workplaces and has become an important part of the delivery of instruction
in our schools. As research from the Kaiser Family Foundation (2010) shows,
the average student today uses technologies and media most of his or her
waking hours. Research suggests that technology is one variable of classroom
instruction that can support increased student learning and achievement.
When used effectively, technology can support students’ classroom learning by
providing opportunities for instructional support, continued learning, practice,
and additional information. It is important to note, however, that the potential
is not in the technology itself; rather it is in the potential for how various
technologies can be used effectively as tools for learning, based on what we
know of how students learn (Mayer, 2001). The U.S. Department of Education
emphasizes this, too, in concluding that in many studies of online learning
which show an advantage, the advantage may not be as a result of the medium
in and of itself, but may result from the student time spent and the effective
incorporation of content and pedagogical strategies (Means, Toyama, Murphy,
Bakia, & Jones, 2009).
Supporting Increased Learning through Game-Based Technology
Conspiracy Code: Intensive Reading uses game-based technology effectively to
immerse students into a character-based situation in which they must solve
engaging problems while learning and practicing reading skills and strategies.
Game-based technology uses interactive multimedia to create a learning
environment for students in which the user can control many of the features of
a game in order to meet a defined goal or challenge (CITEd, 2010). The use of
game-based technology has been shown to be particularly effective in engaging
students and supporting increased learning.
Even as the potential uses of technology in education were just becoming
apparent, a meta-analysis of psychological, educational, and behavioral
interventions found that computer-based instruction and simulation games
designed for instruction were particularly effective (Lipsey & Wilson, 1993).
As simulations and game-based technology has been developed and employed
in more technologically and instructionally sophisticated ways, research has
continued to support its effectiveness. In an early investigation, Lester, Convers,
Stone, Kahler, and Barlow (1997) investigated whether a bug named Herman
could influence student learning. A fully expressive Herman exhibited three
types of communication: spoken principle-based advice, high-level spoken
advice, and spoken task-specific suggestions. Those middle-school students
who engaged with versions of Herman that were fully or partially expressive
outperformed children who engaged with a silent Herman or a version that
8

provided only task-specific suggestions (Lester et al., 1997). Further research
has continued to demonstrate positive effects for game-based learning across
the content areas and with students of different ages (Henderson, Klemes, &
Eshet, 2000). Gee (2003) argues that playing games requires a specific, high
level of literacy.
A number of factors of game-based technology appear to work in concert to
appeal to students and stimulate learning. Animations, particularly those that
are representational and realistic in appearance, have been demonstrated to be
more effective than static pictures. In a meta-analysis of 26 studies, Hoffler and
Leutner (2007) found an advantage across studies in favor of animation. When
that animation was realistic, the effect size was large. Research by Castaneda
(2008) also supported the conclusion that students engaged with computer
simulations will experience positive learning effects compared to students
engaged in expository instruction. In his study, Castaneda provided students
with three different conditions; in one simulation condition, students could
work freely, in another they were guided through the simulation, and in a third
condition, students were provided with more traditional instruction without a
simulation. Learning gains for students in either of the simulation conditions
were higher than those who learned in a more traditional way. Rieber’s 1990
findings from a study comparing no graphics, static graphics, and animated
graphics, also corroborate the findings of the benefit of animation;
“animation can be used effectively to elaborate a lesson’s content” when
the content is challenging and the animation is provided in conjunction
with other activities (Rieber, 1990, p. 139).
Multimedia agents, or lifelike characters that serve as guides or mentors in
an online environment, have also been shown to be particularly effective and
engaging with students. Students with lower levels of content knowledge
particularly benefit from these helpful mentors who are often embedded in
game-based technology (McNamara & Shapiro, 2005).
The danger does exist that students will become so engaged in the game that
they learn more about playing the game than they do the content around which
the game is centered. The research of Rieber (2005) suggests that this pitfall can
be avoided when the content of the game is made explicit, and students clearly
understand their goals for learning. In Conspiracy Code: Intensive Reading learning
goals are made explicit to students and content plays a central, not peripheral,
role in the game.
9

An additional benefit of learning through game-based technology is that
research suggests that the use of simulations can support increased student
achievement. In an analysis of NAEP results, Archer (1998) reported that
eighth graders in classes in which computers were used for simulations and
applications scored higher on NAEP than other students by two-fifths of a
grade level (Archer, 1998). Dani and Koenig (2008) also found that students
reached higher performance levels on achievement tests when using
computer-based instruction that was interactive and simulation-based,
than they did as a result of traditional instruction.
Conspiracy Code Character Lineup
Mind Cleanse being played in user interface
10

Immersion in an Engaging Scenario
The most effective instructional approaches are those that are motivating
and engaging to the learners. An empirically grounded truth about learning
is that students will put in the time and energy necessary to learn if they are
interested in what they are learning
(Eccles, Wigfield, & Schiefele, 1998;
Guthrie & Humenick, 2004) and if
“…as in previous studies, students for
they can relate to it (Beckwith, 1991;
whom the abstract learning activities
Chiesi, Spilich, & Voss, 1979).
had been embedded in meaningful and
appealing fantasy contexts generally
In Conspiracy Code: Intensive Reading
showed substantially greater motivation,
students enter into another world
involvement, and learning than those
and interact with lifelike
for whom the activities had not been so
characters. Research supports the
contextualized.”
power of this type of learning;
— Cordova & Lepper, 1996, p. 726
when an animated agent, or lifelike
character who serves as the guide
or teacher in a learning environment, is included, students enjoy computer-based
learning more (Andre, Rist, & Muller, 1999). Moreno (2005) concluded that
animated agents in computer-based learning environments who demonstrate
personality characteristics and use a personal tone, addressing students directly
with words like “you” and “we,” engage students more than when an impersonal,
more academic tone is used. In addition to increased enjoyment and engagement,
students also experience increased learning when working with an animated
multimedia agent.
Students have reported more interest and ease in learning content (Lester, Stone,
& Stelling, 1999) and outperformed control group students (Atkinson, 2002) when
engaged with multimedia agents.
11

In their research into brain-based learning, Caine and Caine (1997a) identified
12 brain-based principles for learning. From these principles, they drew
conclusions about what types of learning environments are most conducive
to learning. Some of the features that make for meaningful learning include:
• An event or situation that has some aspect of a narrative or story form.
• A physical context and peripheral environment that support the narrative.
• Authentic social relationships.
• A variety of sensory input. (Caine & Caine, 1997a, pp. 119-121)
CONSPIRACY CODE: INTENSIVE READING CONNECTION
During the pre-production phase of Conspiracy Code™ development, Florida
Virtual Schools (FLVS) and 360Ed, Inc. conducted extensive focus group testing
in order to better understand the tastes of the high-school student audience.
Based upon the results, the team developed the concept, placing the game’s
story in a context that the broadest possible audience will find engaging. The
storyline, musical style, characters’ appearances, cartoon-style aesthetic, and
gameplay mechanics were all vetted against a random sample of students. The
fictional setting of a near-future city was determined to appeal to a broad,
non-gender-specific audience of 15-year-olds. Furthermore, conspiracy-based
fiction is especially present in pop culture media.
In addition, for the purposes of engaging students, furthering the storyline,
and supporting players through the game, a diverse assortment of characters
was created. Each character has a unique personality that is both engaging and
functional—qualities that research demonstrates to be particularly effective in
fostering student learning.
Engaging Multiple Pathways to Learning
Engaging students’ multiple pathways to learning is an essential part of effective
instruction. What cognitive scientists and education researchers are beginning to
understand further is that people can access information via different pathways,
linguistic (words) and visual (images). A number of studies have demonstrated
that students learn better when both pictures and words are used, than they do
when text is provided without visuals (Levie & Lentz, 1982; Levin, Anglin, &
Carney, 1987; Mayer, 2001). Dual-coding theory (see Paivio 1979, 1983, 1986)
suggests that students learn better from words and pictures in combination
because the words and pictures activate two different pathways to learning.
“The case for multimedia rests in the premise that learners can better understand
12

an explanation when it is presented in words and pictures than when it is
presented in words alone.” (Mayer, 2001, p. 1)
Instruction that includes graphic organizers, multimedia, and images related
to the content increase students’ learning. Nonlinguistic representations are one
of the nine most effective instructional strategies identified by Marzano and
colleagues (Marzano, Marzano, & Pickering, 2003).
The ability to include audio in an online environment provides a further
benefit for learners. In a series of studies conducted with middle-school and
college-age students, Moreno and her colleagues looked at the effects of
including speech from animated agents, versus online text. Students who
worked with the audio teacher demonstrated higher levels of learning on
transfer tests and higher ratings of interest on surveys than those students
who viewed text without audio (Moreno, Mayer, Spires, & Lester, 2001).
Atkinson (2002) also found a benefit to aural explanations over text-based
explanations; students in an experimental group that listened to explanations
instead of reading them on the computer outperformed their peers on tests
of knowledge and transfer. These findings suggest an additional benefit to
the inclusion of an audio pathway for learning—along with combined text
and visuals.
13

Involving Students’ Focused Attention and Peripheral Perception
In addition to accessing multiple pathways to learning, multimedia may be
particularly effective because it involves both students’ focused attention as
well as their peripheral perception. According to Caine and Caine’s brain-based
principles for learning (1997a) the brain absorbs information both in the
immediate focus of attention and in the periphery. As a result, all facets of the
educational environment are important for learning—and students’ attention
should be directed to the most salient concepts.
In a study conducted by Craig and colleagues, researchers exposed students
to different conditions in a multimedia learning environment. Students who
learned in sudden-onset and animation picture conditions consistently
outperformed those who learned from static picture conditions, leading
researchers to conclude that the sudden-onset and animation conditions
improved performance by directing the student’s attention to specific elements
of the pictures and connecting them with specific points in the narrative (Craig,
Gholson, & Driscoll, 2002). These kinds of attentional cues in a multimedia
environment can focus students’ attention appropriately, in a way that a
textbook simply cannot.
In addition, the use of animated pedagogical agents in a computer-based
learning environment can help to focus students’ attention appropriately. These
agents can move around the screen, direct students through gazes and gestures,
show emotions, and provide feedback—all to ensure that students pay attention
to the information that is relevant to their task at hand (Atkinson, 2002).
14

Section 2: Effective Instructional Strategies
Effective programs use instructional approaches that have been proven
effective by research. A program that supports effective instruction for all
students employs a purposeful organizing structure, engages students,
motivates students to persist in learning, utilizes scaffolds to support learning,
encourages collaboration and communication, and builds students’ academic
confidence and their belief in their own self-efficacy to succeed in future
academic endeavors. The Conspiracy Code: Intensive Reading program is
grounded in these effective instructional approaches.
A Purposeful Organizing Structure
Providing predictable routines for students supports learning. Not only does
student behavior improve, but students also show greater engagement with
learning and achieve at higher levels when they can predict the instructional
routines in a classroom (Kern & Clemens, 2007). Predictability in the overall
structure of Conspiracy Code: Intensive Reading facilitates learning for all
students. Once they understand the organizing structure of the program,
students know what to expect and can have confidence in their abilities to
proceed from one step to the next.
In addition to predictability in the organizing structure of learning, structured
support is important for students learning in game-based environments.
In a review of research, deJong and van Joolingen (1998) concluded that
embedded supports, such as hints, suggestions, and background knowledge
were used in programs that supported student learning.
In Conspiracy Code: Intensive Reading a purposeful organizing structure is
followed and structured supports are embedded throughout.
15

Engaging Students
An empirically grounded truth about learning is that students will put in the
time and energy necessary to learn if they are interested in what they are
learning (Eccles, Wigfield, & Schiefele, 1998; Guthrie & Humenick, 2004).
Engagement is particularly crucial in teaching reading. Student engagement is
a “powerful determinant of the effectiveness of any given literacy approach”
(Strangman & Dalton, 2006, p. 559). Researchers have demonstrated a connection
between student interest and higher cognitive recall and comprehension of text
(Guthrie, Hoa, Wigfield, Tonks, Humenick, & Littles, 2007). Clearly the ability
to engage students is an essential component of any effective reading program.
Guthrie and Wigfield (2000) place engagement as the primary avenue through
which reading instruction influences student performance. In their extensive
review of the relationship between engagement and academic performance,
they found that engaging reading instruction must:
• Foster student motivation (including through goal setting);
• Teach and encourage use of strategies
• Increase students’ conceptual knowledge; and
• Foster social interaction.
Educational computer games that encourage exploration have been shown to
be engaging to all students, and particularly to girls (Kinzie & Joseph, 2008).
Perhaps because children see computers as both tools and toys, they see
computer-based learning environments as being conducive to play and
appealing in a way that is different from traditional classroom instruction
(Downes, 2000).
In addition, multimedia has the potential to engage students actively, rather
than as passive recipients of knowledge, encouraging greater involvement and
retention of skills and knowledge. Research in cognition demonstrates that
students learn and retain more when they are actively engaged in learning
(Cawelti, 1999). Studies of student
achievement in varied learning
environments suggest that students
learn best when they are actively
engaged, particularly in technology-intensive
environments (Rosen &
“Research has demonstrated that interest
is one of the motivational variables that has
a powerful positive effect on individuals’
cognitive performance…”
— Hidi & Boscolo, 2006, p. 146
Salomon, 2007). Active learning in
the classroom can raise students’
awareness of the learning process, support retention of learning, develop critical
thinking skills, and foster effective communication (Smith & Boyer, 1996).
16

Indeed, Reinking (2001) argues that a number of factors make multimedia
environments more engaging to students than traditional print environments.
These factors include the following:
1. Multimedia texts are interactive, so students read actively rather than
passively;
2. The types of computer-based assistance available, and the ability
through technology to assess and respond to students’ skills and
knowledge, make computer-based reading less difficult than print;
3. Computer-based learning is often more game-based rather than ab
stract; and
4. Multimedia environments offer varied options to meet students’ need
for social learning.
Conspiracy Code: Intensive Reading was created specifically to engage its
target audience of secondary students. The storyline, music, characters’
appearances, personalities and functionality, the cartoon-style aesthetic,
and gameplay mechanics were all tested with students and determined to
engage a broad, non-gender-specific audience of 15-year-olds.
17

Motivating Students
Motivation describes an internal process that enables a student to engage in a
task and persist towards task completion. Humans are innately motivated to
search for meaning, when learning has a purpose of reason (Caine & Caine,
1997b). The most effective instructional approaches are those that harness this
natural inclination towards motivation, and are motivating and engaging to the
learners. In reading, this need for motivation is particularly acute. Motivation to
read has been shown to predict growth in reading comprehension (Guthrie, Hoa,
Wigfield, Tonks, Humenick, & Littles, 2007).
In looking at students’ motivation for learning, Bohn, Roehrig, and Pressley
(2004) concluded that teachers can employ a number of tactics to positively
motivate students, including constructing lessons that are interesting, matching
tasks to student abilities, and connecting reading and writing and content-area
learning. Schunk and colleagues
concluded that to foster
motivation, educators must
“allow students to experience
agency in their own learning,
often by providing them with
some choice and control, as
well as tasks that require them
to active rather than passive
“Presenting new material, especially
in small steps, allows [students] to be
successful, and successful performances
constitute an important means for
sustaining student motivation…”
— Schunk, Pintrich, & Meece, 2008, p. 305
learners.” (Schunk, Pintrich, & Meese, 2008, p. 327) In addition, strategy use
also increases students’ motivation to learn—because successful strategy use
helps students to see that they have the ability to learn (Schunk, Pintrich, &
Meece, 2008).
Sustaining motivation is important. Educators must continue, and instructional
programs must be designed to, sustain motivation, through active involvement,
feedback, and opportunities for reflection. It is only with sustained motivation
that learning takes place (Garris, Ahlers, & Driskell, 2002).
In recent studies comparing computer-based instruction with a traditional
approach, computer-based learning has been shown to increase motivation
and enthusiasm for learning (Abdoolatiff & Narod, 2009). Educational games
have been found to be particularly effective in motivating students (Ke, 2008;
Papastergiou, 2009; Tüzün, Yilmaz-Soylu, Karakus, Inal, & Kizilkaya, 2009). In
Ke’s (2008) study of fifth grade students, students showed more motivation to
learn when using a computer game environment than when using traditional
paper-and-pencil materials for learning. Papastergiou (2009) and Tüzün and
his colleagues (2009) found that both motivation and learning increased
when students studied content-area concepts in game formats compared to
non-game formats.
18

The findings of research in motivation point to the effectiveness of Conspiracy
Code: Intensive Reading at increasing students’ motivation to learn in reading.
Providing Scaffolds to Support Learning
Providing embedded scaffolds is an essential part of transitioning students from
learning to independent practice and application and has been identified as “one
of the most effective instructional techniques available” (Graves & Avery, 1997,
p. 138). An instructional model that effectively provides scaffolding for student
learning will employ a logical structure and sequence, progress from easier to
more difficult tasks, provide additional information as needed (such as models
or examples), and guide students, through tips, key words, and graphic
organizers (Hillocks, 1993). Ultimately, scaffolds are removed and students
are able to perform new skills and apply knowledge independently. The use
of scaffolded instruction has been demonstrated to be one of the elements in
effective in adolescent literacy interventions designed to promote reading
comprehension (Biancarosa & Snow, 2006).
Computer programs designed for use in educational settings can employ various
digital features to provide scaffolds that will support student learning. In a study
of eighth graders working in a multimedia environment, learning increased
when scaffolds for organization and higher-order thinking were built into the
student program (Zydney, 2010). One way of scaffolding is to embed tips or
helpful hints into a program to help students identify important information.
This kind of highlighting of important ideas through hints or suggestions
was identified as an effective scaffold for student learning in the research of
deJong and van Joolingen (1998). Embedded questioning strategies is another
research-supported scaffold shown to be effective in computer-based learning
environments (see Britt & Aglinskas, 2002). Opportunities to reflect can also
scaffold learning. The U.S. Department of Education identified nine studies
which all supported the notion that online environments that included a tool
or feature that prompted student reflection improved learner outcomes (Means,
Toyama, Murphy, Bakia, & Jones, 2009). Aleven and Koedinger (2002) found
that prompting students in a computer-based tutoring environment to
generate self-explanations resulted in greater learning than among students
in an unprompted control group (Aleven & Koedinger, 2002). Davis and Linn
(2000) also found that students in a computer-based learning environment who
were prompted to consider important ideas were able to apply more concepts
than control-group students.
Another effective way to scaffold computer-based learning is through the use
of an animated agent, a character who appears in a computer program to act as
the facilitator, teacher, or guide to learners. In their research on these types of
animated agents, McNamara and Shapiro (2005) found that these agents were
19

particularly helpful to students with low levels of knowledge in the content
area, most likely because of the scaffolds that the agents provided, through
think-alouds that modeled strategy use and explicit connections of new topics
to prior learning.
The Conspiracy Code: Intensive Reading program provides scaffolds to
students in these ways…
Encouraging Communication and Collaboration
Research attests to the benefits of having students learn together in
collaborative and cooperative groups (Cotton, 1995). Caine and Caine (1997a)
identified principles from brain research with implications for educators. One
factor they considered was the social nature of the brain. Their conclusion? A
key principle for educators to consider in designing instruction is that learning
“is profoundly influenced by the nature of the social relationships within which
people find themselves.” (Caine & Caine, 1997a, p. 105) Classrooms in which
students communicate and collaborate with one another have been shown to be
more effective at fostering student learning. Students who participate in groups
in which they depend on their group members and feel accountable to the
group’s performance appear to learn more effectively.
20

Research and cognitive theory suggest that when students work in groups
toward a common goal, they support one another, model strategies, and provide
context-appropriate explanations and feedback (Slavin, 2002). Vermette (1988)
asserts that educators can expect students who engage in cooperative learning
to experience an increase in their:
• Understanding and application of concepts;
• Use of critical thinking;
• Sense of self-efficacy, or confidence in their ability to learn;
• Positive attitudes towards others.
Research has also shown that cooperative learning strategies have a positive
impact specifically on teaching students reading-comprehension strategies
(Stevens, Slavin, & Farnish, 1991). Having peers interact over the use of reading
strategies was demonstrated in research to increases student learning of
strategies, encourage discussion, and increase comprehension (National
Reading Panel, 2000).
In Conspiracy Code: Intensive Reading, students engage in social learning
through interactions with their peers, their teachers, and the characters
who live in the game-based environment. All of these social interactions
and collaborations help to facilitate increased engagement, learning,
and achievement.
21

Building Student Confidence
Building students’ confidence is another desired outcome of learning
experiences—and one that can facilitate future learning.
Evidence from teachers who taught using computer-assisted learning suggested
that students in an experimental group who used computers for learning showed
positive attitudes and increases in their esteem. These positive changes “may
indicate the potential the computer simulations programs have, especially for
students with low reasoning abilities, to be successful in learning concepts and
principles…” (Huppert, Lomask, & Lazarowitz, 2002, p. 819) Cordova and
Lepper (1996) found that putting learning into a context for students,
personalizing learning, and adding elements of choice into learning “all
produced dramatic increases, not only in students’ motivation but also in their
depth of engagement in learning, the amount they learned in a fixed time
period, and their perceived competence and levels of aspiration.” (p. 715)
Confidence is also promoted through feedback as the students solve problems,
have success, are independent in their learning, and are able to proceed at their
own pace. Strategy instruction, and students’ subsequent effective use of those
strategies, raises their sense of self-efficacy, or confidence in their ability to learn
(Schunk, Pintrich, & Meece, 2008).
The presence of each of these elements—computer-based learning, contextual
learning, a personalized environment for learning, the presence of options for
student-controlled choice, and strategic supports for student success—point
to the effectiveness of Conspiracy Code: Intensive Reading for building
student confidence.
22

Section 3: Meeting the Needs of All Learners
All teachers face the challenge of meeting the instructional needs of a wide range
of students. Conspiracy Code: Intensive Reading was designed to support teachers
with this challenge. Computers provide almost unprecedented opportunities
to tailor instruction to the needs of the individual student. Conspiracy Code
harnesses the power of multimedia to provide multiple representations of
information, multiple pathways for action, and multiple means of engagement
to ensure that all students are highly engaged and involved in learning. The
program’s various components can help teachers meet the unique needs of
varied populations of students by engaging them at appropriate developmental
levels, engaging varied learning styles, allowing students to work at their own
pace, and meeting the needs of 21st century learners.
Engaging Students at an Appropriate Developmental Level
The diversity in today’s classrooms demands that teachers be knowledgeable,
responsive, and well-prepared to individualize instruction to meet student
needs. Research supports the idea that computer-based learning environments
foster independent learning
and differentiation (Kalea, 2007).
One way is through the effective
delivery and analysis of
formative assessment measures,
as described later in this report.
These types of ongoing
assessments of student
learning can provide teachers
with the information they need to tailor individualized instruction. Other
techniques include providing tips and guidance at the point at which students
need help—and then reducing scaffolded instruction when students do not
need them and can complete tasks independently.
A gaming environment like that of Conspiracy Code: Intensive Reading can
be particularly effective in meeting the needs of all learners because the
environment can allow students to learn content at different levels of challenge
(Habgood, Ainsworth, & Benford, 2005). These multiple pathways can help
to facilitate engagement, as well, since students are more likely to be engaged
when the level of challenge aligns with the level of their skill. Prompting and
sustaining student engagement in this way creates the potential for gaming
environments to positively impact student learning.
In a meta-analysis of evidence-based practices for effective online learning,
the U.S. Department of Education concluded that the studies that looked at the
effects of online individualized instruction found a positive effect. When learners
23
“Optimal learning takes place within
students’ ‘zones of proximal development’ –
when teachers assess students’ current
understanding and teach new concepts,
skills, and strategies at an according level.”
— Vygotsky, 1978

were provided with such individualized supports as integrated tutorials;
content delivered in visual, aural, and textual forms; and additional practice
opportunities, their learning increased (Means, Toyama, Murphy, Bakia, & Jones,
2009). Matching the demands of instruction with the student’s ability to meet
the demands is particularly important for students with learning difficulties.
For their academic success, an environment that can provide instruction at the
appropriate level is essential (Baker, Clark, Maier, & Viger, 2008). As is the case
with all students, these students enjoy learning more when they can fully engage
in the lesson (Kintsch, 1980).
Matching instructional demand with students’ levels of skill and ability is crucial
to student engagement, motivation, and learning. As Caine and Caine (1997a)
identified in their review of brain-based research to identify principles important
for effective learning, the brain/mind learns optimally when people are
challenged and encourage to take risks—but it shuts down in the face of threat,
or in an educational context, when it perceives that the task or goal is impossible
to meet.
Engaging Varied Learning Styles
“Learning modalities” refers to the primary way we take in information to
help us learn. Commonly, researchers identify auditory, visual, and kinesthetic
modalities (Barbe & Swassing, 1979). Howard Gardner (1983) established
another way of grouping modalities. He asserts that there are several modalities
or intelligences that link to our individual styles. These include verbal-linguistic
(sensitivity to the meaning and order of words) and musical (sensitivity to pitch,
melody, rhythm, and tone). Using programs and approaches that appeal to
multiple student learning modalities and intelligences will help all students
perform well (Kellough &
Kellough, 2003). In
“…learners are different and need choice,
evaluating the impact of
while ensuring that they are exposed to a
incorporating new
technologies in their
multiplicity of inputs. Multiple intelligences
instruction, teachers in one
and vast ranges in diversity are…characteristic
study cited the ability of
of what it means to be human.”
computer-based learning
— Caine & Caine, 1997a, p. 108
environments to meet the
needs of varied learning styles as a particular strength of technology; technology
“helped teachers accommodate students’ varying learning styles and meet
the needs of all students, both of which are essential to improving student
achievement.” (Silverstein, Frechtling, & Miyaoka, 2000, p. xxi)
Research suggests that students from different ethnic and socioeconomic
backgrounds have different learning modalities (Dunn, Griggs, & Price, 1993;
24

Hale-Benson, 1982). Sims (1988) found that underachieving African-American
students, significantly more than white students, preferred sound and auditory
teaching. Dunn (1995) contends that students who are underachieving and at
risk benefit from visual resources that are reinforced by audio resources. Because
of its inclusion of both auditory and visual components, the Conspiracy Code:
Intensive Reading program is a particularly effective program for auditory and
visual learners.
Research suggests that audio support while reading can improve students’
comprehension of the text (Balajthy, 2007). Following along in the text while at
the same time listening to someone else read the words can help readers make
sense of what they are reading. Furthermore, audio recording of texts can serve
as models for reading by providing inflection, tone, voice, dialect, pacing,
pausing, silence, and different voices (Baskin & Harris, 1995; Carbo, 1996).
Struggling readers often have difficulty with fluency, which can make reading
very laborious. Audio recordings can provide the model that these readers need
to improve their fluency and ultimately their comprehension. Evidence also
suggests that audio support while reading can help improve readers’ stamina
and concentration (Hecker et al., 2002).
The addition of audio in computer-based learning environments has been
shown to be effective. Students who listened to aural explanations outperformed
their peers who read only text-based explanations in 2002 study by Atkinson.
Specifically, students who listened to a human voice deliver explanations
“perceived the examples presented during instruction to be less demanding.
They also produced more conceptually accurate solutions on the practice
problems and the near-transfer items on the posttest.” (Atkinson, 2002, p. 426)
The integration of video, audio, visual, and text in the Conspiracy Code: Intensive
Reading program ensures that the content effectively reaches students with
varied learning styles.
25
Clue with photo story

Providing Students with Control over Their Learning
Allowing students to have control over choices and pacing in their
computer-based learning environments, as is the case in Conspiracy Code:
Intensive Reading, has been shown to be effective at increasing engagement
and learning.
Research has repeatedly supported the idea that increasing students’ control
over their learning can impact student learning, engagement, and motivation.
Cordova and Lepper (1996) concluded that “students who were offered a
modicum of choice over instructionally incidental aspects of the learning
contexts showed greater increases in motivation and learning.” (p. 726) In their
2001 study, Yeh and Lehman found that when students could control aspects
of the navigation of a computer program they showed increased learning over
peers working with programs that lacked these choices for students. According
to Mayer and Chandler (2001), students who worked in a multimedia
environment in which they could control the pace of instruction outperformed
control group students and were “better able to mentally organize the presented
material into a cause-and-effect chain and to mentally relate the material with
relevant prior knowledge. As predicted, this deeper level of understanding…was
reflected in superior performance on tests of problem-solving transfer.” (p. 396)
In a meta-analysis conducted by the U.S. Department of Education, researchers
found that learning was enhanced when students could control their online
actions. When computer-based learning programs included manipulations to
trigger student activity, reflection, and self-monitoring, student learning
increased (Means, Toyama, Murphy, Bakia, & Jones, 2009).
These findings on learner control suggest a particular advantage for students
using Conspiracy Code: Intensive Reading. They are given control over the online
resources and can tailor the learning experience to their unique abilities
and needs.
THE CONSPIRACY CODE: INTENSIVE READING CONNECTION
In Conspiracy Code: Intensive Reading, students control their own pacing,
but they must demonstrate mastery before moving ahead. Teachers can
impose “roadblocks” in the game if, through observation and evaluation,
they determine that a student’s progress is unsatisfactory. These
“roadblocks” require students to perform specific tasks before being
allowed to resume gameplay.
26

Section 4: Support for Teachers
Computer-based learning may take place online, but teachers play a crucial role
in ensuring student learning. Computer-based learning program must support
teachers in key ways, including facilitating teacher-student communication,
providing guidance and support for individualized instruction tailored to
student needs, and including ongoing formative assessments and the tools
needed to analyze and evaluate results—and tailor instruction accordingly.
Facilitation for Teacher-Student Communication
Research suggests that students experience greater academic success when they
feel connected within their learning communities (Alvermann, 2002; Bandura,
1993; Bean, 2000; Pajares, 1996; Phelps & Hanley-Maxwell, 1997). Teachers play
a key role in developing this sense of community and purpose for learning. Diaz
and Entonado (2009) found no important differences between the functions of
teachers who taught online or in face-to-face classrooms. The conclusion? Even
in an online environment, the instructor plays a significant role in developing
this sense of community—which in turn leads to greater learning. Students’
sense of rapport with their teacher correlates with higher cognitive learning and
participation (Frisby & Martin, 2010). Their sense of instructor immediacy—or
psychological closeness and availability—also impacts students’ learning,
motivation, and satisfaction (Christophel, 1990; Gorham, 1988).
However, research also suggests that a strong online course shell—with
significant examples, study aids, and meaningful projects—decreases the
activity level of online teachers needed for high student learning and
achievement (Oliver, Osborne, & Brady, 2009). The Conspiracy Code: Intensive
Reading program provides this strong structure, supporting teachers and
facilitating their development of strong relationships with their students.
The program fosters communication between students and teachers through
a robust content delivery system named SiTi™, which stands for student
interface/teacher interface. This delivery system facilitates communication
between students and teachers.
27
Teacher-student interaction

The Inclusion of On-Going, Varied Assessments with Feedback
Research has shown that student achievement increases when they receive
frequent and specific feedback on their progress. Furthermore, the use of
assessment information to drive instruction has been shown to have significant
positive effects on learning. Ongoing and varied assessment measures provide
teachers with the detailed knowledge of students’ strengths and weaknesses
needed to deliver appropriate instruction.
In a research synthesis on the practices of effective teachers, Cotton (1995)
concluded that effective teachers “monitor learning regularly, both formally
and informally…” (p. 18) In addition, they check student progress routinely
using varied assessment procedures, such as reviewing students’ work,
checking homework, talking
to students, administering
tests, and reviewing
THE CONSPIRACY CODE: INTENSIVE
student performance data
READING CONNECTION
(Cotton, 1995). Black and
In Conspiracy Code: Intensive Reading, students
Williams’ 1998 findings
are assessed regularly through a mixed
support this conclusion. In
approach of un-graded, automatic, and
a review of studies looking
graded, instructor-evaluated assessments,
at the effects of assessment
allowing teachers to gauge student mastery
on students, they found that
of content and concepts and development
practices that strengthened
of higher-order and critical thinking skills.
the use of formative
Assessments include such types as regular
assessment produced
verbal interviews with teachers as well as
“significant and often
written or project-based assignments.
substantial learning gains.”
(Black & Wiliam, 1998, p.
140) The work of the Education Trust concluded that traditionally
low-performing schools that were able to reach high levels of achievement
did so, in part, through the effective use of ongoing and frequent classroom
assessment (Jerald, 2001).
28

Furthermore, ongoing classroom assessments appear to be effective for all
students, but particularly for low achievers. Systematic formative assessment
practices have been shown to significantly increase mildly learning disabled
student’s academic achievement (Fuchs & Fuchs, 1986). In a review of effective
instructional strategies for students with mild learning disabilities, Christenson,
Ysseldyke, and Thurlow (1989) concluded that ongoing assessment of student
progress and understanding was a critical factor for all students in any subject
area. Because of its particular effectiveness for lower-performing students, the
effective use of formative assessment “reduces the range of achievement while
raising achievement overall.” (Black and Wiliam, 1998, p. 141)
Online environments are particularly
well-suited to frequent, ongoing
formative assessment. Computer-based
instruction has the potential to
include important, effective
elements of formative assessment
systems, such as frequent, consistent,
timely, diplomatic, and evaluative
feedback (Bischoff, 2000). On-line
environments have the potential to
transform assessment within
classroom and allow for a continuous level of monitoring not feasible in
traditional classrooms. In addition, effective computer-based assessment
tools can suggest modifications and re-direct students as needed, creating a
continuous cycle of learning and assessment.
“Effective online assessments should
include a wide variety of clearly explained
assignments on a regular basis. Feedback
is also a critical component of online
assessment. It must be meaningful,
timely, and should be supported by a
well-designed rubric when possible.”
— Gaytan & McEwen, 2007, p. 129
29

The Conspiracy Code: Intensive Reading program also provides another benefit to
teachers in terms of the types of assessments that are included in the program.
One obstacle for many readers is that they are not always given the opportunity
to move beyond literal recall of texts in the classroom because of teachers’
reliance on literal questions (Barnes, 1975). In order to improve their abilities to
answer more complex questions about texts, students need to be given multiple
opportunities to do so. The assessment activities embedded throughout the
Conspiracy Code: Intensive Reading program were developed specifically with the
intent of providing all readers, but particularly those readers who need more
practice, with the opportunity to answer questions that move beyond literal
recall and encourage higher-level inferences, synthesis, analysis, and evaluation.
SiTi, the content delivery system employed by the Conspiracy Code: Intensive
Reading program, delivers benefits to teachers to facilitate ongoing,
formative assessment of student performance. Through SiTi, teachers are
able to easily and quickly maintain grade books, track student pacing and
progress, and view student trends on both individual and aggregate levels.
30

Section 5: Effective Strategies to Teach Reading
The primary goal of reading instruction for older students is to develop students’
ability to read and comprehend independently texts from a variety of genres
and at increasing levels of difficulty. To do so, students must analyze, synthesize,
and evaluate; they must make inferences, interpret, and apply what they read;
and they must read extensively, for enjoyment as well as for information. An
effective reading program for older readers must align with state standards,
model and provide explicit strategy instruction, increase students’ vocabulary
and skills for acquiring new vocabulary, build on students’ background
knowledge, and integrate reading and writing. The Conspiracy Code: Intensive
Reading program incorporates each of these effective strategies to teach reading.
Instruction Aligned with Standards
Recent research and experience point to the effectiveness of educational
systems that define clear standards and align high-quality instruction with those
standards. The Conspiracy Code: Intensive Reading program was designed to meet
state and national standards. The program aligns with Florida’s Next Generation
Standards and with the expectations articulated in the Common Core State
Standards for English Language Arts and Literacy in History/Social Studies and
Science. Unlike other computer-based learning programs that are optional,
add-ons to the main program of learning, or which provide on-line, but
traditional, text-based instruction, the Conspiracy Code: Intensive Reading
program was designed to fully meet grade-level standards and expectations
through a complete, game-based course.
In addition, the Conspiracy Code: Intensive Reading program is also consistent with
standards for the knowledge and use of technology. In 2007, the International
Society for Technology in Education developed a set of standards to articulate
the expectations for students’ knowledge and use of technology. The Conspiracy
Code: Intensive Reading program is consistent with these National Educational
Technology Standards for Students (NETS-S), which, among other indicators,
specify that students will “use models and simulations to explore complex
systems and issues” and “evaluate and select information sources and digital
tools based on the appropriateness to specific tasks” (ISTE, 2007).
31

Explicit Strategy Instruction
When good readers read, they constantly use strategies to comprehend and
make sense of what they are reading. Strategies such as setting a purpose
for reading, asking and answering questions while reading, identifying
main ideas and details, determining cause and effect relationships, visualizing,
sequencing, monitoring for
understanding and summarizing
are all strategies that good readers
employ, often without even being
aware of doing so.
While some readers informally
acquire the strategies that they need to
comprehend, for many others, these
strategies must be specifically taught
to be learned. To be most effective,
reading comprehension instruction
must support students, directly and explicitly, with how to use the
strategies needed to comprehend a text (Hollingsworth & Woodward, 1993;
National Reading Panel, 2000). Students with reading difficulties can benefit
particularly from explicit instruction in comprehension strategies (Nelson &
Manset-Williamson, 2006), but poor and high achievers alike, as well as native
speakers and non-native speakers of English, have been shown to benefit from
explicit instruction (Alfassi, 2004; Baumann, 1984; Francis, Rivera, Lesaux,
Kieffer, & Rivera, 2006a, 2006b; Klingner & Vaughn, 2004: Nokes & Dole, 2004;
Rosenshine, Meister, & Chapman, 1996; Van Keer & Verhaeghe, 2005).
“The past two decades of research appear
to support the enthusiastic advocacy of
instruction of reading strategies…The
instruction of cognitive strategies
improves reading comprehension in
readers with a range of abilities.”
— National Reading Panel, 2000,
p. 4-46-47
32

To be effective, explicit instruction must meet several criteria. Rather than simply
mentioning a skill or strategy, effective instructional programs and educators
guide readers as to what strategies to use, and why, when, and how to use them.
Typical steps in the process include:
• Direct explanation. The teacher explains to students why the strategy
helps comprehension and when to apply the strategy.
• Modeling. The teacher models, or demonstrates, how to apply the
strategy, usually by ‘thinking aloud’ while reading the text that the
students are using.
• Guided practice. The teacher guides and assists students as they learn
how and when to apply the strategy.
• Application. The teacher helps students practice until they apply
strategies independently. (Center for the Improvement of Early
Reading, 2003, p. 53)
In Conspiracy Code: Intensive Reading, each mission students engage in
provides them with the opportunity to review and practice reading skills
in such areas as:
• Analyzing Graphs
• Analyzing Vocabulary
• Creating Questions
• Determining Cause and Effect
• Determining the Author’s Purpose (to entertain, to inform,
to persuade)
• Drawing Conclusions
• Making Predictions
• Monitoring Understanding
• Previewing the Text
• Reading Different Texts Differently
• Reading Selectively
• Setting a Purpose for Reading
• Sequencing Events
• Summarizing
• Understanding the Main Idea
• Using Prior Knowledge
• Visualizing to Comprehend Text
33

Modeling Strategy Use
One of the things that makes reading so difficult for some students to learn is
that many of the processes that effective readers use are internal processes. So a
challenge for teachers is to make
these processes more visible to
students, so that they can see, study,
and emulate models of the process
they are trying to learn.
Research has shown that effective
teachers model reading strategies to
students. In an online environment,
these models can be embedded
at the point of instruction, to
effectively support students
when they need it.
“The research on comprehension strategy
teaching provides powerful evidence that
most struggling readers (and many not
so struggling readers) benefit enormously
when we can construct lessons that help
make the comprehension processes
visible… Students need demonstrations
of effective strategy use.”
— Allington, 2001, p. 98
34
Conspiracy Code Full Clue

Vocabulary Acquisition Strategies and Skills
Texts are made up of words, and without a sufficient and growing body of
vocabulary, students cannot understand the words they encounter in grade-level
texts. Reading comprehension and vocabulary knowledge are strongly connected
(Baumann & Kame’enui, 1991; Stahl & Fairbanks, 1986). Explicit instruction in
words, therefore, directly supports text comprehension.
Incidental encounters with words have proven to be effective in helping students
to acquire the thousands of words they should be learning annually (Smith,
1997). Reading appears to be the primary source of incidental vocabulary
acquisition (Anderson & Nagy, 1991; Baumann & Kame’enui, 1991). Students
also acquire new words by engaging in listening, speaking, and writing activities.
Research suggests, however, that while words can be learned incidentally,
intentional, explicit instruction plays an important role in students’ achievement
(McKeown & Beck, 1988; National Reading Panel, 2000). While incidental
vocabulary acquisition is important, many students need purposeful and explicit
vocabulary instruction to keep up with their peers. In fact, in its analysis of the
research on vocabulary instruction, the National Reading Panel (2000) found that
all students can benefit from a combination of incidental encounters and explicit
instruction. According to McKeown and Beck (1988), explicit instruction is
actually more effective and more efficient than incidental learning for the
acquisition of specific vocabulary words. The convergence of research findings—
that vocabulary knowledge is essential to comprehension, reading growth, and
achievement; that the number of words students need for success is large; that
incidental word learning alone is not sufficient; and, that words can effectively
be taught using explicit instructional strategies—together point to a clear need
for vocabulary instruction.
Important to note is that while
all students will benefit from
explicit vocabulary instruction,
for certain student groups, this
instruction is essential for their
success. Research has documented
the disparity between the
vocabularies of socioeconomically
advantaged and disadvantaged
student populations (Chall, Jacobs,
& Baldwin, 1990; Snow, Burns, &
Griffin, 1998). Without intentional
and meaningful intervention,
the disparity in vocabulary
knowledge between these two
35
“The findings on vocabulary yielded
several specific implications for
teaching reading. First, vocabulary
should be taught both directly and
indirectly. Repetition and multiple
exposures to vocabulary items are
important. Learning in rich contexts,
incidental learning, and use of
computer technology all enhance
the acquisition of vocabulary.”
— National Reading Panel, 2001, p. 14

student groups only increases over time (Baker, Simmons, & Kame’enui, 1995a).
English language learners also benefit a great deal from explicit vocabulary
instruction. While English-Language Learners tend to acquire social language
vocabulary and skills through incidental social interactions and conversations,
the acquisition of an academic vocabulary requires explicit vocabulary
instruction (Francis, Rivera, Lesaux, Kieffer, & Rivera, 2006a). A third group
that benefits a great deal from explicit vocabulary instruction in order not to
fall further behind is struggling readers. Struggling readers make larger and
faster achievement gains with the help of explicit vocabulary instruction.
Struggling readers often have weaknesses
in the areas of fluency, comprehension,
and word analysis that make it more
difficult for them to learn new words
and to make sense of texts. Explicit
vocabulary instruction can help them
grow as readers in ways that incidental
vocabulary learning cannot (Sedita, 2005).
Studying the structure of words,
morphology, has also been shown to
be important in developing students’
abilities to acquire vocabulary and
comprehend new vocabulary when reading (Aronoff, 1994). The impact of a
morphological understanding of words appears to be particularly important with
older students, and equally important with native speakers, English language
learners, and students in urban settings. For all of these groups, “students with
greater understanding of morphology also have higher reading comprehension
scores” (Kieffer & Lesaux, 2007, p. 138).
Several strategies for teaching vocabulary and vocabulary acquisition skills
have been demonstrated through research to be particularly effective. These
research-based strategies include:
“The conclusion that students with
greater understanding of morphology
are more successful at learning academic
vocabulary and comprehending text
is a strong argument for including
morphology instruction in language
and literacy programs, especially in
urban settings.”
— Kieffer & Lesaux, 2007, p. 139
• Direct and indirect instruction through a definitional and contextual
approach (Baumann & Kame-enui, 1991; Graves, 2006; Nagy, 1988;
National Reading Panel, 2000; Stahl, 1986);
• Multiple and varied exposures to vocabulary words (Baumann &
Kame-enui, 1991; Beck, McKeown, & Kucan, 2002; Blachowicz & Fisher,
2000; Graves, 2006; Kolich, 1988; Marzano, 2009; National Reading Panel,
2000; Stahl & Fairbanks, 1986; Stahl, 1986) which leads students to a
deeper understanding of words and their multiple meanings, uses,
and connotations;
36

• Frequent vocabulary instruction (Beck, McKeown, & Kucan, 2002;
Marzano, 2009; National Reading Panel, 2000; Stahl & Fairbanks, 1986;
Topping & Paul, 1999), which can help students improve reading
comprehension and fluency;
• Instruction in word morphology, or structure (Aronoff, 1994; Kieffer &
Lesaux, 2007)
• Use of of games to engage students in learning and allow for the review of
vocabulary terms (Marzano, 2009);
• Use of computer technology to support vocabulary acquisition
(National Reading Panel, 2000).
In Conspiracy Code: Intensive Reading, vocabulary instruction is provided
which is designed to increase students’ reading comprehension.
Specifically, students:
• Apply synonyms to understand difficult vocabulary;
• Use context clues to define important terms;
• Focus on word parts to define key words.
37

Building on Students’ Background Knowledge
Research on cognition suggests that new information must be integrated with
existing information to be deeply learned and retained. New learning takes place
when we can connect new concepts and ideas to those that we already know and
understand. In their principles for brain-based learning, Caine and Caine (1997a)
refer to this as patterning; the brain/mind looks for patterns in the familiar and
the novel, and effective instruction must give learners a chance to formulate
these patterns.
38
“The review of previous material helps
prepare students for new learning and
creates an initial sense of self-efficacy
for learning. Students are apt to believe
that if they understand prerequisite
materials, they will be able to learn
the new material.”
— Schunk, Pintrich, & Meece, 2008, p. 305
Educators have known for some
time that in order for learners to
make sense of new information,
they must be able to make
connections to their prior
knowledge and experiences
(Afflerbach, 1986; Chiesi, Spilich,
& Voss, 1979; Pressley, 2000;
Snow & Sweet, 2003; Spires &
Donley, 1998). That means that
the new understandings and
ideas to which students are introduced in school must be both relevant and
familiar enough to them that they are able to make those essential connections.
The Conspiracy Code: Intensive Reading program was designed to connect with
students’ own background knowledge and previous experiences. Students are
given numerous opportunities to make connections between course content,
previous learning, and their personal experiences and interests. By activating
students’ schema and background knowledge, the program creates a supporting
structure in which students can fit new ideas, concepts, and skills.
Research attests to the benefits of making effective connections to students’
background knowledge, skills, and experiences. Students who learned from
instruction designed to monitor and integrate their prior knowledge
outperformed students who received traditional instruction (Dole & Smith,
1989). Additionally, connecting new information to prior knowledge has been
found to positively impact the learning of students with learning disabilities
(Swanson & Hoskyn, 2001). Benefits of building on student’s background
knowledge, interests, and experiences include increased interest, increased
motivation, increased concentration and focus, and increased learning
(Williams, Papierno, Makel, & Ceci, 2004).

Integrating Reading and Writing
Integrating skills within and across the disciplines is particularly important
in English-language arts classrooms because of the interconnectedness of
reading and writing, and of speaking and listening. Cognitive scientists have
demonstrated that instruction is more
readily learned and retained when
skills are integrated, allowing students
to create pathways of learning and
remembering in their minds. Researchers
in reading and writing have increasingly
found that reading and writing depend
upon a shared base of cognitive skills and
understandings, and that the relationship
between the two processes is bidirection-al.
That is, “the sharing of knowledge
between reading and writing can go
either way, from reading to writing, or
from writing to reading…” (Shanahan,
2006, p. 179) Research supports the idea that connections between reading and
writing are present at the narrower word level (word recognition, vocabulary,
and spelling) and at the larger text level (comprehension and composition)
(Berninger, Abbott, Abbott, Graham, & Richards, 2002).
In the Conspiracy Code: Intensive Reading program students integrate reading,
writing, listening, and speaking as they engage in diverse activities working
towards their focused goals.
Integrating reading and writing not only strengthens students’ reading and
writing, it also impacts students’ word-learning skills and knowledge.
According to Baker, Simmons, and Kame’enui (1995a), integrating reading and
writing together also facilitates reading growth and student independence in
word learning. Having students engage in writing activities has been specifically
identified as an effective vocabulary teaching strategy (Klesius & Searls, 1991).
For English-Language Learners, providing multiple literacy activities in varied
instructional contexts is essential. For these students, it is particularly important
that instruction incorporate integrated oral, reading, and writing activities
(Francis, Rivera, Lesaux, Kieffer, & Rivera, 2006a).
“Research supports the idea that writing
instruction also improves reading
comprehension. For example, students
who are given the opportunity to write
in conjunction with reading show more
evidence of critical thinking about
reading. Likewise, many of the skills
involved in writing—such as grammar
and spelling—reinforce reading skills.”
— Biancarosa & Snow, 2006, p. 19
39

Integrating skills is particularly important in English language arts classrooms
because of the interconnectedness of reading and writing, speaking and listening.
Instruction is more readily learned and retained when skills are integrated,
allowing students to create pathways of learning and remembering in their
minds. The Conspiracy Code: Intensive Reading program provides numerous
opportunities for students to integrate reading and writing to facilitate
their learning.
40
Conspiracy Code Writing Directions
Uncorrected Student Writing Sample

Conclusion: The Research Support for Conspiracy Code:
Intensive Reading ™
The Conspiracy Code: Intensive Reading program was designed, using
research-based principles, to meet the challenge of teaching reading
comprehension in an engaging and motivating way to adolescents.
As this report has shown, the program’s game-based technology, use of
human-like animated agents, effective instructional approaches, purposeful
organization, focus on engagement and motivation, and attention to the needs
of diverse learners meet what research suggests are the essential elements of an
effective literacy program.
The Conspiracy Code: Intensive Reading program is built upon best instructional
practices as well as upon what we know about student engagement and
motivation. Research suggests that use of Conspiracy Code: Intensive Reading will
provide students with the skills and knowledge they need to meet the increasing
literacy demands of the 21st century.
41

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