Does Reading First Work?

1. Does Reading First Work? Feng-Yi Hung, Ph.D. Director of Assessment and Program Evaluation Clover Park School District

2. Reading First Background • Reading First is a federal initiative to strengthen the instruction of reading to primary grade students. • Since 2003, Reading First has provided substantial amounts of federal funding to states for K-3 reading program, with the goal of having children read at grade level by the end of third grade.

3. Reading First Program Components • Use a research-based core reading program • Hire a reading coach • Provide at least 90 minutes of reading instruction per day • Regularly assess students’ reading skills • Provide reading interventions to struggling students.

4. Evaluation Instruments • Student assessments – K-3 scores on DIBELS • Spring Surveys – Paper surveys of all teachers, coaches, principals, district coordinators • In-person interviews – principals, coaches, 2 teachers from each school • Classroom observations – during site visits, targeted observations of three reading lessons at every school selected for a site visit • Interview with state project staff members

5. Clover Park School District • Districtwide – 57.9% Free/Reduced Lunch • Rank #1 in poverty (King and Pierce Counties) • Rank #3 in poverty (WA State) • Five Reading First Schools in the 2007-08 school year: • Carter Lake – 44.7% (Restructured) • Lakeview – 88.7% • Southgate – 90.4% • Tillicum – 90.9% • Tyee Park – 83.1% (Start, 2007-08)

6. Reading First - Assessments • Dynamic Indicator of Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) was the primary measure of student outcomes. • WASL– Reading and Math

7. Clover Park School District 2007-08 Assessment and Program Evaluation Department DIBELS: Matched Analysis (Fall to Spring) 100 Kindergarten 90 82 80 75 70 68 60 53 50 % of students meeting Benchmark 40 36 Non-Reading First Schools 31 30 28 Reading First Schools 23 20 Success for All Schools 21 All Day Kindergarten 10 Half Day Kindergarten 0 Fall Spring

14. Recognize there may be some confusion regarding the process

15. Discussion • In Clover Park School District, non-Reading First schools frequently implemented many Reading First program components, such as training, instructional coaches, assessments, etc. • Three Main Issues – • 1. One district analysis for Reading First • 2. Descriptive statistics only • 3. Alignment of the assessment system

16. Next Steps • What about the students who scored at the benchmark in the fall DIBELS? How to identify students who needs extra support to meet WASL standard in reading? • Try to get multiple school districts and do advanced statistical analyses. How much can we generalize? • Is there a difference in performance for non-Reading First Schools?

17. Questions and/or Ideas