Academy of Reading® Impact on Student Achievement in Extended Learning Program

The purpose of this casual-comparative study was to assess the effectiveness of Academy of READING® (AOR) on eighth grade Response to Intervention students using third nine-week benchmark scaled score and Criterion Reference Competency Test scaled score. The data collected from a public middle-school in rural Georgia revealed how student achievement, gender, and socioeconomic status were impacted by AOR. AOR participants, the treatment group, received 45 minutes of research-based computer intervention while the control, non-participating AOR, did not receive computer-based instruction during extended learning. This study compared differences in the mean scaled scores for at-risk students using an independent samples t-test. The findings for this research study indicated AOR participants’ third nine-week reading benchmark scores were slightly higher than non-participating AOR. No significant differences were revealed between third nine-week reading benchmark based on gender. High SES AOR participants scored slightly higher than low SES AOR participants although the sample size was small. Non-participating AOR participants’ student achievement outcomes were marginally higher than AOR participants on the CRCT. The researcher concludes that Academy of READING® did not impact student achievement. Furthermore, the researcher recommends that this study be replicated for a longer period with students from different ethnicities, more diverse economic population, and provide more feedback from students and teachers. Keywords: at-risk, benchmarks, comprehension strategies, extended learning time, low- achieving, standardized test scores, response to intervention