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 school year:  Carter Lake – 44.7% (Restructured)  Lakeview – 88.7%  Southgate – 90.4%  Tillicum – 90.9%  Tyee Park – 83.1% (Start, )

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

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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