1. The Power of Community
Reading Corps Helps Schools Produce Successful Readers
Senate E-12 Education Finance and Policy Committee
Monday, January 28, 2019

2. Does Reading Corps work?
As a resource for the state and as an effective intervention for individual students.

3. Evaluation Overview What is the impact of Reading Corps program on K-3 students?
Conducted by the University of Chicago
Impartial evaluators
Methods as rigorous as possible
Re-affirmed and extended prior evaluation.

4. Evaluation Overview What is the impact of Reading Corps program on K-3 students?
Statistically significant, meaningful effects for all grades
Equivalent to an additional 50%-85% year’s worth of literacy growth.
Key Findings
Continued strong impact for Kindergarten and First Grade
1st grade saw skill transfer from phonics to connected text.
2nd/3rd grade had improved effects (3x greater than previous evaluation)
Evidence for closing the achievement gap

5. Sample Finding First Grade—Phonics Skills (e.g., /t/ /a/ /m/ … “tam”)
Effect Size: 0.81*

6. Sample Finding Skill Transfer: First Grade Reading Fluency
Effect Size: 0.61*

7. Trimethoprim An adult example: The Reading Corps Impact is Meaningful
RECENT RESEARCH SHOWS:
“…direct effects from kindergarten nonsense word fluency and letter naming fluency to tenth grade reading comprehension” Florida Center for Reading Research—Stanley, Petscher, & Catts (2018) 
An adult example:
Trimethoprim
Simplify

8. 79% greater 79% 89% The Reading Corps Impact is Equitable
Impact on Students from Diverse Background
The impact on Black students is
79% greater
than the average Reading Corps student
The impact on English Language Learner students is
89% greater
than the average Reading Corps student
79%
89%
Historically, in every subject, in every state, it has been difficult to move those two populations, as well as children living in poverty…especially relative to “AVERAGE”.
And talka bout this being a consistent finding.
Remember…the average Reading Corps student significantly outperformed their non-Reading Corps peer

9. Projected annual savings for Minnesota
READING CORPS DELIVERS SPECIAL EDUCATION SAVINGS
$9 MILLION
Projected annual savings for Minnesota
Students who participate in Reading Corps are nearly less likely to be referred to special education compared to non-participants 3x
Princeton Example: Over five years, as Reading Corps reached a broad scale, 50% fewer students were identified as needing Special Education support, which translated to a savings of $300,000 per year, or $1,500,000 over five years.