Impact: Massachusetts

Randomized Controlled Trial Sites

REL-NEI is conducting two long-term Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) studies in five states in two critical content areas—literacy and math—during middle-grade years, a pivotal time in students’ learning. The Pathways to Math Achievement Study (Maine, Vermont) is examining how improving access to Algebra I for eighth-graders, through an online course, benefits student math achievement. The Thinking Reader Study (Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island) examines the impact of an interactive computer-based program on reading achievement. Launched in the 2008–09 academic year, findings will become available in two to three years.

About the Thinking Reader Study

Several Massachusetts public schools are participating in the Thinking Reader Study. The goal of the Thinking Reader software is to help advance literacy development, especially comprehension and vocabulary skills, among middle-grades students. The software uses digital versions of nine popular, multicultural, award-winning novels read online in an interactive environment. During the 2008–2009 school year, the program was used by sixth-grade teachers and their students as a supplement to their regular English language arts curriculum. A study team collected data on how it was used and its impact on student achievement. Researchers currently are analyzing the data and drafting a report to release the findings.