Rhode Island

Randomized Controlled Trial Sites

REL-NEI conducted 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) examined 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) examined the impact of an interactive computer-based program on reading achievement.

Several Rhode Island public schools participated in the Thinking Reader Study. The goal of the Thinking Reader™ software program is to help advance literacy development, especially comprehension and vocabulary skills, among middle-grades students. The software provides digital versions of nine popular, multicultural, award-winning novels to be read by students in an interactive, online environment. During the 2008–2009 school year, the program was used by randomly assigned sixth-grade teachers and their students as a supplement to their regular English language arts curriculum. Another group of teachers and students assigned to the “control group” used only their schools’ regular English language arts curriculum. A study team collected data on how the software was used and its impact on student achievement.

In April 2011, the Institute of Education Sciences published the study’s findings in the following report: Impact of the Thinking Reader™ Software Program on Grade 6 Reading Vocabulary, Comprehension, Strategies, and Motivation. To learn more, read the press release.