Raz-Plus ESSA Strong Evidence One Sheet

Raz-Plus Meets ESSA’s Highest Standard: Strong Evidence

What Does Raz-Plus Provide?

Raz-Plus delivers a combination of teacher-led instruction, independent practice, formative assessment, and detailed reporting to help improve the literacy skills of every student, at every level. With more than 50,000 resources available in printable, projectable, online, and mobile formats, Raz-Plus strengthens the connection between what is being taught and what students are practicing.

Evidence of Effectiveness for Raz-Plus

Raz-Plus demonstrates a statistically significant effect on improving student outcomes or other relevant outcomes, based on at least one well-designed and well-implemented experimental study.

The following study meets ESSA’s standards for strong evidence:

• This study employed a randomized control trial design across multiple sites.
• The study results show that the treatment had a positive and statistically significant impact on relevant outcomes.

Evidence Summary

The study by Ho and Smrekar included 662 students from 39 classrooms in grades K-5 in rural elementary schools that serve predominantly low-income, minority student populations. The 21 teachers randomly assigned to the treatment group used Raz-Plus with their students an average 60-90 minutes per week, in three to five sessions, during a 13-week implementation.

At the end of the study, students in the treatment group (using Raz-Plus) had higher average reading achievement scores than students in the control group, as measured by the STAR Reading and STAR Early Literacy assessments. Students in the treatment group also reported higher interest in both academic and recreational reading than students in the control group at the end of the study.

Effects on Reading Achievement

The STAR assessment was used for both pre- and post-assessments of student reading skills. The mean difference between groups was statistically significant (p < 0.05) with a small effect size (ES = 0.14).

Effects on Attitude Toward Reading

The Elementary Reading Attitude Survey (ERAS) was used for both pre- and post-assessments of student interest in academic and recreational reading. The ERAS was only administered to students between grades three and five.

The mean differences in student interest were statistically significant with a large effect size (p < 0.05, ES = 0.63 for academic reading, and p < 0.05, ES = 0.57 for recreational reading).

Ho, H., & Smrekar, M. (under review). Implementation and efficacy study of a blended learning literacy program for students from kindergarten to fifth grade. Educational Technology Research and Development. Article reports research by McREL International.