Read Naturally Case Studies
Case 7: Four-School Study, Minneapolis, Minn.
A study of four Minneapolis schools showed that students in Read Naturally programs had significantly greater reading gains than their peers who did not use Read Naturally. The study was based on data collected in Spring 2003 through Spring 2004. Throughout the 2003–2004 school year, one group of students used Read Naturally’s Masters Edition and Software Edition, while one group did not.
A total of 156 students from four Minneapolis schools were included in the study. Each Read Naturally student was matched with a student who was not in a Read Naturally program but had comparable baseline test scores and demographics. The demographic criteria were grade, English language learner status, special education status, free or reduced price lunch status, racial/ethnic category, home language, and gender.
The students were evaluated using three assessments—the Northwest Achievement Levels Test (NALT), the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments (MCA), and Read Naturally’s Reading Fluency Monitor. The test results are shown in the table and charts below.
Control
Group |
Read Naturally |
||
|
Northwest Achievement
Levels Test |
Baseline
(Spring 2003) |
184.6 |
184.6 |
| Final (Spring 2004) | 192.9 |
195.4 |
|
Increase |
8.3 |
10.8 |
|
| Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments | 1307.3 |
1366.4 |
|
| Reading Fluency Monitor Assessments | Fall
2003 |
63.7 |
63.1 |
| Winter 2004 | 73.9 |
82.0 |
|
| Spring 2004 | 86.9 |
90.6 |
|
Increase |
23.2 |
27.5 |
|
A comparison of the students’ NALT pre-test scores in Spring 2003 with their test scores in Spring 2004 showed that, on average, the Read Naturally students had gains of 10.8 compared to gains of only 8.3 by students not in a Read Naturally program (see the following chart).
Average Scores on the Northwest
Achievement Levels Test
A comparison of 44 matched pairs of students with MCA scores in grades 3 and 5 showed that students in the Read Naturally program had an average score of 1366.4 compared to an average score of 1307.3 for the control group (see the following chart).
Average Scores on the Minnesota
Comprehensive Assessments
A comparison of the Reading Fluency Monitor scores for 78 matched pairs of students from all four schools (grades 3, 4, and 5) showed that the Read Naturally students increased their scores on benchmark passages by an average of 27.5 points compared to an average increase of 23.2 points for the control group (see the following chart).
Average Reading Fluency Monitor Scores
