From the summary: "This 2025 study examines the Return on Investment (ROI) of eduCLIMBER, an integrated platform that streamlines whole child data, intervention tracking, and collaborative workflows to enhance teacher decision-making and reduce administrative paperwork. Maddock, Eadens, and Torres analyze user perspectives and comprehensive operational costs including software licensing, teacher salaries, and infrastructure expenses." Citation: Maddock, D., Eadens, D., & Torres, L. (in press). Transforming sense into cents II: Evaluation of eduCLIMBER’s impact in a county's schools. The full summary will be available online: <https://www.icpel.org/ijelp.html>.The summary is available online: <https://docs.renaissance.com/R68583>.

To develop Pathway to Proficiency reports for Florida Star Reading and Star Math schools, we linked our scaled scores with the scaled scores from Florida's achievement test. This technical report details the statistical method behind the process of linking Florida's state test (FAST) and Star Reading and Star Math scaled scores. The full report is available online: <https://docs.renaissance.com/R45709>.

To develop Pathway to Proficiency reports for Florida Star Math schools, we linked our scaled scores with the scaled scores from Florida's achievement test. This technical report details the statistical method behind the process of linking Florida's state test (Florida End-of-Course (EOC) Assessments for Algebra 1 and Geometry, FSA in the software) and Star Math scaled scores. The Full Report is available online: <https://docs.renaissance.com/R63028>.

Accelerated Reader is a progress-monitoring system that provides feedback on the comprehension of books and other materials that students have read. It also tracks student reading over time. Currently, more than 180,000 different Accelerated Reader quizzes have been developed and are in use. This report provides reliability and validity data for Accelerated Reader quizzes. The reliability analyses use a large database of nearly 1 million quiz records. Validity is established through correlations with scores from 24 standardized reading tests and through a study that confirms that the quizzes are effective at discriminating between instances of students having read the book versus not having read the book. The report also includes descriptions of the purpose and intended classroom use of Accelerated Reader, descriptions of the types of quizzes, and the processes for quiz development. The report is available online: <https://docs.renaissance.com/R35806>.

From the summary: "After rolling out a 1:1 Chromebook initiative, Eastside Elementary in Hendry County, Florida faced a challenge: how could they best utilize their new technology to maximize student growth? And how could they leverage technology to support English Language Learners (ELL) students? The district wanted to increase student engagement while keeping teachers in control of their classrooms. After Nearpod trained Eastside teachers on its interactive platform, not only did ELL students benefit, but all students experienced Nearpod’s transformative effects on learning."The full article is available online: <https://news.nearpod.com/pdf/Nearpod's+Impact+on+Student+Achievement+v14.pdf>.

From the abstract: "The population of Spanish-speaking preschoolers in the United States continues to increase and there is a significant need to develop psychometrically sound early language and literacy screening measures to accurately capture children's ability in Spanish. In this paper, we describe the innovative design and calibration process of the new Individual Growth and Development Indicators-Español (IGDIs-E). We developed and tested two Spanish oral language measures: Identificación de los Dibujos/Picture Naming and Verbos (Expresivo)/Expressive Verbs with 976 Spanish-speaking preschoolers (4-5-years old; 50% female) across five states. Children were tested in Spanish in fall, winter, and spring across two academic years. Results provide evidence that the new IGDIs-E are psychometrically sound with no significant bias between genders and dialects of Spanish spoken in the United States. Cumulative results, the utility of the final measures, and the implications for data-based decision making with Spanish-speaking preschoolers is discussed." Citation: Durán, L. K., Wackerle-Hollman, A. K., Kohlmeier, T. L., Brunner, S. K., Palma, J., & Callard, C. H. (2019). Individual Growth and Development Indicators-Español: Innovation in the development of Spanish oral language general outcome measures. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 48, 155-172The research study is available online: <https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED596096.pdf>.

From the abstract: "Spanish speakers in the United States are a steadily increasing population, up by 233% since 1980. Given the growing population of dual language learners (DLLs) and the large numbers of Spanish-speaking children enrolled in pre-kindergarten programs, addressing the educational needs of preschool-aged DLLs has become a national imperative. Specifically, the intersection of this growing population and the dearth of appropriate assessment tools to evaluate DLLs early language and literacy skills creates a need for assessments that accurately measure preschool performance. This manuscript reports on the iterative design process of a measure of Spanish phonological awareness for preschool-aged DLLs: Spanish Individual Growth and Development Indicators (S-IGDI) Primeros Sonidos. We employed measure design framework to develop the measure and tested item function within a study of 970, 4-5 year old DLLs. Results, including item level analyses and evidence regarding construct and criterion validity are reported."Citation: Wackerle-Hollman, A., Durán, L., Brunner, S., Palma, J., Kohlmeier, T., & Rodriguez, M. C. (2019). Developing a measure of Spanish phonological awareness for preschool age children: Spanish Individual Growth and Development Indicators. Educational Assessment, 24(1), 33-56. The research study is available online: <https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED595878.pdf>.

From the abstract: "The purpose of this quantitative causal comparative study was to examine to what extent if any, there was a difference in academic and recreational reading motivation and reading achievement between third grade students who participated in the Accelerated Reading curriculum (AR) (reading software management system), as defined in definitions and students who did not. This study investigated a sample of 137 third-grade students in a suburban school in central Florida. One group of 69 third grade students participated in the AR curriculum in year 2015-2016, while a demographically similar group of 68 students did not participate in the AR curriculum. Quantitative methodology and causal comparative design were used to investigate if any differences in two groups of students existed on three dependent variables (academic reading motivation, recreational reading motivation, and FSA reading scores), as a result of participation or no participation in an AR curriculum. Students either participated in an AR curriculum group or a group with no exposure to an AR curriculum, and all third-grade students were compared on the three dependent variables. Data analysis in the study involved the use of a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) statistical model. The results in this study will add to the knowledge available for educators to assist in determining the most effective use of limited instructional funds."Citation: Sierra, K. E. (2018). A quantitative causal-comparative study of the effect of accelerated reading on elementary school students' reading achievement and motivation (13425288) [Doctoral dissertation, Grand Canyon University]. ProQuest Dissertations & Theses.

DETAILS: Location: Florida; Design: Independent, realibility and validity research; Sample: 1,077 students in Grade 6, 7, and 8; Measure: Star Reading, Scholastic Reading Inventory-Interactive, and Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test; Duration: 4 months.RESULTS: This peer-reviewed journal article from Bob Algozzine, Chuang Wang, and Anatoli Boukhtiarov at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte examined the extent to which an interim progress monitoring assessment in reading (Star Reading) could predict later performance on a high-stakes test (Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test). Star Reading was found to be a good predictor of FCAT. CITATION: Algozzine, B., Wang, C., & Boukhtiarov, A. (2011). A comparison of progress monitoring scores and end-of-grade achievement. New Waves-Educational Research & Development, 14(1), 3-21. The Full Article is available online: <http://www.viethconsulting.com/members/publication/new_waves_article.php?aid=19290171>

DETAILS: School Profile: 450 students in grades: Pre-K-5; Demographics: Urban, Limited English proficiency: 5.1%, Free/reduced lunch: 75%; Race/Ethnicity: Hispanic or Latino: 18%, Black or African American: 32%, White: 50%. RESULTS: After carefully monitoring students reading practice using Accelerated Reader, this school improved from a C to an A on the Florida A+ accountability plan. REPORTING EDUCATOR: Eileen Castle, principal. The full report is available online: <https://docs.renaissance.com/R34765>.

DETAILS: School Profile: 9,000 students in grades K-12; Demographics: Rural, Title I, ESL: 20%, Mobility: 30%, Minorities: 50%, Free/reduced lunch: 49%.RESULTS: After using Accelerate Reader with best practices for 1 year, Stanford 9 test results showed a decrease of 57% in the reading achievement gap between lowest and highest performing grade levels at the districts 8 elementary schools. All of the schools also achieved an A on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. REPORTING EDUCATORS: Dr. Ralph Huhn, program specialist; Michael Lannon, district superintendent; Dr. Margaret Smith, district deputy superintendent.The report is available online: <https://docs.renaissance.com/R34767>.

DETAILS: Location: Throughout the US; Design: Independent, peer-reviewed; Sample: 659,214 students in grades K-12 at 2,193 schools; Measure: Accelerated Reader data. RESULTS: This study provided further evidence of the positive relationship between amount of reading practice and reading ability. In addition to gathering Accelerated Reader data for the study sample, 13,000 schools were also surveyed for the project, and the ethnicity and socioeconomic status of these students were found to be generally similar to U.S. students as a whole. Consistent with other research in the field, the study found that students in the highest quartile practiced reading 3.4 to 4.1 times more than students in the lowest quartile. In addition, the top 5% of readers read 144 times more than bottom 5%. The data also suggested that, on average, amount of reading practice increases until 6th grade and then declines. Finally, it was observed that schools using Accelerated Reader for 4 or more years had a 64% higher level of reading practice compared to schools using Accelerated Reader for 1 year. PLEASE NOTE: The Summary of this peer-reviewed journal article: Topping, K. J., & Paul, T. D. (1999). Computer-assisted assessment of practice at reading: A large scale survey using Accelerated Reader data. Reading and Writing Quarterly, 15(3), 213-231 is available online: <https://docs.renaissance.com/R33255>. For a copy of the Full Article, email the Renaissance Research Department: research@renaissance.com.

DETAILS: Design: Correlational; Sample: Data for 659,214 students in grades K-12. RESULTS: This study of reading is one of the largest ever conducted and collected reading performance data for 659,214 K-12 students. Key findings concluded students spend only seven minutes per day practicing reading, and reading practice declines markedly after 5th grade. The full report is available online: <https://docs.renaissance.com/R11830>.