Combining low-cost computerised assessment technology with instruction helps make teachers better at teaching, and students better at learning. Such technology can also be part of the solution to building an effective accountability system for schools, one that provides more reliability, less test anxiety, and more accurate and available value added analyses. AUTHOR: T. D. Paul. Available online: <https://docs.renaissance.com/R43169>.

From the abstract: "The purpose of this study was to determine if a difference existed between TCAP scores of students who used the Accelerated Reader (AR) program and students who used Sustained Silent Reading strategy (SSR) as measured by the Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP). The variables of grade level (6th, 7th, and 8th), gender, and socioeconomic status (free- or reduced- price meals program) were considered. The population consisted of 108 6th graders who attended a Cocke County school or a McMinn County school in Tennessee. Data were obtained from the TCAP for 3 consecutive years beginning in 2004-2005 for students who completed the tests all 3 years. A t test for independent samples and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to determine if there was a difference on associations and interactions between variables.The researcher's investigation of the reading achievement of students who used Accelerated Reader and those who used Sustained Silent Reading should assist educators in planning for supplemental reading instruction. The information gathered from this research might be beneficial to other school systems when determining which method of reading instruction to use to increase students' reading achievement.The findings indicated the students who used the Accelerated Reader program had an increase in reading-language arts scale scores for 3 consecutive years. The findings of this study also revealed that gender had no significance on student achievement for 6th graders. The findings did indicate a significant interaction between gender and type of program used during 7th and 8th grades. Females who used the Accelerated Reader program outscored males who used the program. The findings of this study also determined that socioeconomic status had no association with TCAP scores during the 6th, 7th, or 8th grades." AUTHOR: J. Brown. The full report is available online: <https://dc.etsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3256&context=etd>.

This paper describes Renaissance Home Connect, and the mounting research based on the importance of parental involvement. Renaissance Home Connect improves the school-to-home connection by allowing parents and students to login to a website and view progress and current assignments in Accelerated Reader, Accelerated Math, and MathFacts in a Flash. With Renaissance Home Connect, parents and students can view performance on reading quizzes and math tests, monitor progress toward goals, and see the students online bookshelf displaying book covers of their recently read books. Students can also practice math assignments in Accelerated Math or MathFacts in a Flash using Renaissance Home Connect, and have the assignments immediately scored at home. Access to online results and assignments promotes discussion between parent and child, which in turn motivates students. Parents, grandparents, or other caregivers can also stay on top of student progress by receiving an email after each Reading Practice or Vocabulary Practice quiz is taken in Accelerated Reader, after each Accelerated Math test, and after each MathFacts in a Flash level has been completed. Renaissance Home Connect extends student practice time, and keeps parents closely involved with their child's education. The full report is available online: <https://docs.renaissance.com/R41228>.

From the summary: "School psychologists have a growing portfolio of measures, assessment practices, and infrastructure supports (both data management and training) to support this expansion of effective practices into early care and education. In particular, three measures-Picture Naming (a 1-minute measure of expressive vocabulary) and Rhyming and Alliteration (two 2-minute measures of phonological awareness)-form a suite of EL-IGDIs. These three measures, alone and in combination, can be used to monitor preschool children's progress toward early literacy and reading benchmarks from age 3 to kindergarten, and can be the basis for both more focused program evaluation, RTI programming, and a problem-solving approach to serving preschool children at risk for reading acquisition difficulties in elementary school."Citation: McConnell, S. R., & Missall, K. N. (2008). Best practices in monitoring progress for preschool children. In A. Thomas & J. Grimes (Eds.), Best practices in school psychology (5th ed., pp. 561-573). Washington, D.C.: National Association of School Psychologists.The research study is available online: <https://web.archive.org/web/20150209035556/https://www.myigdis.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/IGDI-Book-McConnell-Chapter.pdf>.

From the abstract: "Comparisons of student achievement effect sizes suggest that systems in which student performance in math and reading is rapidly assessed between 2 and 5 times per week are 4 times as effective as a 10% increase in per pupil expenditure, 6 times as effective as voucher programs, 64 times as effective as charter schools, and 6 times as effective as increased accountability. Achievement gains per dollar from rapid assessment are even greater--193 times the gains that accrue from increasing preexisting patterns of educational expenditures, 2,424 times the gains from vouchers, 23,166 times the gains from charter schools, and 57 times the gains from increased accountability. Two sensitivity analyses suggest that the relative advantage for rapid assessment is not sensitive to the particular parameter estimates." Citation: Yeh, S. S. (2007). The cost-effectiveness of five policies for improving student achievement. American Journal of Evaluation, 28(4), 416-436. The full paper is available online: <https://doi.org/10.1177/1098214007307928>.

DETAILS: Location: Montgomery Middle School, San Diego, California; Design: Independent, correlational; Sample: 150 Grade 8 students; Measure: English-Language Arts California Standards Test (CST); Duration: One school year.RESULTS:This study aimed to investigate the potential of the Accelerated Reader program to positively impact student scores on the English-Language Arts California Standards Test (CST) in a Title I San Diego, CA middle school. The results of this study suggest that strong participation in the Accelerated Reader program can be effective in improving reading comprehension and literary analysis scores on the Reading Comprehension and Literary Analysis reporting clusters of the English-Language Arts CST. The researcher concludes that teachers should consider promoting high Accelerated Reader participation rates from all their students as one way of preparing for the CST, because there was generally a positive relationship between the extent to which Accelerated Reader best practices were implemented and scores on the CST. The Full Article is available online: <https://www.readingmatrix.com/articles/rodriguez/article.pdf> AUTHOR: S. Rodriguez

DETAILS: Location: 24 U.S. states; Design: Independent, correlational, peer-reviewed; Sample: 50,823 students in grades 1-12 at 139 schools; Measure: Star Reading; Duration: 1 school year. RESULTS: This study elaborated on the "what works?" question by exploring the effects of variability in program implementation quality on achievement. Particularly, the effects of computerized assessment in reading on achievement were investigated, analyzing data on students who read more than 3 million books. When minimum implementation quality criteria were met, the positive effect of computerized assessment was higher in the earlier grades and for lower achieving students. Implementation quality tended to decline at higher grade levels. With higher implementation quality, reading achievement gains were higher for students of all levels of achievement and across all grades, but especially in the upper grades. Very high gains and effect sizes were evident with very high implementation quality, particularly in grades 1-4. Implications for practice, the interpretation of research, and policy were noted. PLEASE NOTE: Email research@renaissance.com to rquest a copy of this peer-reviewed journal article: Topping, K. J., Samuels, J., & Paul, T. (2007). Computerized assessment of independent reading: Effects of implementation quality on achievement gain. School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 18(2), 191-208.

DETAILS: Location: 48 U.S. states; Design: Reliability and validity research, longitudinal; Sample: User data for more than 30,000 students; Measures: Star Early Literacy, Star Reading, Star Math, external state tests; Duration: Data from 2005-06 and 2006-07 school years. RESULTS: In June 2007, the Graduate Management Admissions Council convened a conference on computerized adaptive testing (CAT) at the University of Minnesota. That venue was chosen in recognition of Minnesota's role in leading the research and development of CAT from its infancy in the 1970s to its widespread use today. Participants in the conference included leading CAT researchers and users from around the world. The final session of the conference featured presentations on 3 major CAT programs, one of which was this Renaissance presentation on the Star Assessments. Beginning with an overview of the history, development, and international dissemination of the adaptive Star tests, the presentation went on to present capsule summaries of data on the Star tests' technical quality, as well longitudinal and predictive data from users of the STARs. Those data illustrated the STARs' value for uses such as progress monitoring, predicting important educational outcomes, and longitudinal analysis of performance trends. AUTHORS: Joseph Betts, PhD, MMIS and James R. McBride, PhD. Email research@renaissance.com to request a copy of this study from the Renaissance Research Department.

DETAILS: School Profile: 430 students in grades 6-8; Demographics: Rural, Title I, Free/reduced lunch: 68%, Mobility: 23%, Limited English proficiency: 20%; Race/Ethnicity: Black/African American: 14%, Hispanic/Latino: 52%, White: 34%; Measure: Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS); Duration: 2003-2005. RESULTS: Since Diboll Junior High implemented Renaissances reading, math, and writing progress-monitoring tools in 2003, the percentage of students who Met Standards and achieved Commended Performance on the TAKS has increased considerably in all subject areas and all grades. In addition, the school received an accountability rating of Recognized by the Texas Education Agency. The school also achieved the following Renaissance Certifications: 24 of 26 classrooms reached Model Reading Certification, the school achieved both Reading Model and Master School, and the school library attained both Model and Master Library certifications. The school also reported fewer discipline issues as a result of the implementation. REPORTING EDUCATOR: Brent Hawkins, principal. The full report is available online: <https://docs.renaissance.com/R35319>.

There is now indisputable evidence that Accelerated Reader is effective for all students, especially those in Reading First classrooms. WWC uses very strict standards to review research and assigns effectiveness ratings from high to low in 3 categories: green, yellow, and red. Accelerated Reader received WWC's green rating, which means WWC has determined Accelerated Reader has "evidence of a positive effect with no overriding contrary evidence." WWC deemed the independent, experimental, peer-reviewed Nunnery and Ross, 2006 study of Accelerated Reader (available online: <http://research.renaissance.com/research/198.asp>) to meet their evidence standards. The WWC's report is available online: <https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED499236.pdf>.

DETAILS: Location: United Kingdom; Design: Reliability and validity research; Sample: Years 4-9 (Grades 3-8); Measures: Star Reading, Group Reading Test; Duration: Cross-sectional. RESULTS: Progress in reading is important for children. However, time spent measuring progress is time not spent enhancing it. Computerized adaptive reading testing might help resolve this tension, but can it do so reliably and validly and generate metrics of relevance to practitioners internationally? This pilot study linked data gathered in the UK from a computer-based adaptive test of reading developed and normed in the US to those from a different paper reading test normed in the UK and yielding different output metrics. It explored the effects of gender, mode of presentation, and the linkage between different output metrics. Concurrent validity and concordance between tests was substantial, suggesting it is possible to use a US computer adaptive test of reading skills to estimate reading ages for pupils in the UK. Results held similar for both males and females. Implications for future research and practice were explored. AUTHORS: Joseph Betts, PhD, MMIS; Keith J. Topping, PhD, and James R. McBride, PhD. Email research@renaissance.com to request a copy of this study from the Renaissance Research Department.

DETAILS: School Profile: 870 students in grades pre-K-5; Demographics: Urban, Title I, Bilingual, Free/reduced lunch: 91%; Race/Ethnicity: Hispanic/Latino: 92%, White: 5%, Asian/Pacific Islander: 3%; Measure: Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS); Duration: 2003-2006. RESULTS: Since beginning to use Accelerated Reader, the percent of students at Contreras Elementary that have Met Standards in reading on the TAKS has grown steadily in each grade tested. Fifth-grade scores in particular have grown 34 percentage points, from 55% of students scoring proficient in 2003 to 89% of students scoring proficient in 2006. What's more, the impact of Accelerated Reader to encourage teacher-guided, independent reading of self-selected books and the schools support of parent-child programs to foster a love of reading has prompted students to check out almost 60,000 more books in 2006 as compared to when Accelerated Reader was first implemented in 2001. REPORTING EDUCATOR: Linda Lawrence. The full report is available online: <https://docs.renaissance.com/R39016>.

DETAILS: Location: United Kingdom; Design: Independent, quasi-experimental; Sample: 935 students at 21 schools; Measures: NFER-Nelson Progress in Mathematics 4-14 series, Suffolk Reading Scale, 2 Test; Duration: 2005-2006. RESULTS: In this study, the researchers matched Specialist Schools in the UK implementing Accelerated Reader, and its math counterpart Accelerated Math, with similar schools where the software were not implemented. Average standardized test scores for reading improved in five out of six treatment schools; in the two comparison schools, one saw a decline in average score and one saw an improvement. One of the main advantages was the personalized learning aspect of the software. In schools using Accelerated Reader, surveys administered to both teachers and students indicated that students were motivated by the immediate feedback provided by the software. Increases were seen in the number of students interested in reading, reports of feeling independent while reading, and the perception of math abilities. Teachers reported that they would recommend both Accelerated Reader and Accelerated Math to their colleagues. AUTHORS: Peter Rudd and Pauline Wade. The Summary of this study is available online: <https://docs.renaissance.com/R38453>. The Full Report is also available online: <https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED502474.pdf>