In a national study of over 54,000 high school students, those using Achieve3000 Solutions significantly outperformed expected reading growth norms. Students using the program at least twice weekly averaged Lexile gains over four times higher than expected. English language learners and below-level readers saw gains nearly triple or quadruple typical growth. Frequency and quality of use correlated strongly with performance, with students completing reading connections, lesson plans, and graded writing assignments experiencing the highest gains.
2. National High School Lexile Study
National Lexile Study
Number of Schools 700
Number of Students 54,158
Achieve3000 Solutions
®
KidBiz3000®, TeenBiz3000®, and Empower3000™: These research–based solutions extend teachers’
The first Web-based, differentiated literacy solutions reach without increasing workloads or time de-
that reach every student at his or her Lexile® level. mands and are proven to accelerate reading com-
Powered by a proprietary software engine that dis- prehension, fluency, writing proficiency, vocabulary
tributes grade–appropriate assignments to the entire development, and high-stakes test scores.
class, but tailors them according to each student’s
reading level, Achieve3000 Solutions enables teach-
ers to move their students up surely and steadily,
level by level.
3. National High School Lexile Study
Executive Summary
In a national study of high school students using Empower3000, students more than tripled their expected growth
norms.
Students exceeded
their “expected” Lexile
125 gains by 68 points
100
Lexile Points
75
50
25
0
■ Key Findings
• Students at all grade levels made significant gains • According to national data, high school English Lan-
compared to gains expected with “normal” instruc- guage Learners made nearly three-and-a-half times
tion, more than tripling the expected growth norms. their expected Lexile gains and gained an average of
237 Lexile points.
• Students reading two or more years below grade
level at the beginning of the school year made gains • The quality of the work and the number of reading
of nearly three-and-a-half times the expected growth sessions that students submit on Achieve3000
norms, effectively closing the gap for the most strug- are statistically significant predictors of their Lexile
gling readers. performance.
• Students who completed at least two reading ses-
sions per week made the highest Lexile gains on
average, more than four times the expected growth
norms.
1
4. National High School Lexile Study
Results that Count: Achieve3000 Increases
High School Student Performance at All Levels
9th-grade students
exceeded their
expected Lexile
gains by 71 points
Students across all high
Lexile Points
school grade levels
and populations made
significant gains in Lexile
reading performance
over and above the gains
expected with regular
instruction.
9 10 11 12 Grades
Methodology
Lexile Measurement of Reading Growth:
To determine the effects of Empower on the literacy developed in partnership with MetaMetrics™, delivers a
development of students, Achieve3000 designed a Lexile score for the student. The actual growth achieved
study measuring student Lexile growth with a pre- and is compared to the expected yearly growth norms, a
a post-test using the LevelSet™ assessment. LevelSet, MetaMetrics calculation.1
■ The Assessment Measure
Developed by Achieve3000 in conjunction with Meta- to reading and text measurement that has become the
Metrics Inc., LevelSet offers a scientific means of match- most widely adopted reading measure in use today.
ing students to informational texts. Developed by MetaMetrics Inc., Lexile measures are the
result of more than 20 years of ongoing research.
LevelSet is administered up to three times yearly—an
initial assessment to establish a baseline score (based A key advantage of the Lexile scale is that the Lexile
on the Lexile Framework®) at the beginning of the school Framework measures both text and reader using the
year, an interim assessment halfway through the school same scale. This means that the ability to comprehend
year, and a post-assessment at the end of the school and the material being comprehended are being evalu-
year—providing a summative measurement of student ated by the same criteria, lending it greater scientific
progress. The Lexile Framework is a scientific approach validity.
2
5. National High School Lexile Study
Closing the Gap: Results with Our Most
Struggling Readers
According to national data, high school students reading two or more years below grade level made nearly
three-and-a-half times the expected Lexile reading gains.
Average Lexile gain of
126 points
160
88-point Lexile gain; this
is nearly three-and-a-half
120
times the expected Lexile
Lexile Points
growth.
80
40
0
Struggling readers across all grade levels using Empower3000 made significant growth over and above
that expected with normal instruction.
10th-grade students
exceeded their
expected Lexile
gains by 93 points
Below-level readers
across all high school
grade levels and
Lexile Points
populations made
significant gains in Lexile
reading performance
over and above the gains
expected with regular
instruction.
9 10 11 12 Grades
3
6. National High School Lexile Study
Closing the Gap: English Language Learners
In a study of high school English Language Learners, students made nearly three-and-a-half times the
expected Lexile reading gains.
Average Lexile gain
of 237 points
167-point Lexile gain
above the average
expected growth; this is
nearly three-and-a-half
Lexile Points
times the expected Lexile
growth of 70 points
Closing the Gap: Special Education Students
In a study of high school Special Education students, students made nearly double the expected
Lexile gains.
Average Lexile gain
of 106 points
47-point Lexile gain
above the average
expected growth; this
is nearly double the
Lexile Points
expected Lexile growth
of 59 points.
4
7. National High School Lexile Study
Effect of Frequency of Program Use on Lexile Gains
Number of Reading Sessions Completed
Achieve3000 found a statistically significant relationship between the number of reading sessions completed
on Achieve3000 Solutions and student nonfiction Lexile/reading growth. High school students who used the
program at least twice weekly made the highest Lexile gains, more than four times the expected growth norms.
Frequency of Usage Results for High School Students
* The number of reading
sessions that a student
completes on Achieve3000
is a predictor of his or her
Lexile performance gains.
Students using program less Students using program at Students using program
than once weekly: least once weekly: at least twice weekly:
Average Lexile gain of 89 points Average Lexile gain of 107 points Average Lexile gain of 128 points
58-point Lexile gain above the average 76-point Lexile gain above the average 97-point Lexile gain above the average
expected growth; this is nearly triple the expected growth; this is nearly three- expected growth; this is more than four
expected growth and-a-half times the expected growth times the expected growth
In order to assess the effect of the frequency of use on student Lexile gains, Achieve3000 assigned students from
within its study to one of the following categories:
•Group 1 (1–39): Fewer than 40 •Group 2 (40–79): 40-79 read- •Group 3 (80+): 80 or more read-
reading sessions completed over ing sessions completed over the ing sessions completed over the
the 10-month school year; fewer 10-month school year; between one 10-month school year; two or
than one reading session weekly. and two reading sessions weekly. more reading sessions weekly.
5
8. National High School Lexile Study
Effect of Usage for High School Students using program
less than once weekly:
English Language Learners Average Lexile gain of 216 points
146-point Lexile gain above the average
expected growth; this is more than triple
the expected growth
Students using program be-
tween once and twice weekly:
Average Lexile gain of 258 points
188-point Lexile gain above the average
expected growth; this is more than three-
and-a-half times the expected growth
Students using program at
least twice weekly:
Average Lexile gain of 289 points
219-point Lexile gain above the average
expected growth; this is more than four
times the expected growth
Effect of Usage for High School
Special Education Students
Students using program less
than twice weekly:
Average Lexile gain of 95 points
36-point Lexile gain above the average
expected growth; this is more than one-
and-a-half times the expected growth
Students using program at least
twice weekly:
Average Lexile gain of 186 points
127-point Lexile gain above the average
expected growth; this is more than triple
the expected growth
6
9. National High School Lexile Study
Effect of Quality of Program Use on Lexile Gains
Reading Activity Scores
In addition to analyzing the frequency of use, Achieve3000 also analyzed the quality of program use. The
multiple-choice activity is a critical component of the Five-Step Literacy Routine and is a simple indicator of
the degree to which students are applying themselves to the program. This formative assessment allows
progress monitoring of overall understanding of the text read.
Quality of Usage Results for High School Students
To assess the effect of the quality of use
on student Lexile gains, Achieve3000
assigned students from within its study to
one of the following categories:
•Group 1 (Less than 65% or greater
than 90%): Students who averaged
less than 65% or greater than 90% on
the multiple-choice portion of the Five-
Step Literacy Routine.
•Group 2 (Between 65% and 90%,
Students averaging less than Students averaging between inclusive): Students who averaged
65% or greater than 90%: 65% and 90%, inclusive: between 65% and 90%, inclusive, on
the multiple-choice portion of the Five-
Average Lexile gain of 82 points Average Lexile gain of 115 points Step Literacy Routine. A score within
this range typically indicates that the
student is applying himself to his work
51-point Lexile gain above the 84-point Lexile gain above the aver- and reading in his instructional zone.
average expected growth; this is age expected growth; this is more Achieve3000 recommends that teach-
more than two-and-a-half times the than three-and-a-half times the
ers monitor student scores to ensure
expected growth expected growth
performance in this range.
7
10. National High School Lexile Study
Effect of Quality of Program Use on High School
English Language Learners
Students averaging less than
65% or greater than 90%:
Average Lexile gain of 216 points
146-point Lexile gain above the average
expected growth; this is more than triple
the expected growth
Students averaging between
65% and 90%, inclusive:
Average Lexile gain of 281 points
211-point Lexile gain above the average
expected growth; this is more than four
times the expected growth
Effect of Quality of Program Use on High School
Special Education
Students averaging less than
65% or greater than 90%:
Average Lexile gain of 101 points
42-point Lexile gain above the average
expected growth; this is more than one-
and-a-half times the expected growth
Students averaging between
65% and 90%, inclusive:
Average Lexile gain of 127 points
68-point Lexile gain above the aver-
age expected growth; this is more than
double the expected growth
8
11. National High School Lexile Study
Reading Connections:
Explicit Reading Comprehension Strategy
Instruction and Application
Achieve3000 provides explicit instruction on the seven key comprehension strategies for informational text.
Two new features of the program, the Lesson Plans and the Reading Connections, help address this need.
The Lesson Plans that provide this direct, explicit instruction are available within the Learning Center, and
one lesson plan is always attached to the daily article. Within each article, students are encouraged to ap-
ply the strategies of summarization and generating questions.
Reading Connections Results for High School Students
Lexile Points
■ Key Findings:
• Students completing 15 or more Reading Connections • Students completing 15 or more Reading Connections
over the course of the school year averaged Lexile had one-and-a-quarter times the Lexile growth com-
gains of 120 points, nearly four times the expected pared to students not completing Reading Connec-
growth. tions, with average Lexile gains of 24 points more for
the school year.
9
12. National High School Lexile Study
Graded Thought Questions:
The Reading-Writing Connection
Research shows a direct connection between reading and writing. Writing instruction helps improve
reading comprehension. The Thought Question is the fourth step in the Five-Step Literacy Routine and
purposefully engages students in a formal writing process that allows them to apply knowledge they have
acquired and express their thoughts through writing.
Thought Questions Results for All High School Students
Lexile Points
■ Key Findings:
• Students who completed fewer than one Thought • Students who completed at least two Thought Ques-
Question per week averaged gains of 98 Lexile points, tions per week averaged Lexile gains of 137 Lexile
more than triple the expected Lexile growth. points, nearly four-and-a-half times the expected Lexile
growth.
• Students who completed between one and two
Thought Questions per week averaged Lexile gains of • Completing Thought Questions is associated with
115 Lexile points, more than three-and-a-half times significant gains in Lexile reading scores, with students
the expected Lexile growth. completing two or more per week outperforming
students completing fewer than one per week by 39
Lexile points.
10
13. National High School Lexile Study
After School Usage
Research on adolescent literacy suggests that the amount of reading students do during out-of-school
hours is an accurate predictor of their in-school academic achievement. If after-school programs can mo-
tivate young people to read more and explore their interests through reading, this research suggests that
academic performance will improve.
64% of Achieve3000
High Schools high school students
After School Usage across the nation
logged in after
64%
school hours. These
students logged in
540,101 times after
school during the
2009-2010 school
year.
11
14. National High School Lexile Study
Endnotes:
¹ Normal Growth—Using MetaMetrics’ findings on growth norms to calculate the expected monthly growth
expected yearly growth norms, Achieve3000 calculated for a student at that reading level. Achieve3000 then
the expected Lexile gain for each student. This calcula- multiplied the expected monthly growth by the number
tion was based on the length of time from the student’s of months the student spent on the program to arrive at
pre- to post-test as well as the student’s initial reading an “expected Lexile gain” score for each student.
level. Achieve3000 first used MetaMetrics’ expected
Appendix
Referring to Page 5: Effect of Frequency of Program Use on Lexile Gains
When a comparison of means was performed between group (p = .05). An analysis of variance (ANOVA) was
the three usage categories (1–39, 40-79, 80+), a sta- performed to compare the group means.
tistically significant difference was found between each
ANOVA – Lexile Gains
Sum of Mean
df F Sig.
Squares Square
Between Groups 8998483 2 4499241.687 134.284 .000
Within Groups 1.8E+009 54155 33505.456
Total 1.8E+009 54157
A Bonferroni post-hoc test found that all three groups were statistically significantly different from each other (see below).
Bonferroni Test - Multiple Comparisons
Dependent Variable: Actual Lexile Gain
95% Confidence Interval
(I) Overall Reading (J) Overall Reading Mean Differ-
Std. Error Sig.
Sessions Sessions Groups ence (I-J)
Lower Bound Upper Bound
40-79 -17.983(*) 1.734 .000 -22.13 -13.83
1–39
80+ -39.056(*) 2.645 .000 -45.39 -32.72
1-39 17.983(*) 1.734 .000 13.83 22.13
40–79
80+ -21.073(*) 2.802 .000 -27.78 -14.36
1-39 39.056(*) 2.645 .000 32.72 45.39
80+
40-79 21.073(*) 2.802 .000 14.36 27.78
* The mean difference is significant at the .05 level.
12
15. National High School Lexile Study
Referring to Page 7: Effect of Quality of Program Use on Lexile Gains
When a comparison of means was performed between groups (p = .05). The students who averaged between
the two usage categories (less than 65% or greater 65% and 90%, inclusive, on their activities made signifi-
than 90%; between 65% and 90%, inclusive) a statisti- cantly higher Lexile gains.
cally significant difference was found between the usage
Independent Samples Test – Lexile Gains
t-test for Equality of Means
Sig. Mean Dif- Std. Error 95% Confidence Inter-
t df
(2-tailed) ference Difference val of the Difference
Equal variances
-21.259 54156 .000 -33.400 1.571 -36.480 -30.321
assumed
Equal variances
-21.282 54129.718 .000 -33.400 1.569 -36.477 -30.324
not assumed
Group Statistics
Average Std. Error
N Mean Std. Deviation
Activity Score Mean
Actual Lexile Less than 65% or
26282 81.61 179.242 1.106
Gain greater than 90%
Between 65% and
27876 115.01 185.970 1.114
90%, inclusive
13
16. To learn more about Achieve3000
and its proven solutions,
call 888-968-6822
or e-mail office@achieve3000.com