# Newark Striving Readers Project Profile

**Title:** Newark Public Schools Striving Readers

**Grantee:** Newark Public Schools

**Project Director:** Gayle Griffin, Ph.D.

**Local Evaluator:** Westat

**Principal Investigator**: Jennifer Hamilton

### Setting

Nineteen middle schools participate in the Newark Striving Readers
Project. These schools were selected because they 1) were eligible for
Title I funding, 2) served a minimum of two grades across sixth-,
seventh- and eighth-grades, 3) were not already using READ 180, 4) were
categorized as "in need of improvement" under No Child Left Behind, and
5) served a minimum of 25 eligible students reading at least two grades
below grade level, based on the 2006 New Jersey state assessment. In
these schools, 58 percent of students are African American, 41 percent
are Hispanic, 88 percent are identified as low-income, and 7 percent are
identified as being English Language Learners (ELL).

### Targeted Intervention

**Model:** The READ 180 Enterprise Edition, a curriculum developed by
Scholastic Inc, is the targeted intervention. READ 180 is a reading
curriculum for struggling readers in grades 4-12. It aims to directly
address the individual needs of adolescents reading below grade level
through adaptive and instructional software, teacher-directed
instruction, and independent or modeled reading of high interest
literature. The Newark Striving Readers project modified READ 180 to
include some supplemental instruction aligned with the state assessment.
For eligible students, the READ 180 curriculum replaces the district's
regular core language arts curriculum. Teachers receive 20 hours of
group training, five hours of training on using student assessment data
to differentiate instruction, plus in-school coaching visits on an
as-needed basis.

**Participants:** Students can remain in READ 180 for up to three years
of middle school, if they continue to score below the district cut-off
on the New Jersey State Language Arts assessment. Special education
students who meet the district's eligibility requirements are included
in READ 180 classrooms. (Special education students who do not take the
New Jersey state test are excluded from the READ 180 classrooms because
they lack data on reading level.)

### Whole School Intervention

**Model:** All teachers of language arts, mathematics, science, social
studies, and special education in the 19 participating middle schools
receive professional development on literacy instruction through two
professional development providers, New Jersey City University (NJCU)
and the National Urban Alliance (NUA). Teachers participate in Summer
Institutes lasting either three or four half-days, attend professional
development sessions during the school year, and also receive on-site
visits from coaches throughout the academic year.

**Participants:** All language arts, math, science, social science, and
special education teachers who teach grades 6-8 in the 19 participating
middle schools.

### Evaluation of the Targeted Intervention

**Research Questions:**

1.  Does READ 180 significantly improve the reading skills of targeted
    students?

2.  Do different types of students benefit from the intervention in
    different ways?

3.  Does READ 180 significantly improve the school attendance of
    targeted students?

**Research Design and Methods:** Schools were randomly assigned to
either implement READ 180 or to continue to provide only the regular
language arts curriculum. Schools were blocked on four school-level
variables prior to randomization: 1) school size, 2) proportion of ELL
students, 3) proportion of students with special needs, and 4) AYP
status.

The impact of READ 180 on student outcomes will be assessed using
multilevel models to account for the nesting of students within schools.
Analyses will also be run to disaggregate effects by grade level,
gender, ELL, and special education.

**Control Condition:** Students in schools randomized to the control
condition continue to receive instruction in the regular language arts
curriculum.

**Sample Size:** Nineteen schools were randomly assigned; ten to
implement READ 180 and nine to the control condition. In the first year
of the study, 1,371 students participated in the evaluation, across both
treatment conditions. A new cohort of 6^th^ grade students will be
identified in the second year of the study.

**Key Measures of Student Reading Outcomes:**

Stanford Achievement Test-10 (vocabulary, reading comprehension, and
language arts subtests)

New Jersey State Language Arts assessment

### Evaluation of the Whole School Intervention

**Research Questions:**

1.  Does participation in an ongoing literacy professional development
    program change the instructional practices of middle school
    teachers?

2.  Does participation in an ongoing literacy professional development
    program affect the instructional practices of some groups of
    teachers more than others?

3.  Do these changes in teacher instructional practices result in
    improved reading skills of middle school students?

**Research Design and Methods:** Staff in all 19 schools in the study
receives professional development in the whole school model. An
interrupted time series approach will be used to estimate the change in
teacher instructional practices and student reading achievement on the
state proficiency test prior to and after the implementation of the
whole school model. These models will account for within school repeated
measures over time.

**Comparison Group:** All schools in the study participate in the whole
school intervention. Therefore, there is no comparison group.

**Sample Size:** Four hundred and seventy-seven teachers from the 19
participating schools were eligible to participate in the whole school
intervention in year one.

**Key Measures of Student Reading Outcomes:**

New Jersey State Language Arts assessment

**Other Outcomes:**

Teacher reports on instructional practices