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              The Results of a Randomized Control Trial Evaluation of the SPARK Literacy Program
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                The purpose of this report is to present the results of a two-year randomized control trial evaluation of the SPARK program that combines one-on-one tutoring with family engagement to impact the literacy development of students. SPARK is an early grade literacy program developed by Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee, working in Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS).The results of the evaluation showed:that SPARK had statistically significant positive impacts on reading achievement, literacy, and regular school day attendance;the benefit of SPARK was greater with students who started the program with greater literacy instruction needs - while only 10% of control students below literacy benchmarks at the start of the study met benchmark at the conclusion of the study, 62% of SPARK participants who started below benchmark met benchmark at the end of the study.This suggests that SPARK is meeting its goal of addressing the challenge of helping MPS schools and parents teach students how to read.

      Full report
      

      Full Report
            FR_BoysGirlsClubGreaterMilwaukee_SPARK_2015.pdf
        Further information
    



      Program/Intervention
                        SPARK Literacy Program
  

      Implementing Organization
                        Boys and Girls Club of Greater Milwaukee; Milwaukee Public Schools
  

      Intermediary(s)
                        USDE
  

      AmeriCorps Program(s)
            AmeriCorps State and National
  

      Age(s) Studied
            0-5 (Early childhood)
  

      Outcome Category
            K-12 success
  

      Study Type(s)
            Impact
  

      Study Design(s)
            Experimental (RCT)
  

      Researcher/Evaluator
                        Socially Responsible Evaluation in Education
  

      Published Year
                        2015 Back to main content Sign up to hear about our latest news, events, and opportunities.
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