Impact of the Thinking Reader[R] Software Program on Grade 6 Reading Vocabulary, Comprehension, Strategies, and Motivation: Final Report. NCEE 2010-4035
Author: Drummond, Kathryn
Date: 2011-04-00
Type: Numerical/Quantitative Data
Subjects: Reading Programs,Computer Software,Program Evaluation,Program Effectiveness,Reading Achievement,Grade 6,Vocabulary,Reading Comprehension,Reading Strategies,Reading Motivation,Intervention,Effect Size,Statistical Significance

&quot;Thinking Reader&quot; is a software program for students in Grades 5-8 that incorporates elements commonly identified in policy reports as being key components of effective adolescent literacy instruction. This evaluation of the impact of &quot;Thinking Reader&quot; use by Grade 6 students focused on two confirmatory research questions about the effect of the program on two measures of students' reading achievement: (1) What is the effect of &quot;Thinking Reader&quot; on students' reading vocabulary?; and (2) What is the effect of &quot;Thinking Reader&quot; on students' reading comprehension? A statistically significant impact on either outcome measure would signal the program's success. The study also examined whether &quot;Thinking Reader&quot; has an effect on two ancillary, but important, measures of students' approaches to reading: (1) What is the effect of &quot;Thinking Reader&quot; on students' use of reading comprehension strategies?; and (2) What is the effect of &quot;Thinking Reader&quot; on students' motivation to read? This study also addressed four exploratory research questions. These questions investigate whether the impact of the &quot;Thinking Reader&quot; intervention on students' reading achievement varied across subgroups of students formed on the basis of baseline reading vocabulary, baseline reading comprehension, and baseline motivation to read measures: (1) Does the effect of &quot;Thinking Reader&quot; on students' reading vocabulary vary according to their baseline reading vocabulary scores?; (2) Does the effect of &quot;Thinking Reader&quot; on students' reading comprehension vary according to their baseline reading comprehension scores?; (3) Does the effect of &quot;Thinking Reader&quot; on students' reading vocabulary vary according to their baseline reading motivation scores?; (4) Does the effect of &quot;Thinking Reader&quot; on students' reading comprehension vary according to their baseline reading motivation scores? The impact results for the primary research questions indicate that &quot;Thinking Reader&quot; was no more effective than business as usual in improving students' reading vocabulary (effect size of -0.04) or reading comprehension (effect size of 0.03). Results for the ancillary research questions indicate that &quot;Thinking Reader&quot; was also no more effective than business as usual in improving student' use of reading comprehension strategies (effect size of 0.03) or their motivation to read (effect size of -0.03). None of these results are statistically significant. Sensitivity analyses found no changes in the direction or magnitude of the intervention effects. Appendices include: (1) Examples From the &quot;Thinking Reader&quot; Program; (2) Data Collection; (3) Missing Data, Baseline Equivalence of the Analytic Sample, and the Impact Model; (4) Sensitivity Analyses; and (5) Exploratory Analyses. (Contains 89 tables, 10 figures, 6 boxes, 7 exhibits and 51 footnotes.)