Classworks Integrated Reading Activities Effectiveness Study

Classworks Integrated Reading Effectiveness Study: 2015 Executive Summary

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Classworks Integrated Reading Activities Effectiveness Study

Executive Summary During the 2014-2015 school year, SEG Measurement, an independent research organization, conducted an efficacy study of the Classworks Integrated Reading Activities for Curriculum Advantage, Inc. SEG Measurement collected data from a diverse sample of teachers in a range of school settings. Participating teachers evaluated the effectiveness and offered feedback on several features of the Reading Activities.

About the Study One hundred and sixty eight teachers from several states including Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Louisiana participated in a study of the effectiveness of the Reading Activities included within the Classworks instructional system. After teachers assigned a Reading Activity for their class, they were prompted to complete a 37-item rating instrument about the activity. The 168 (grades 1-8) teachers evaluated 175 Classworks Reading Activities. Grades 3-5 Reading Activities were the most commonly used by study participants. The participating teachers represented a wide range of backgrounds with respect to gender, ethnicity, age, years of experience and degree level. Teachers reported working in urban, suburban and rural schools; suburban schools were the most common setting. The instrument included optional demographic questions that were used to collect information about the background of the participating teachers and their schools. The study also collected information regarding how well the Reading Activities met their needs, their level of satisfaction with various facets of the Reading Activities, how they chose and used the Reading Activities, why and how they selected the activities, the level of effectiveness of the teacher and student tools included, and their likelihood of recommending the Reading Activities to others and their likelihood of using the activities in the future. Teachers in the study taught in schools ranging in size from very small to very large, with most teaching in schools that were mid-sized. Teachers taught in

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About Classworks Classworks is an online instruction and assessment solution proven to help K thru 8 students become critical thinkers and independent learners. Classworks Integrated Reading activities support teachers with weekly direct instruction for whole class or small groups, and engage students with interactive tools to promote active reading and deep comprehension. The 36 activities per grade level, grades 1-8 were designed to meet new reading standards. Classworks helps you elevate student engagement and performance by providing the flexibility to customize a solution for the specific needs of schools or districts.

Classworks Integrated Reading Activities Effectiveness Study

small and large size classrooms; the most common class size was 21-30 students.

Study Findings How Teachers Used the Activities More than half of the teachers used the reading activities in whole class or small group instruction (53%), while most of the remaining teachers used the reading activities with individual students (46%).

Teachers most commonly used the activities to reinforce skills students were learning in class, but many indicated that they used the activities to help students that were struggling or to practice for an upcoming assessment. Teachers most commonly cited the match to the skills/standards measured in the multiple choice items or the Subject area covered by the activity as the reason for choosing the activity, and many selected the activity based on the match of the skills/standards measured in the open-ended items, or the relevance of the topic.

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“I love that it can be done as a whole group activity to model fluency and how to answer questions by referencing the text.”

“The best aspect of the integrated reading level activity was being able to manipulate the text on the computer. Students are used to underlining, circling, and physically manipulating the text. This activity allows the student to do so in a virtual format.”

Classworks Integrated Reading Activities Effectiveness Study

Teacher and Student Tools The most helpful student tools, according to the teachers, were the highlighter, the audio, the dictionary and the sticky notes.

“I liked having the option to do it in class and allow students to highlight, make notes, and discuss the text as a whole group. I used it for modeling purposes and strategy practice.” Teachers found the most helpful teacher tools to be the possible responses to the open-ended questions, the student tools, the fluency passage, the Lexile and Flesch-Kincaid Levels and the rationales for the multiple choice items.

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Classworks Integrated Reading Activities Effectiveness Study

Student Engagement and Standards Alignment Teachers felt that the activities were well aligned to goals and standards, kept their students engaged, and supported their philosophy of teaching reading.

“I liked that the topic was one that we cover in social studies so it helped integrate across curricular.”

“The ability to engage the students using technology and your curriculum product makes the lessons flow and the students excited about reading!”

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Classworks Integrated Reading Activities Effectiveness Study

Achieving Instructional Goals Teachers viewed the activities as most effective for increasing critical thinking skills (92%) and increasing reading comprehension skills (93%). Teachers also indicated that the activities were effective for preparing students to take high stakes assessments (87%), helping students understand complex texts (86%), and increasing student engagement with the text (85%).

Teacher Satisfaction and Recommendations for Use Teachers were particularly satisfied with the quality of the online version, ease of use for students, the quality of the multiple choice questions and the complexity of the passages. Nearly all of the participating teachers indicated that they would recommend the integrated activities to others and would use the activities again.

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“I like the paired passages. The open ended questions allowed me to model how to go back in the text to find evidence to support their answer.”

Classworks Integrated Reading Activities Effectiveness Study

“[It] fit perfectly with the curriculum.”

Conclusion The Integrated Reading Activities included within the Classworks system were found to be effective tools for classroom teachers and their students. Nearly all of the teachers indicated that they would recommend the integrated activities and would use the activities again. The teachers also consistently rated the activities as effective or very effective for increasing critical thinking and reading comprehension skills, helping students understand complex texts, and increasing student engagement with the text. This represents a single study and this information should be verified over time looking at larger populations of teachers in a variety of settings.

Read the full report.

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“This reading activity was wellpaced and it really engaged all my learners!”