The study investigates the impact of McGraw Hill Education’s Reading Mastery Signature Edition, a direct instruction reading program, on reading achievement. It focuses on Kindergarten, first-grade, and second-grade students across three magnet schools in Mississippi during the 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 school years. The schools are part of a single district serving 4,117 students from Pre-K to 12th grade. A total of 613 students, distributed across 29 classrooms, participated in the study. The student population was predominantly African American (92%), with 99% native English speakers and 88% not identified with special needs.
The study employed a quasi-experimental, single-group pretest-posttest design. Students were assessed using the NWEA Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) and Renaissance STAR reading assessments at the beginning and end of the school year. Gain scores were calculated by subtracting fall scores from spring scores. Statistical analyses included ANCOVA to control for baseline differences and identify statistically significant differences in gains across schools. Outcomes examined included literacy classifications based on STAR assessments, such as "early emergent readers" and "probable readers".
Results showed differential gains by school and grade level. For first-grade students, gains were statistically significant across schools (p =.003), with School A outperforming School C. For Kindergarten and second-grade students, gains were not statistically significant. Fidelity of implementation varied, with stronger fidelity correlating with higher gains. School C exhibited the lowest implementation fidelity and the weakest overall outcomes. The study highlights the need for a control group to substantiate findings and suggests that stronger implementation fidelity may enhance program effectiveness.
