Evaluation of Broward County Alliance of Quality Schools Project

Ligas, M.

Abstract:

This article reviewed the evaluation of the Alliance of Quality Schools project in Broward County Florida. The project was conducted over five years and was designed to increase the academic achievement of at-risk students and reduce problematic behavior. This article only reports on changes in students’ reading achievement. Alliance schools implemented a combination of Direct Instruction programs, but also allowed for the addition of basal programs to daily instruction. Following the fifth year of implementation, scores on the Stanford Achievement Test (SAT) of students in the Alliance program were compared to students in the same district, but who were not enrolled in the Alliance program. Results on the SAT8 Reading Comprehension subtest indicated that Alliance students in the 4th grade achieved the highest increase in NCE score gains. Their academic achievement also surpassed the achievement of non-Alliance 4th grade students in the district. Students in the Alliance group registered a medium standardized effect size of .45. Additionally, Alliance students in grades 7 and 8 recorded higher gains in average reading comprehension NCE scores than the comparison students. Alliance middle school students who were instructed with Corrective Reading for two years achieved an average of 1.7 NCE points in reading comprehension scores during the first year and a 2.0 NCE increase during the second year. (Copyright © 2011, National Institute for Direct Instruction (NIFDI). All rights reserved).

Research areas:

• Project Follow Through

Year:

2002

Main publication type:

Program Effectiveness

Subtype:

Article

Keywords:

Reading Mastery, Language for Learning, Corrective Reading, Alliance of Quality Schools, reading, Stanford Achievement Test, reading comprehension, Direct Instruction, Accelerated Reader, Computer Assisted Instruction, Language 4 Lrnng

Source:

Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk

Volume:

7

Number:

2

Pages:

117-139

Design type:

Pretest Posttest Control Group Design and Posttest Only Control Group Design

Fidelity monitored:

Yes

Students included:

Elementary students, secondary students, at-risk students, African American students, Hispanic students, Caucasian students, General Education Students, English Language Learner (ELL) students

Other tags:

Reading Mastery, Language for Learning, Corrective Reading, Alliance of Quality Schools, reading, Stanford Achievement Test, reading comprehension, Direct Instruction, Accelerated Reader, Computer Assisted Instruction

Location/Setting:

South: South Atlantic, Broward County, Florida, Alliance of Quality Schools, elementary school, middle school, Title I school