Research: Huntington Elementary School

***The research on this page corresponds to the Reading Horizons structured literacy curriculum. The complete Reading Horizons reading curriculum consists of a reading intervention program, an ELL reading program and a reading program for corrections.***

Summary of Findings

Despite a wide range of student reading abilities, all first grade students’ scores were at or above a first grade reading level on the Qualitative Reading Inventory (QRI) following Reading Horizons instruction. This was an increase from 57% of students at or above level prior to Reading Horizons instruction. For two years in a row, every first grade student in the study who received Reading Horizons instruction scored above 90% on the state core reading test.

Background

A teacher with experience in upper elementary grades received a new assignment to teach first grade. Aware of the importance of teaching beginning readers, she discovered and implemented the Reading Horizons program. This teacher reported scores for two groups of students across two different school years (hereafter Study A and Study B).

Resources

Reading Horizons direct instruction materials and interactive software.

Implementation

Study A: The Qualitative Reading Inventory (QRI) was administered to 21 first grade students before and after Reading Horizons instruction to assess the impact of Reading Horizons instruction on reading skills. The preand post-tests were given three months apart. During the assessment timeframe, as part of a normally occurring process, the QRI benchmark for first graders moved from the primer level (mid-year first grade benchmark) to level one (end-year first grade benchmark).

Study B: A first grade class of students with a wide range of reading abilities participated in Reading Horizons instruction. The teacher reported end-of-year state core test scores for her students.