New study shows the effectiveness of ReadWorks’ evidence-based digital tools to support variable learners

Research is at the heart of everything we do at ReadWorks. So is a commitment to creating tools and resources that help teachers support each of their students’ learning needs. We partnered with the Learner Variability Project at Digital Promise to investigate the effectiveness of the digital tools we built to support variable learners. The Digital Promise research team observed some significant findings: 

1. Greater use of ReadWorks was related to growth on standardized reading tests. This means that teachers can feel even more confident that using ReadWorks will support their students’ reading growth and that using ReadWorks more will only benefit them further. 
   
   
2. Students engaged with more challenging reading passages when they used our digital support tools than when they didn’t. When students used one or more of ReadWorks’ digital tools—audio, split screen, text magnification, our guided reading strip, and highlighting and annotating—they showed greater engagement with harder assignments.
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3. The teacher had an effect on whether or not students used these tools. Introducing ReadWorks’ digital support tools might be one of the easiest steps you can take to encourage your students to read more challenging texts. Learn how to use these tools yourself and use this video to introduce them to your students. 

See the full study, “Student Engagement with Evidence-Based Supports for Literacy on a Digital Platform,” by Medha Tare and Alison Shell from Digital Promise and their research partner Scott Jackson published in the Journal of Research on Technology in Education. ​