Insights

Recently, RAND Education and Labor, a division of the RAND Corporation, released a new study titled “Students Using Lexia^® Core5^® Reading Show Greater Reading Gains than Matched Comparison Students.” In this Q&A post, Liz Brooke breaks down the study and its key findings. 

What is the RAND study?

The study was conducted by RAND, an independent research corporation. Specifically, RAND evaluated the effects of  Lexia Core5 on 3rd - 5th-grade students’ reading performance in the 2021-2022 school year and compared that to the reading performance of students who did not use Core5. Core5 is a research-proven program that accelerates the development of literacy skills for students of all abilities in grades PreK-5. The product allows educators to deliver differentiated literacy instruction and effectively reduces the risk of students not meeting grade-level standards – all while providing accelerated and on-track students the instruction they need to thrive.

What were the results of the study?

In the 2021-2022 school year, all subgroups of Core5 students experienced reading achievement gains relative to corresponding subgroups in the comparison group. Subgroup analyses included looking at the results by gender, race/ethnicity, grade level and the students’ fall achievement levels on the MAP (Measures of Academic Progress). Some key findings include:

• 54% of all Core5 students outperformed the comparison group’s median on spring reading assessments.
• 56% of high-usage students (those who met usage targets – e.g. students who met the minutes on the program that were recommended by Core5 based on their overall need – for at least 10 out of 20 weeks or completed their grade-level material) showed greater reading gains than the comparison group’s median on spring reading assessments.
• In the 2021-2022 school year, Core5 students in all three grades made significant gains relative to pre-pandemic national norms, unlike the comparison group.

Even the students who were the lowest performers on the MAP assessment in the fall, and who met the Core5 usage targets, experienced substantial gains. Additionally, third-grade students who started the year significantly below national norms finished the year significantly above those norms when using Core5.

What do these results mean?

These results are significant because there have been many reports about “how much” the pandemic has impacted students’ learning, but not many about programs that have helped students. This report is one of the first to demonstrate how a program was able to accelerate learning during and after the pandemic.

For those of us in the education space, information about what is most effective in helping students move forward is the data we need to best help educators and students. Those of us at Lexia and beyond are greatly encouraged by the study's findings.