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System 44: San Juan Unified School District

At a glance

  • Demonstrates a Rationale
  • Programs: System 44®, Read 180®
  • Subjects: Literacy Curriculum, Intervention Curriculum
  • Report Type: Efficacy Study
  • Grade Level: Elementary, Middle, High
  • Region: West
  • District Urbanicity: Suburban
  • District Size: Large
  • Implementation Model: 80+ Minutes
  • District: San Juan Unified School District, CA
  • Participants: N=662
  • Outcome Measure: Reading Inventory
  • Evaluation period: 2009–2010
  • Study Conducted by: Scholastic Research

Read 180 now incorporates the comprehensive foundational literacy skills scope and sequence from System 44.

Overview

Students with disabilities and English learners surpass grade-level expectations on the Reading Inventory.

Located in northeastern Sacramento County, San Juan Unified School District (SJUSD) serves more than 40,000 students in 70 schools. The district’s student population is largely Hispanic (17%) and White (66%). The remaining students are African American (8%), American Indian (2%), Asian/Pacific Islander (7%), or represented by other ethnicities (1%). Ten percent of the students are English learners (EL), and 36% are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch.

SJUSD introduced System 44 in the district in 2009 for struggling readers who had not yet mastered foundational reading skills. The district prioritized placement for students with disabilities and ELs. Students were enrolled if their performance on the Reading Inventory® and Phonics Inventory® indicated that they had difficulty with both reading comprehension and word-reading skills.

During the 2009–2010 school year, System 44 was incorporated within a 90-minute READ 180® classroom period. All classes included whole-group and small-group instruction. Students were expected to use the System 44 instructional software for at least 20 minutes a day.

Results

In order to measure the impact of System 44 on students’ reading achievement, fall 2009 and spring 2010 Reading Inventory Lexile® (L) measures were collected from 662 System 44 students in Grades 4–12. Results indicate that System 44 students’ reading comprehension skills improved during the school year. Overall, System 44 students advanced from 102L in 2009 to 225L in 2010, a statistically significant gain of 123L. Elementary, middle, and high school System 44 students made gains of 134L, 103L, and 120L, respectively (Graph 1). Further analysis showed that students who completed more topics on the System 44 instructional software demonstrated greater Lexile gains on the Reading Inventory (Graph 2).

2 1 San Juan Graph 1

GRAPH 1. San Juan Unified School District System 44 Students, Grades 4–12 (N=662)

Performance on Reading Inventory by Grade Level, 2009–2010

Note. The gains in Lexile were statistically significant for all students (t=17.11, p=.00), elementary school students (t=15.40, p=.00), and middle school students (t=8.18, p=.00). The high school sample was too small to test for significance.

2 1 San Juan Graph 2

GRAPH 2. San Juan Unified School District System 44 Students, Grades 4–12 (N=662)

Change in Reading Inventory Lexile Score as a Function of Software Usage, 2009–2010

Note. There was a statistically significant difference in Lexile gains between the two groups as determined by a one-way ANOVA (t=35.63, p=.00).