A quasi-experimental study conducted in 2017 shows strong growth in reading achievement!
Download the summary of the evidence study (2017). 🖨️
The study was conducted in 1 rural school district (west coast) and 1 urban school district (east coast). Some schools utilized the Read Side by Side curriculum for the first time, while other schools continued to use their guided reading curriculum (Fountas & Pinell).
| Read Side by Side Schools | Guided Reading Schools |
| Mean growth on the MAP test: | Mean growth on the MAP test: |
| + 21 percentile points | + 8 percentile points |
The Read Side by Side Reading Program:
- produced significant gains in reading achievement and changes in motivation. Overall effect size .86 (Cohen's d).
- caused the students’ attitudes toward reading to change. Once exposed to an author, a genre or a topic, students wanted to read more of that author or topic.
Author of the 2017 Evidence Study,
Dr. Peter Dewitz, Mary Baldwin University.