Structured Literacy Interventions with Secondary Students

Student Outcomes

"The biggest turn in my life was to be able to read easier.

I am going into AP classes. That would not even be possible without this class and the hard work we put in together with my Literacy class friends."

~11th grade Structured Literacy Class graduate

Our Data From the Beginning

2014 Through 2022 (8 Years)

Special Education Eligibility Data from 2014-2022

There are many ways to measure progress! This is just one.

65% of our students with IEPs who completed the program and were then reevaluated for eligibility exited special education entirely.

90% of our students with IEPs who completed the program and were then reevaluated for eligibility did not qualify with an SLD in reading- or writing-specific skills.

In 8 years:

53 students with IEPs have graduated out of our Structured Literacy program (finished the intervention)

- - 32 of those have had a full 3-year eligibility evaluation since finishing the intervention (the rest are awaiting reevaluation, moved and we lost contact, or graduated high school before their 3-year anniversary)
    - - 65% (21 of those 32 students) tested out of special education entirely
        Of the 11 students continuing to receive special education services, only 3 remain for Specific Learning Disability (SLD) in a reading-specific skill
        90% (29/32) of reevaluated students do not have an SLD in reading-specific skills (1 remains for Fluency and 2 for Comprehension)

Smaller sample size, but interesting data:

- During the 3 Covid-impacted school years of 2019-22:
  - 23 students with IEPs graduated from our program (finished the intervention)
    - 12 of those students have then had a full 3-year eligibility evaluation
      - 9 of those students no longer require special education services
        75% = the percent of students no longer on IEPs
        91.6% = the percent of students no longer qualifying with an SLD in reading-specific skills (1 student remains for Reading Fluency)

How Long Does it Take?

An average of 2.07 years.

"As soon as possible, as long as necessary" (Shinn et al., 2021).

Class times are typically 50-55 minutes, 4 times per week - just like all our other classes at WUHSMS. This has varied over the years.

A Closer Look at Data from One Year ~2021-22

NOTE: An unprecedented number of students (11) had graduated from our program the prior year. Their success left us with only 16 students in 2021-22.

In typical years, we had 20-25 students for a .8 FTE teaching position.

Results: Phonological Awareness Screening Test (PAST) 2021-22

Results: Reading Comprehension ~ Always the Goal

Our district's vocabulary and comprehension screener: STAR Reading

The Student Growth Percentile (SGP) score compares a student’s growth from one period to another with that of his or her academic peers nationwide—defined as students in the same grade with a similar scaled score history. Our students' end-of-year student growth percentiles in 2021-22. See below for what this rate of growth can turn into if maintained across several years.

Average STAR SGP Scores in the 60 and 80%ile Range Over Three Years Look Like:

Both of these students graduated from Structured Literacy class after 3 years. They completed our phonics scope and sequence and read grade-level material accurately, independently, and with understanding.

*STAR = STAR Reading (Renaissance, 2022)

**WIST = Word Identification and Spelling Test (Wilson & Felton, 2004)

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