The impact of literacy collaborative and success for all on the reading achievement of third and fifth grade students

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to analyze the impact of the Literacy Collaborative and Success for All programs reading achievement. The study compared the effects of Literacy Collaborative on the reading achievement of third- and fifth- grade students with the effects of Success for All on the reading achievement of third- and fifth- grade students. The sample consisted of 265 students (112, Literacy Collaborative; 153, Success for All) attending two public elementary schools in a southeastern state.|Two suburban, school- wide Title I elementary schools within the same school district were compared using a non-equivalent control group design. School A had implemented the Literacy Collaborative program, and School B had implemented the Success for All program. The schools were selected based on their demographic similarities and their having met the qualifications for implementation of the respective whole-school reform models. Independent variables were group membership (Literacy Collaborative, Success for All), gender (male, female), socioeconomic status (free lunch, reduced-price lunch, paid lunch), and race/ethnicity (black, white). The dependent variable was reading achievement as measured by mean normal curve equivalent (NCE) Total Reading subtest scores on the Stanford Achievement Test Series, Ninth Edition (Stanford 9), with Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS) mean Total Reading subtest scores as the covariate. Data from the spring 2001 administration of the Stanford 9 and data from the spring 2000 administration of the ITBS were collected and analyzed statistically, along with student demographic data. The data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences and Analysis of Covariance and produced the following results:|There was no statistically significant differences between the reading achievement of third- and fifth- grade students participating in the Literacy Collaborative program compared with the reading achievement of third- and fifth- grade students participating in the Success for All program. Students participating in the Success for All program achieved significantly higher reading scores than their peers participating in the Literacy Collaborative program. There were no statistically significant differences in reading achievement according to gender, socioeconomic status, and race.