How Science of Reading Research Affirms the Impact of Waterford’s Evidence-Based Reading Intervention Program
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In connection with the Science of Reading Virtual Summit, Waterford.org is sharing an article series exploring the science behind how students learn to read and what administrators can do to guide school and classroom strategies.
Sign up for the free summit to learn research-based strategies from early education experts, including Julie Christensen, Vice President of Curriculum at Waterford. Plus, find upcoming and on-demand video series led by early education experts through the Webinar Library, featuring topics chosen with administrators in mind, like:
Learning to read is seemingly effortless for only a small percentage of students–around 5%, according to Julie Christensen, Vice President of Curriculum at Waterford, in a recent webinar. The vast majority of students need systematic and explicit instruction to build reading proficiency. Investing in early childhood literacy programs–from PreK to second grade–is essential not only as a support for academic achievement but to provide students with the skills that will allow reading to be a lifelong tool for learning.
That’s why choosing research-based programs for core, supplemental, and intervention instruction is so important. Curriculum built on the science of reading helps students develop literacy skills in ways that align with how the brain learns, helping students learn most effectively and most efficiently. The most successful reading programs are those both driven by the science of reading and proven by peer-reviewed research.
With over forty years of experience creating accessible and high-quality learning content, Waterford’s early reading curriculum is aligned with the science of reading. It is also backed by third-party research that demonstrates Waterford’s effectiveness in helping students develop strong, lasting literacy skills. Read on to learn more about the proven impact of Waterford’s evidence-based reading programs and how you can use them as part of your school’s explicit, systematic approach to literacy instruction.
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How Waterford Evaluates Early Reading Curriculum Efficacy
Waterford conducts regular third-party research studies to evaluate the effectiveness of the early reading curriculum. Over the past ten years, Waterford has conducted fifty-three studies–thirty-two of which are peer-reviewed, or evaluated by a board of researchers not affiliated with the organization.
A large and diverse sample size is key to designing studies with accurate measurements. Of utmost importance is making sure a wide variety of young learners are represented in these studies. In studies conducted over the past ten years, Waterford has evaluated 76,300 young learners using the early reading program either at home or school, including those who are:
When possible, Waterford studies also include randomized control groups in studies, with the only difference between the control and intervention groups being the curriculum they engage with. The students’ randomized group assignment helps ensure that differences in reading development observed between the groups are due to their curriculum and not any external factors.
An ESSA-Approved Reading Intervention Program with Significant Effect Size
Across all Waterford studies evaluating early literacy programs over the past ten years, students exhibit an average reading effect size of 0.47. This is nearly twice as large as the effect size criterion of 0.25, which is the cutoff that is widely considered to indicate a meaningful impact on student learning. Overall, this means that Waterford’s reading curriculum is shown to effectively build and strengthen reading skills.