| Abstract: |
Randomized controlled trials in education are necessary to keep pace with the evidence-based practices demanded by schools and the nation. In this study, kindergarten students in a school district in Indiana were randomized on the class level: The experimental condition consisted of students utilizing a computer-adaptive reading program for 15 minutes per day, 5 days per week over the course of the 2017-2018 school year; the control condition consisted of students receiving traditional, teacher-directed literacy instruction for the same amount of time. Thus, overall exposure to literacy instruction was the same for both groups. At the end of the school year, students randomized to the experimental condition outperformed their control counterparts on two different literacy assessments, indicating that early literacy instruction in the format of computer-adaptive reading programs may be beneficial to kindergarten students. Experimental students also outperformed their control counterparts across demographics, demonstrating a benefit from the computer-adaptive program for all students. [This paper was published in: "Smart Education and e-Learning 2019. Smart Innovation, Systems and Technologies," edited by V. L. Uskov et al., Springer Nature, 2019, pp. 243-252.] |