5/15/2019

Lexia® Core5® Reading Provides Differentiated Instruction Based on Reading Profiles

PURPOSE: In today’s educational landscape, teachers are responsible for identifying and instructing an increasingly diverse population of student readers. Advances in technology may be used to facilitate differentiated instruction. This study investigated how well Lexia® Core5® Reading can provide differentiated instruction for students with various reader profiles.

METHOD: Lexia® researchers classified a large sample of third-grade students into four reader subgroups based on their performance on aimsweb, a commonly used progress-monitoring tool. The four subgroups (i.e., profile performances) were poor decoder, poor comprehender, students with mixed deficits, and typical readers. Analyses first compared the relative progress of students in the four subgroups on Core5, and then examined the extent to which each subgroup made gains on aimsweb at the end of the year.

KEY FINDINGS

• Average profile performances on Core5 reflected the profile weaknesses identified in the fall on aimsweb.
• Core5 effectively differentiated instruction and contributed to improved aimsweb performance for most subgroups.
• Differences in Core5 accuracy compared to typical readers resolved in the spring for most students.
• Poor decoders improved from 18th to the 31st percentile in oral word reading fluency on aimsweb.
• Poor comprehenders advanced from 13th to the 36th percentile in reading comprehension on aimsweb.