Newsela ELA for Middle School Students in California: ESSA Level II Study

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15

Elementary Secondary Education; Federal Legislation; Educational Legislation; Grade 6; Grade 7; Grade 8; Elementary School Students; Middle School Students; Reading Achievement; Scores; Language Arts; Outcomes of Education; Hispanic American Students; Reading Programs; Program Effectiveness

Newsela contracted with LearnPlatform by Instructure (LearnPlatform), a third-party edtech research company, to examine the relationship between Newsela ELA usage and outcomes for students. LearnPlatform designed the study to satisfy Level II requirements (Moderate Evidence) according to the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). The study included 2,464 6th-8th grade students (1,232 students who consistently used Newsela ELA (i.e., twice a week on average) and 1,232 students who did not use it) across 162 elementary and middle schools in a large, urban district in California. An average student not using Newsela ELA would be expected to score 4 percentile points higher on the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium ELA assessment (SBAC) had they used Newsela ELA. Similarly, an average Hispanic/Latino student not using Newsela ELA would be expected to score 5 percentile points higher on the SBAC had they used Newsela ELA. These findings were statistically significant at the p = 0.05 level. This study satisfies ESSA evidence requirements for Level II (Moderate Evidence) given the positive, statistically significant findings. [This report was prepared for Newsela by LearnPlatform.]

As Provided

2024

ED654119