Book Description

The i-Ready CAI program is a comprehensive educational software program designed to build reading skills and concepts in grades K-8, stand alone or to supplement existing curricula. The program's capability to individualize lessons, assess and track student progress, is aimed at keeping potentially "at risk" students at grade level. The purpose of this study is to determine the effectiveness of the i-Ready computerized reading program in improving the reading achievement of first graders. The results of this study may provide additional information regarding the effectiveness of CAI. This quantitative study was conducted at an elementary school located in a school district in the Central Valley of California during the 2014–2015 academic year. Students in both the treatment and control groups took an Open Court fluency pre and post test and a pre-and post test i-Ready reading diagnostic test determine if differences in reading and fluency achievement existed between the two groups. Students who participated in the i-Ready program, also participated in the daily core English language arts program. The treatment group (n = 40) took a pre i-Ready reading diagnostic test. The results from the i-Ready reading diagnostic test provided the teachers with each student’s reading level, pinpointed each student’s subskill needs and customized instruction according to each student’s placement level. The treatment group participated in i-Ready for 20-minute sessions 3 times a week for six consecutive weeks. The control group (n = 40) received instruction in the daily core English language arts program without computer assisted instruction. An ANCOVA was performed on the pre and post reading assessment data of first-grade students who participated in the i-Ready CAI program and first-grade students who did not. In overall reading achievement, the first-grade students who did not participate outperformed those who did. However, there was no significant difference in reading fluency achievement between the first-grade students who participated in the i-Ready CAI program and first-grade students who did not participate.