The Relationship Between Read 180 and Reading Comprehension Growth for Struggling Fourth Grade Students in One Elementary Intervention Classroom

Research has shown that reading intervention for struggling students is imperative at a young age for future success. The goal for all students is to be college and career ready, and wise participants in society. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between the Read 180 program and growth in reading comprehension for struggling readers. It was a search to better understand the instructional strategies needed to support reading comprehension. It was also a search to understand how motivation plays a role in affecting student academic success, and the components of the program including technology that has embedded motivational pieces. Lastly, it was a search to better understand how to support teachers in their knowledge to advance student achievement. The study was conducted in a general education intervention classroom servicing students who were scoring Below Basic in their reading skills. The results suggest that there is a strong relationship between the Read 180 program and growth in reading comprehension. The majority of the students made gains in comprehension as measured by the Reading Inventory during the study with a strong positive correlation r = 0.469.