Lexia Core5 Reading Benefits Students in Utah: Outcomes From 9 Years of Utah’s Early Intervention Reading Software Initiative

PURPOSE: In 2015, the state of Utah introduced the Early Intervention Reading Software initiative to supplement student learning with the support of edtech programs. This report summarizes the initiative’s findings—with a focus on Lexia® Core5® Reading—during the 2023–2024 school year. 

METHOD: Using a quasi-experimental design, the Evaluation and Training Institute (ETI) evaluated the impact of the edtech programs each year of the Utah initiative. Students in grades K–3 were assessed with a standardized reading test at the end of the school year. Statistical matching was used to create comparison groups that were similar to students using the programs. Usage and impact data were reported separately for each program in seven of the nine years. The only exceptions were the 2019–2020 school year, when both usage and impact data were aggregated over programs, and the 2023–2024 school year, in which impact data were aggregated over programs. 

KEY FINDINGS: 

• Core5 was the most preferred program in Utah’s initiative. In 2023–2024, Core5 was used, on average, by 25 times more students than the other reading programs. 

• Core5 students met program usage targets to a greater extent than all other programs in three of the four years in which program comparisons were made.

• Core5 significantly impacted students’ performance on the standardized reading test in grades K–1 with large to medium effect sizes across all nine years of the initiative.

• During the four years the initiative included all students in grades 2–3, Core5 had a significant impact in these grades with medium effect sizes in all but one instance.