Using Lexia® Core5® Reading to Address Learning Loss and Accelerate Learning

PURPOSE: In spring 2020, schools rapidly shifted from in-person instruction to remote learning in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. This study focused on students’ use of Core5 in fully remote and hybrid instructional environments during the 2020-21 school year. The objective was to explore the extent to which Core5 could help address pandemic-related learning loss and perhaps contribute to accelerated learning.

METHOD: For this correlational study, Lexia partnered with three school districts that began the 2020-21 school year with remote learning. One district shifting to a hybrid model in late fall 2020. We examined the relationship between Core5 usage and learning loss, and between Core5 usage and accelerating learning. Core5 usage was defined as number of weeks students met their usage targets. MAP Growth Reading scores were collected in the fall and winter. Students were flagged as having “learning loss” if their winter MAP score was at least 3 points lower than their fall 2020 score, and students were considered to show “accelerated learning” if their actual growth on the MAP Growth test exceeded their projected growth targets.

KEY FINDINGS

• Over 80% of students who used Core5 did not have learning loss.
• The more weeks students met Core5 usage targets, the higher students’ predicted probability of not having learning loss.
• Over 40% of students who used Core5 exceeded their MAP Growth targets.
• The more weeks students met Core5 usage targets, the higher students’ predicted probability of exceeding their growth targets.
• Core5 helped all students learn during the pandemic, regardless of their gender, race/ethnicity, English Learner status, or special education status.