The Impact of Lexia Core5 on Student Reading in Lexia LETRS Classrooms

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore whether Lexia® Core5® Reading complemented Lexia® LETRS® Professional Learning. Lexia® researchers partnered with two school districts in which elementary teachers varied in terms of the extent to which they completed LETRS. Teachers ranged from not beginning LETRS to completing the full program. Lexia researchers first examined how Core5 tended to be used by the teachers. They then examined whether student use of Core5 influenced their Smarter Balanced English Language Arts (SBAC ELA) performance, and whether the impact of Core5 varied depending on their teacher’s progress in LETRS. 

Method: The study used a quasi-experimental design with propensity score matching to compare SBAC scores for students who used Core5 to students who did not. Comparisons were made for different levels of Core5 usage, and in different types of LETRS classrooms, including classrooms in which the teacher did not begin LETRS, classrooms in which the teacher began but did not complete LETRS, and classrooms in which the teacher completed LETRS. 

Key Findings: Students with LETRS-trained teachers made significantly more weeks of progress in Core5 than students without LETRS-trained teachers. Students who used Core5 more also had higher Smarter Balanced ELA scores than students who did not use Core5, especially when taught by teachers who completed more of LETRS.