CAPIT Reading: Impact in an Oklahoma School District

A study was conducted to evaluate the impact of CAPIT Reading on student early literacy achievement. The study utilized a quasi-experimental comparison group design using data from 12 elementary schools in a suburban school district in Oklahoma during the 2019-20 school year. CAPIT Reading is a comprehensive PK-2 literacy solution that includes a digital phonics curriculum and teacher professional development. Four schools used CAPIT to supplement their literacy instruction for kindergarten students while eight schools did not. The study linked CAPIT usage data and district demographic and achievement data to estimate the impact of CAPIT on the Letter Word Sounds Fluency (LWSF) and Early Literacy Composite scores of the aimsweb reading assessment administered by the district in August and January. We found a positive impact of CAPIT Reading on student early reading achievement on the aimsweb assessment for kindergarten students estimated at 4.4 test score points for the aimsweb Early Literacy Composite score (effect size 0.17, p = 0.01) and 7.8 points for the LWSF score (effect size 0.29, p < 0.001). This impact on the LWSF score is equivalent to a 29% increase in growth for the average CAPIT student from the fall to winter tests. We found limited evidence of differential impact favoring student subgroups, meaning that this positive impact for CAPIT users did not vary according to student characteristics such as eligibility for free and reduced-price lunch, race, or gender. We found that the impact on aimsweb overall was marginally greater for special education students by 4.9 points (p = 0.09) and that the impact on LWSF scores was greater for English Language Learners by 7.4 points (p = 0.09). Impact of CAPIT reading does not vary significantly across other student groups. [This paper was produced by Evidentally, Inc.]