95 Phonics Core Program™ 2022-2023, Grades 2-3, Hispanic and Indigenous Students, AZ Efficacy Study

LXD Research analyzed data from 402 students from second and third graders who either participated in using the 95 Phonics Core Program (95PCP) or served as comparison students in a school district in AZ during the school year 2022-2023. This product adds explicit and systematic phonics instruction to the daily reading block. The demographic breakdown of this sample includes 46% Indigenous students and 54% Hispanic students, 65% Low Income, 15% Special Education students, and 15% Limited English Proficient students. Two schools volunteered to use 95PCP as their core reading curriculum and used it for about 30 minutes a day. Three comparison schools with similar demographics and literacy scores created a matched sample and used National Geographic (NatGeo) as their core reading program. The Aimsweb Plus Reading Early Literacy Assessment was conducted at the beginning, middle, and end of year 2023 to understand the programs' impact on reading. Showing promising results, students using 95PCP had fewer students labeled as High Risk on Aimsweb Plus compared to the NatGeo students at the End-of-the-Year for both Indigenous and Hispanic students. Indigenous students in the NatGeo group actually had more students labeled as High Risk at the End-of-the-Year than at the start of the year. There was a significant decrease of students labeled as High Risk for the 95PCP group, but the difference was not significant when compared to the NatGeo group. The findings and rigorous study design support the 95 Phonics Core Program as a comprehensive program that meets the criteria for ESSA Level 3.