Research
We partner with the Advanced Education Research and Development Fund or AERDF’s Reading Reimagined to take a different approach to research and product development.
We believe we can shape a world where every child, because of their unique characteristics, is a confident reader, thus eradicating illiteracy. This theory of change comes from deep educational systems experience, where we’ve seen and learned that student-centered, evidenced-based instruction can change learning outcomes for students. To design this instruction, we leverage new and existing research to understand how students learn to read.
Our research agenda involves three research tracks that help us define the relationship between unique student characteristics and students’ foundational literacy development; measure the effectiveness of instruction through time and cost efficient assessments that screen, diagnose, and monitor foundational skill progress; and intervene with aligned and effective tools and validated strategies that use unique student characteristics to fuel literacy learning.
Reading Reimagined has funded research projects across the country with academic institutions and organizations that are interested in developing a knowledge base around our research agenda. This work has begun producing real, actionable results. Our partners at The Joan Ganz Cooney Center and NWEA, for example, have both published results from studies conducted to help us grow our understanding of how to define and intervene with older elementary and middle school students.
The knowledge we gain from our research is then applied to our instructional sequences and literacy games, which are co-developed with the communities we serve to ensure the usability and efficacy of our work. We conduct this community-based intervention research within schools and community organizations across the country to find out what kids and the adults who care for them truly need from reading technology.
To read more about our approach to research, read Reading Reimagined: A New Inclusive Research and Development Initiative, published by AERDF’s Reading Reimagined.