Eighth-grade students who participated in MindPlay Virtual Reading Coach (MVRC) during summer school increased their reading skills from 1.5 to 3 years in only 16 days.
In 2013, 68 students who had just completed the eighth grade participated in a four-hour summer school program. Students split their time between a focus on reading (2 hours) and a focus on math (2 hours). During the reading portion, researchers determined that MVRC was used 78% of the time (as recommended) to provide individualized reading instruction.
Students with initial scores indicating a reading level of 5th grade 7th month, increased to 7th-grade 2nd month (an increase of 1.5 years). Students who started at or above the 8th-grade level increased to the 11th-grade 2nd month.
In this study, MVRC had a significant impact on middle school students’ reading growth, specifically in the area of fluency.