As a part of the Striving Readers program supported by the U.S. Department of Education, Milwaukee Public Schools implemented the Read 180 program in five schools in an effort to provide targeted literacy supports to struggling students. AIR's evaluation found that the program had a significant impact on students’ academic performance in reading.

Findings

After one year of READ 180 instruction, struggling readers in Milwaukee Public Schools showed improved reading achievement over a control group who did not receive instruction. READ 180 students reported slightly higher self-efficacy and behavioral engagement
in reading than control group students, and teachers and principals observed increased confidence, motivation, and achievement among these students.

These findings show that struggling readers can experience success with READ 180, even after receiving only one year of intervention. It is important to note that medium to high levels of program implementation were observed across the five schools utilizing the READ 180 program in terms of fidelity to the professional development model and fidelity to the instruction model. This suggests that higher levels of program implementation play an important role in increasing positive program impact.