News & Media
Even in Math, Teachers See a Chance to Boost Students' Reading Skills
When Cloquet Middle School started screening with ReadBasix, teachers in every subject could see where students struggled to read and were able to reinforce those skills in their own lessons. Decoding gaps fell from 40% on entry to just 2% by 8th grade.
Using Scenario-Based Assessments to Measure Deep Learning
Dr. Sabatini is a Distinguished Research Professor in the Department of Psychology and the Institute for Intelligent Systems at the University of Memphis.
New Study: Many Older Students Struggle to Push Beyond Reading 'Threshold'
While adolescent foundational skills interventions can be critical levers for reading improvement, district leaders, teachers, and researchers must make complex decisions about how to evaluate their effectiveness in context.
Reading Interventions for Older Students May Be Missing a Key Component
It's a well-worn adage in education that students first learn to read, and then read to learn.
How Complex Decoding Challenges Can Block Comprehension for Older Readers
Complex decoding challenges are hiding in plain sight and can prevent older readers from comprehending grade-level texts.
Measuring the Roots of Older Students' Reading Difficulties: New Evidence
By the time students reach upper elementary school, they are expected to have mastered foundational reading skills.
Study Unveils a Key Barrier to Reading Proficiency in Older Students: The Decoding Threshold
A new report points to decoding as a skill needed for later reading proficiency in older children.
ETS and MetaMetrics® Partner to Close the Reading Skills Gap for U.S. Students, Widened by the COVID-19 Pandemic
ReadBasix™ will provide an evidence-based tool to identify students' reading levels to enable targeted interventions and reading materials.
Capti Wins a $1M Grant to Bring ETS Reading Assessments to Market
Capti, an ETS Strategic Capital portfolio company, wins an IES SBIR Award to further develop and commercialize several diagnostic reading assessments developed at ETS.
SARA Reading Components Tests, RISE Form: Test Design and Technical Adequacy
This ETS research report documents the design, development, and technical adequacy of the RISE form of the SARA reading components assessment for middle-school students.
Overview of Subtests | Capti Assess with ETS ReadBasix
A SERP-hosted overview describing the ReadBasix subtests used in Capti Assess (outlining each subtest's purpose and what it measures).
New Research from AERDF and ETS Reveals Decoding Threshold is a Key Barrier to Reading Proficiency in Older K-12 Students
AERDF's press release summarizes the joint findings with ETS showing the decoding threshold as a major constraint on older students' reading comprehension and promotes Reading Reimagined's work on assessments and interventions.
The Decoding Threshold: Measuring the roots of older students' reading difficulties
An earlier Educator's Room post presenting the ETS/AERDF study results, focusing on the threshold concept and its implications for identifying and supporting struggling readers in grades 3–8.
Charmtech Labs (Capti) Wins a $1M Grant to Improve Literacy
University news item describing Charmtech/Capti's $1M SBIR award (with ETS collaboration) to develop diagnostic reading assessments and scale their literacy platform.
American Children's Reading Skills Reach New Lows
With little post-pandemic recovery, experts wonder if screen time and school absence are among the causes.
Retooling Literacy Education for the Twenty-First Century: Key Findings of the Reading for Understanding Initiative and Their Implications
ETS policy/report summarizing findings from the Reading for Understanding initiative and recommending assessment and instructional strategies for improving literacy.
A brief history of scenario-based assessment and other innovations stemming from the Reading for Understanding Initiative: From elementary to secondary applications and beyond
Oxford's Department of Education event page describing a public seminar tracing the RfU initiative's scenario-based assessment innovations and their later applications.
Developing Reading Comprehension Assessments Targeting Struggling Readers
IES award record for John Sabatini and ETS describing a multi-phase project to develop diagnostic comprehension assessments for struggling adolescent and adult readers.
Reaping the Rewards of the Reading for Understanding Initiative
A large synthesis volume that reviews the Reading for Understanding initiative's evidence, assessment innovations, and implications for instruction and policy.
The Key to Decoding Reading Proficiency in K–12 Students
Despite expectations that students master basic reading proficiency by third grade, many continue to struggle with reading into upper elementary school and beyond.
Building Strong Readers Beyond the Decoding Threshold
An educator-oriented article arguing that once students pass the decoding threshold, instruction should pivot to vocabulary and comprehension strategies to foster independent reading.
Capti Assess: Personalizing Reading for Understanding Assessments with Adaptive Multistage Design
IES award page describing Charmtech/Capti's Phase II SBIR project to develop Capti Assess — an adaptive, scenario-based reading assessment that personalizes tasks for grades 3–12.
Older struggling readers can benefit from explicit decoding instruction
Early and targeted interventions are critical in helping these students understand increasingly complex tests, a study finds.