Research results yielded evidence that schools that used the KidBiz solution demonstrated dramatically higher gains on the end-of-the-year standardized reading tests, the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS).

Methodology

The KidBiz program was introduced to classroom teachers in twelve schools in September, 2003. Teachers were encouraged to provide students with the opportunity to access the program 1-3 times weekly. Students then used the solution from October through May, 2004.

Using the schools' ITBS reading test scores from May, 2003 as a benchmark assessment, the ITBS test was administered again in May, 2004. The change in school-wide national, percentile rankings from 2003-2004 was used as a measure of each school's progress in reading proficiency. To further evaluate results, each of the twelve participating schools was matched to a school that did not use the KidBiz solution, based on physical location and demographic characteristics.

Results

The schools that used KidBiz during the 2003-2004 school year demonstrated significantly better scores on year-end high-stakes tests, while the comparison schools in the control group showed only marginal improvement.

Using reading scores from the Iowa Test of Basic Skills, the schools using KidBiz showed an increase in their average national reading percentile from the 30th percentile at the beginning of the school year to nearly the 34th percentile at the end of the year.

This is a substantial and significant increase in test scores for the more than 4,000 students who used the KidBiz solution. In comparison, the control group demonstrated a small, but not significant, increase from the 32nd percentile to the 33rd percentile.