Fast ForWord reading research

The Nevada Department of Education commissioned the Leadership and Learning Center (LLC) to conduct an in-depth evaluation of reading programs purchased with department grants. Fast ForWord programs increased student reading achievement by an average of 22.2 percentage points, the largest average impact of all programs reviewed

Secondary students showed significant improvements in reading achievement after participation in the Fast ForWord program. The students improved from the 13th percentile in reading to the 22nd immediately following use of the programs and continued to improve thereafter, extending their original gains to the 39th percentile 18 months later.

This study followed more than 500 high school students from 20 schools over the years of their Fast ForWord participation and shows impressive long-term results on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) reading test.

On average, students spent 60 days using the Fast ForWord programs during a 5 ½ month period.

Students in years 1 – 8 achieved significant improvements in their Criterion-Referenced Competency Test scores (reading, language arts and mathematics), when compared with students who did not participate in the Fast ForWord program.

These students also experienced continued improvements over the following years.