Provider: Air Reading
Program Description
Air Reading is an assessment-driven virtual tutoring program that builds foundational reading skills for students in grades K–8. Groups of up to four students meet live online with the same paid, trained tutor for 40-minute sessions four times a week, using Air Reading’s Science of Reading–aligned curriculum. One-on-one diagnostics place students into groups, and biweekly assessments track their progress. In this study, students in grades 1–6 who had been flagged for Tier 2 or Tier 3 reading intervention at six elementary schools in a rural Texas district received tutoring during the spring 2024 semester.
Findings
- Significant positive effect: Tutored students outperformed control students on the spring NWEA MAP reading assessment (+0.12 SD), about 1.5 additional months of learning.
- Students attended an average of 39.8 sessions (about 26.5 hours), and 62% attended 40 or more. Those students saw larger gains (+0.17 SD, about 2.2 months) than students with fewer sessions (+0.02 SD), though the difference was not statistically significant.
- Effects did not differ significantly by race/ethnicity, English learner status, special education status, economic disadvantage, or grade.
- No cost analysis was reported. Control students continued with their school’s business-as-usual reading instruction.
- The study took place in one rural Texas district over a single semester, which limits how far the results generalize and how much tutoring students could receive. Attendance varied widely (0–63 sessions), and only short-term outcomes were measured.
| Research Partner | CRRE (Johns Hopkins University) |
| Study Year | 2023-24 |
| Study Location | A rural district in north central Texas, across 6 elementary schools |
| Modality | Virtual Synchronous |
| Study Design | RCT (Randomized Controlled Trial) |
| Total Sample | 418 randomly assigned (381 in the final analysis): 156 tutored, 225 control |
| Characteristics of Treatment Group | Black: 27% Hispanic: 48% White: 21% Other: 4% English Language Learner: 25% Students with Disabilities (IEP): 13% Economically Disadvantaged: 72% (Full analytic sample) |
| Subject | Reading/ELA |
| Grades | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 |
| Average Actual Dosage | 26.5 hours |
| Scheduled Dosage | Four 40-minute sessions per week for one semester |
