Has SLCC's Reading Pre-Requisite Worked?
Prepared by Jeff Webb
AAB 355-Q • 4600 S Redwood Road • (801) 957-4110
November 29, 2017
Abstract
In initial exploratory research, IRR compared course grades before implementation of the reading pre-requisite in the above-mentioned classes to course grades after implementation. (We controlled for course, instructor and term in this analysis. No demographic covariate controls were used, with the reasoning that the timing of the implementation, being arbitrary, would ensure comparability in the before and after groups.) We found no effect. However, it seemed clear that the majority of students taking these courses would not have tested into the pre-requisite reading courses, and that any grade effect attributable to the pre-requisite courses would have been only for the relatively small group of students taking the reading pre-requisite. Any effect would likely have been masked. It is not surprising, then, that we found no grade effect. This doesn't mean there was no effect, since the study design may have been insufficient to detect it. Given this uncertainty IR was asked to investigate further.
Plot 1. Regression discontinuity study of grade performance in courses with reading pre-requisite, comparing treatment (yellow, on the left) and control (blue, on the right). This plot is an illustration of the underlying statistical result which indicates a difference in average grade of treatment compared to control of .16 in a band of -10 to 10 around 0. Each dot represents the average grade at a particular CPT1 score. The slope difference between the two regression lines suggests that the reading course helped students with lower CPT1 scores more than it did students with higher scores.
Plot 2. Comparison of average grades in courses with reading pre-requisite, before and after implementation of the reading pre-requisite. Students in the before period who elected to take a reading course have been included in this dataset. Where the shaded areas overlap there are no statistical differences. We can see that, at lower CPT1 scores, students did better after implementation of the reading pre-requisite.
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