Effects of Educational Technology Applications on Reading Outcomes for Struggling Readers: A Best‐Evidence Synthesis

Abstract This review examines the effectiveness of educational technology applications in improving the reading achievement of struggling readers in elementary schools. The review applies consistent inclusion standards to focus on studies that met high methodological standards. A total of 20 studies based on about 7,000 students in grades 1–6 were included in the final analysis. Findings indicate that educational technology applications produced a positive but small effect on the reading skills of struggling readers ( ES = .14) in comparison with “business as usual” methods. Among four types of educational technology applications, small‐group integrated applications such as Read, Write & Type and the Lindamood Phoneme Sequence Program produced the largest effect sizes ( ES = .32). These are tutorial educational technology applications that use small‐group interaction tightly integrated with reading curriculum. Supplementary models, such as Jostens and Lexia, had a larger number of studies ( N = 12) and a more modest effect size ( ES = .18). Comprehensive models, such as READ 180 and ReadAbout ( ES = .04) and Fast ForWord ( ES = .06), did not produce meaningful positive effect sizes. However, the results of these two categories of programs should be interpreted with extreme caution due to the small number of studies involved. More studies are required to validate the effectiveness of all technology applications. Policy implications are discussed.