An Evaluation of the Strategic Adolescent Reading Intervention (STARI) in an Urban School District During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The Strategic Adolescent Reading Intervention (STARI) is a year-long supplemental reading intervention designed to address the motivational barriers of struggling middle school readers. STARI has a Tier 1 ESSA evidence rating based on an earlier study in a high performing state. To explore replicability across contexts, STARI was evaluated in six middle schools in 2021–2022, in a district where historically only 25% of students were proficient on state tests. Eligible students were randomly assigned to STARI (n = 60) or to a business-as-usual class at their schools (n = 106). At the end of the program, STARI students scored higher on the state ELA test than students in the control group (n = 154, effect size = 0.32, p value = 0.071)—an effect size that exceeds the estimated negative effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on literacy skills. Students in the STARI group also had higher scores on subtests of reading skills (n = 80, effect size = 0.15–0.32). Although not statistically significant, these effect sizes mirror those of the prior study, suggesting that STARI can support reading growth across settings.