A Longitudinal Randomized Trial of a Sustained Content Literacy Intervention from First to Second Grade: Transfer Effects on Students’ Reading Comprehension

This evidence brief from CEPR's READS Lab summarizes results from a randomized, longitudinal study on the Model of Reading Engagement (MORE) program implemented across first and second grade. MORE integrates science content, literacy instruction, and digital learning tools to build students’ background knowledge and support reading comprehension. The study found that students who received two years of sustained MORE instruction showed greater growth in both general reading and science comprehension compared to peers, with the strongest gains on passages closely related to the program’s topics. These results demonstrate that aligning and sustaining content literacy instruction over time strengthens students’ ability to transfer knowledge across subjects.

Learn more about the READS Lab at readslab.org/research.