Analysis of the Effect of MindPlay Usage on Students’ Reading Scores in Grades K-6

ABSTRACT

This technical report presents analyses and results from a quasi-experimental study of the effect of the MindPlay program on reading achievement scores of students (n=15,881) enrolled in grades K–6 in Dayton (Ohio) Public Schools. Growth trajectory analyses were based on student test scores on the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) Reading test for six cohorts of students in grades K-6 between the 2016-17 and 2022-23 academic years. The results of the growth-curve analysis confirm a positive effect of MindPlay usage on students’ MAP reading score growth over time, even after accounting for a COVID slump evident in national data. We found that growth rates in reading scores of Dayton students during the implementation of MindPlay were significantly higher than the national average (by +0.2 to +0.6 points per year) with even larger increases in reading growth for students who used MindPlay up to 80 or 150 minutes per week. This suggests that implementation of MindPlay may have significantly reduced the COVID slump in Dayton and, instead, allowed many Dayton students to make gains that moved them closer to national average levels of reading achievement.