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Visible Learning™
Visible Learning MetaX
Version 1.4 – Updated February 2026

Comprehensive reading programs

Overview

  • Influence: Comprehensive reading programs
  • Domain: Curricula
  • Sub-Domain: Reading, writing and the arts
  • Potential to Accelerate Student Achievement: Potential to accelerate
  • Influence Definition: Programs that include many elements to teach reading, usually aimed at specific groups of students (pre-school, middle, high school, minority)

Evidence

  • Number of meta-analyses: 20
  • Number of studies: 804
  • Number of students: 277,823
  • Number of effects: 3,265
  • Weighted mean effect size: 0.57
  • Robustness index: 5

Meta-Analyses

Meta-Analyses
Journal Title Author Article Name Year Published Variable Number of Studies Number of Students Number of Effects Effect Size
Journal of Learning Disabilities Swanson Reading research for students with LD: a meta-analysis of intervention outcomes 1999 Reading interventions 112 3,895 334 0.77
Educational Researcher Pflaum, Walberg, Karegianes, & Rasher Reading instruction: A quantitative analysis 1980 Reading instruction 31 NA 341 0.60
Report Slavin, Lake, Cheung, & Davis Beyond the Basics: Effective Reading Programs for the Upper Elementary Grades. 2009 K only studies 14 4,383 14 0.18
Dissertation Han Evidence-based reading instruction for English language learners in preschool through sixth grades: a meta-analysis of group design studies. 2009 Evidence based reading programs for pre-Yr. 6 44 1,969 225 0.50
Dissertation Yang A meta-analysis of the effects of interventions to increase reading fluency among elementary school students  2006 Programs to enhance reading fluency 39 NA 162 0.33
Review of Educational Research Slavin, Lake, Chambers, Cheung, & Davis Effective reading programs for the elementary grades: A best-evidence synthesis 2009 Effective Reading programs 63 22,000 63 0.22
Report Slavin, Lake, Cheung, & Davis Effective Beginning Reading Programs: A Best-Evidence Synthesis 2009 Beginning reading curricula 8 1,599 8 0.16
Language learning Shintani, Li, & Ellis Comprehension-based versus production-based grammar instruction: A meta-analysis of comparative studies 2013 Comprehension vs. production based grammar instruction 35 NA 276 1.09
Review of Educational Research Roberts, Dumas, McNeish, & Coté Understanding the Dynamics of Dosage Response: A Nonlinear Meta-Analysis of Recent Reading Interventions. 2021 Maximal dosage of reading instruction 26 NA 186 0.77
Children Amado-Rodríguez, Casañas, Mas-Expósito, Castellví, Roldan-Merino, Casas, Lalucat-Jo, & Fernández-San Martín Effectiveness of Mental Health Literacy Programs in Primary and Secondary Schools: A Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis. X 2022 Mental health literacy program on mental health knowledge 15 NA 15 0.61
Journal of School Psychology Shin & McMaster Relations between CBM (oral reading and maze) and reading comprehension on state achievement tests: A meta-analysis.  2019 Curriculum based measurement 61 NA 132 1.62
Child development Kim, Lee, & Zuilkowski Impact of literacy interventions on reading skills in low-and middle-income countries: A meta-analysis 2020 Literacy interventions 67 213,464 661 0.30
Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness Gersten Meta-analysis of the impact of reading interventions for students in the primary grades.  2020 Reading interventions 33 NA 128 0.39
Journal of Literacy Research Cole Speaking to read: Meta-analysis of peer-mediated learning for English language learners 2014 Speaking to read 28 NA 28 0.49
Exceptional Children Stevens, Austin, Moore, Scammacca, Boucher, & Vaughn Current state of the evidence: Examining the effects of Orton-Gillingham reading interventions for students with or at risk for word-level reading disabilities.  2021 Orton-Gillingham Reading intervention 15 NA 15 0.22
Child development Dowdall, Melendez-Torres, Murry, Garner, Hartford, & Cooper Shared picture book reading interventions for child language development: A systematic review and meta-analysis.  2020 Shared picture books 19 3,535 19 0.35
Scientific Studies of Reading Hwang, Cabell, & Joyner Effects of integrated literacy and content-area instruction on vocabulary and comprehension in the elementary years: A meta-analysis.  2022 Integrated literacy and content-area instruction 35 NA 72 0.87
Review of Educational Research Yang, Zhao, Yuan, Luo, & Shanks Mind the Gap between Comprehension and Metacomprehension: Meta-analysis of metacomprehension accuracy and intervention effectiveness.  2023 Comprehension judgements 115 15,889 502 0.24
Journal of School Psychology Maki & Hammerschmidt-Snidarich Reading fluency interventional dosage: A novel meta-analysis and research synthesis. 2022 Reading fluency programs 33 2,250 33 0.46
Review of Educational Research Arco-Tirado, Fernandez-Martin, Hervas-Torres, Jimenez-Fernandez, Calet, Defior, Neitzel, & Slavin A best-evidence synthesis and meta-analysis on effective reading programs in Spanish. 2024 Reading programs in Spanish 11 8,839 51 0.49
TOTAL/AVERAGE 804 277,823 3,265 0.53
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