Last month, WITS wrapped up an intensive 12-month engagement with Marzano Research, a leading external evaluator in the field of education. This first-of-its-kind partnership for WITS focused on an exploratory study on the aspects of WITS’ program models that are most effective at driving literacy outcomes and cultivating a lifelong love of reading. Below, I have outlined what has been done throughout the past year, what we have learned from this work, and what is coming down the pike for our organization as a result.
What Work Did We Do?
Throughout the past year, Marzano extensively engaged with the WITS community by making 18 visits to WITS program trainings and student sessions, conducting 13 stakeholder interviews, reviewing more than 70 pieces of collateral, and presenting twice to the WITS Strategic Planning Committee. During their second site visit with the WITS team in May 2024, Marzano focused largely on modeling their recommendations for future program evaluation, from observations to interviews to literacy assessment tools.
What Lessons Did We Learn?
Marzano’s findings confirmed that WITS excels in fostering mentor-mentee relationships and improving student reading attitudes. The research team suggested, however, modifying program activity design and assessment protocols to better impact foundational literacy skill development, specifically fluency and comprehension. Marzano provided the WITS team with a recommended catalog of research-based evaluation protocols for WITS’s student mentorship programs moving forward.
What’s Next?
As a result of this thorough study, the WITS Program Team has spent much of the summer developing fluency and comprehension “Activity Libraries” to use when working with our students. Additionally, we have built a tactical roadmap for implementation and assessment of this new program design over the next 24 months. This new evaluation plan relies on the “Oral Reading Fluency” (ORF) tool that many reading professionals use as a quick-read measurement of reading speed and accuracy. It’s a quick, simple assessment and is considered one of the best indicators of student reading progress. For a useful primer on the importance of thoughtfully incorporating reading fluency into our program models, check out this blog written by the team at Amplify. As they note right at the beginning, “Fluency is not just reading fast — it’s reading for meaning, and even joy.” At WITS, we’d say especially joy!
Our engagement with Marzano has been insightful and fulfilling. The ensuing program redesign will be leveraged to further maximize our impact on students’ academic and social development. WITS will also continue to build coherence across all components of our programs, including structure and goal-setting; training and support; and student growth measurement. If you are interested in learning more about our work with Marzano and/or the exciting transformations on the horizon, don’t hesitate to reach out!
