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Publications by Marie Carbo

Research on the
Carbo Reading Styles Program®

National and Regional Recognition During the past decade, the Carbo Reading Styles Program (CRSP) has been recognized for its positive effect on improving students’ reading achievement in grades K-12. After extensive evaluations, the Northwest Regional Lab (funded by the U.S. Dept. of Education) listed CRSP in its Catalog of School Reform Models in 1998, in 2002, and in 2006. To be considered for listing in this catalog, invited programs are required to submit 10 research studies conducted on their program. The criteria for inclusion in the Catalog of School Reform Models are:       • evidence of effectiveness in improving student academic achievement;       • widespread replication with organizational capacity to continue gearing up;       • high-quality implementation assistance to schools; and comprehensiveness.        In 1997 the Kentucky Department of Education included CRSP in their Results-Based Showcase which featured reading programs that had demonstrated high reading gains. (Results-Based Showcase, 1997-1998), and in 1999 CRSP was listed as one of six reading programs selected for the Milken Foundation’s book Reading Programs That Work: Programs for Pre-Kindergarten to 4th Grade (Schacter, 1999). The Milken book included reading programs that “helped students learn to read better than traditional methods” and are “driven by reading research, not ideology” (p. 7). In that same year, CRSP was selected for inclusion in A Guide to Research-Based Programs and Practices for Improving Literacy, prepared by the New England Comprehensive Center (NECAC). One year later, in 2000, CRSP was selected by the Education Commission of the States for ECS’s List of Promising Practices in Reading.        And, in 2002 CRSP was selected and listed in What Works in the Elementary Grades: Results-Based Staff Development, published by the National Staff Development Council (Killion, 2002). Killion stated CRSP “has demonstrated its impact on student achievement…offers intensive up-front professional development and an array of follow up support…[and is] adaptable to nearly any school context and appropriate for any type of learner…grade 1 to middle levels” (p. 49).
Research Summary        More than 15 years of research indicates that when schools accommodate students’ reading styles, students improve significantly in reading motivation and achievement, school attendance increases, and discipline problems and retentions decrease significantly. These results have been reported by educators involved in classroom and school-wide implementation of CRSP in grades K-12 (Acceleration Program, 1998; Bradsby, Wise, Mundell, & Haas, 1992; Brooks, 1991; Barber, Carbo, & Thomasson, 1998; Hodgin & Wooliscroft, 1997; LaShell, 1986; Langford, 2000; Molbeck, 1994; Oglesby & Suter, 1995; O’Tuel & Holt, 1992; Skipper, 1997; Snyder, 1994, 1997).        In 1998 Phi Delta Kappa published a two-year study of CRSP involving 561 students in grades 1-6 from six school districts in six states (Barber, Carbo, & Thomasson, 1998). The study compared the effectiveness of many different reading programs to CRSP and found that, when implemented at the 85% level or higher, CRSP was significantly more effective than extant programs. In this carefully controlled quasi-experimental study, both experimental and control teachers and students were matched. Districts used their own standardized achievement tests to measure reading results. The findings indicated that, after two years of implementation, students of the CRSP-trained teachers achieved higher effect sizes on the reading subtests measured six times more frequently than did the students of the control teachers.        Note: Leading the research team for this study was Larry Barber, then director of research for Phi Delta Kappa. All data from this research study were sent directly from the schools involved to Dr. Barber, who analyzed the data and reported the results of the study. Every district involved had two people who had been trained in research design and data collection by Dr. Barber, and who worked closely with him. Copies of this study are available at www.nrsi.com.        The doctoral research of Suter was described in an article by Oglesby and Suter (1995). Suter’s study involved 198 third- and sixth-graders. All subjects were pre- and posttested with the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Test. After six months, the CRSP group made significantly higher reading gains than their controls.        Brooks (1991) reported higher gains in oral reading comprehension and significantly higher gains in silent reading comprehension for CRSP students (p<.01), compared to their controls. The subjects for this one-semester study were 42 Chapter 1 students in grades 2-6 who scored at or below the 36th percentile in reading on the Metropolitan Achievement Tests.
Ninety learning-disabled students in grades 1-6 participated in LaShell’s (1986) study—42 from the Lake Stevens School District and 48 from the Arlington School District, both in Washington State. Within eight months, the CRSP students gained 15 months in reading comprehension; the control students gained four months. That difference was significant at the .001 level. The reading styles students also achieved a significantly higher internal locus of control (at the .001 level) than the control group, indicating that the CRSP students felt significantly more responsible for their actions, while the control students believed more strongly that results are caused by powerful outside forces.        Significantly higher reading gains were also reported by O’Tuel and Holt (1992) for the students of CRSP-trained teachers compared to their controls. The control district was selected by the South Carolina Department of Education. This experiment took place over one school year and involved all fifth- and sixth-graders in two participating school districts.        In 1986 the Bledsoe County Schools in Tennessee averaged a stanine score of only three in reading—not unusual for a rural school district in a poverty area. After implementing CRSP for three years, the system equaled state and national averages in reading (approximately the fifth stanine) (Snyder, 1994). In 1992 the school district was honored with the Governor’s Award for Excellence in Education. The Bledsoe County district is a 1,700-student system in the mountains of eastern Tennessee. The county’s per-capita income was $8,000 in 1994, with approximately 50% to 70% of the students considered to be at risk of failure.        Snyder (1997) conducted a second study with 282 students drawn from grades 3, 4, 6, 7, and 8. The CRSP subjects in all grades under study significantly outperformed students in the control group in total reading as measured by the California Tests of Basic Skills (CTB4), after both the first and second years of the study. Snyder also found that, compared to the controls, the experimental Chapter 1 group had significantly higher social studies scores.        The results reported by Hodgin and Wooliscroft (1997) took place over a period of one year and involved 22 third-grade inclusion students. After implementing CRSP for one year, the authors found that the percentage of students passing the test objectives on the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) rose from 41% to 86%.        In 1997 Skipper reported that only 21% of elementary students in the Uvalde School District were passing the TAAS. After three years of CRSP, that figure rose to nearly 70% passing the TAAS. Two experiments were conducted in Uvalde to test the effectiveness ofthe program. The first occurred during the summer of 1994 with 42 first-graders considered to be highly at risk of being retained. After the six-week CRSP program, the first-grade retention rate dropped from 8.9% to 1.7%. In six weeks, the youngsters gained more than 3.5 months in reading. The second experiment took place at Robb Elementary School in 1994-95. At the end of the school year, the percentage of students passing the state reading test rose from 46% to 73%. Seventy-eight percent of the students in the Uvalde district were Hispanic, many had limited proficiency in English, and 75% came from families considered economically disadvantaged.        More recently, two CRSP model schools, Marion Elementary School (Marion, MI) and Ocean City Elementary School (Ft. Walton Beach, FL), reported the following results. In 2001, 42.1% of fourth graders at Marion Elementary scored at the proficient reading level on their state test (MEAP). After three years of implementing CRSP, the percentage of fourth graders scoring at the proficient level in reading rose to 87% in 2005, and to 95% in 2006. Marion Elementary is a rural school with a 99% white student population, 61% of whom qualify for free or reduced lunch. There is high unemployment in the area (one-third of families have no phones).        Ocean City Elementary’s scores on the Florida state test advanced significantly after three years of CRSP, exceeding both the district and state averages. The student population at Ocean City Elementary is 70% low socio-economic and 30% ESE. By 2005 the school closed the reading gap between their white students (from 65% proficient in 2003 to 73% proficient in 2005) and African American students (from 50% proficient in 2003 to 72% in 2005). And they narrowed the reading gap for the economically disadvantaged and learning-disabled students.        Reading gains with CRSP have not been limited to elementary youngsters. Thornton Township District 205, in Thornton, Illinois, used CRSP to improve the reading skills of 226 remedial students in their high school English Acceleration Program. These were students who lacked the basic skills to function in their academic high school classes. After nine months of CRSP, the students averaged an 11.6 NCE growth in reading as measured by the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Test, and 56% of the students were able to move into regular English classes (Acceleration Program, December 1998).
References Acceleration program. (December 1998). Thornton Township District 205 Newsletter, Thornton, IL. Barber, L., Carbo, M., & Thomasson, R. (1998). A comparative study of the reading styles program to extant programs of teaching reading. Bloomington, IN: Phi Delta Kappa. Bradsby, S., Wise, J., Mundell, s., & Haas, S. (1992). Making a difference for L.D. students: Matching reading instruction to reading styles through recorded books. Research in the Classroom, ED 347 765. Brooks, J. D. (1991). Teaching to identified learning styles: The effects upon oral and silent reading and listening comprehension. Doctoral Dissertation, University of Toledo. Carbo Reading Styles Program: Research update (2000). Syosset, NY: National Reading Styles Institute, 179 Lafayette Drive, 11791. Hodgin, J., & Wooliscroft, C. (1997). Eric learns to read: Learning styles at work. Educational Leadership, 54(6), 43-45. Killion, J. (2002). What works in the elementary school: Results-based staff development. Oxford, OH: National Staff Development Council, 48-51. Langford, D. (2000). Two-year results of the Carbo Reading Styles Program. Paterson Elementary School, Montgomery, Alabama. LaShell, L. (1986). An analysis of the effects of reading methods upon reading achievement and locus of control when individual reading style is matched for learning-disabled students. Doctoral Dissertation, Fielding University. Molbeck, C. H. (1994). Using recorded books with reluctant readers. WSRA Journal, 38(2), 39-42. Oglesby, F., & Suter, W. N. (1995). Matching reading styles and reading instruction. Research in the Schools (Mid-South Educational Research Association), 2(1), 11-15. O’Tuel, F. & Holt, S. (Spring 1992). Reading styles program for fifth and sixth grade elementary students: An evaluation of four years of program development. Paper presented at the national conference of the American Educational Research Association. Results-based practices showcase (1997-1998). Louisville, KY: Kentucky Department of Education, Division of School Improvement. Schacter, J. (1999). Reading programs that work: A review of programs for pre-kindergarten to 4th grade. Santa Monica, CA: Milken Family Foundation, jschacter@mff.org. Skipper, B. (1997). Reading with style. American School Board Journal, 184(2), 36-37. Snyder, A. E. (1994). On the road to reading recovery. The School Administrator, 51(1): 23-24. Snyder, A. E. (1997). Utilization of a systemic design and learning styles model as a paradigm for restructuring education. Doctoral Dissertation, Tennessee State University.