Case Study: Dougherty Comprehensive High School improves high school reading comprehension with ReadTheory

Going Back to Basics to Improve Reading Levels in the Upper Grades

The customer, Dougherty Comprehensive High School, faced a significant challenge with high school students, particularly 9th graders, who had severe gaps in their reading comprehension skills. An English teacher, Carrie Kirkland, identified that many students could decode words but not understand them, with some unable to read at all, making it impossible to proceed with the standard curriculum. They turned to ReadTheory for a solution.

ReadTheory provided a solution by enabling the teacher to quickly assess each student's Lexile level and differentiate instruction through its online reading passages. The platform was used for bell-ringers, homework, and individual student conferencing. The impact was clear: students showed measurable progress on standardized reading inventory tests, with one student showing the most improvement in the entire school. ReadTheory also improved student engagement, focus, and even mental well-being by allowing students to succeed at their own level.

Dougherty Comprehensive High School

Carrie Kirkland

Dougherty Comprehensive High School