Charting New Success: BookNook's Journey with Rocketship Schools

Rocketship's districtwide vision is to "Eliminate the achievement gap in our lifetime." At BookNook, we take this vision to heart.

Read the Press Release

Study Overview

A 10-week efficacy study was conducted by the Consortium for Policy Research in Education (CPRE), and a validation study was conducted by LearnPlatform by Instructure. The study, funded by Rise Together Ventures, collected data from Rocketship Public Schools and was measured against ESSA Level I evidence criteria. 

This study places BookNook at Tier 1 for ESSA's Tiers of Evidence—illustrating strong evidence of efficacy. The pinnacle of the evidence tiers, Tier 1, is reserved for interventions supported by one or more well-designed and well-implemented randomized control trials (RCTs). This means the intervention has been rigorously tested and demonstrated a statistically significant effect on improving student outcomes. Interventions that reach this tier provide the strongest assurance of effectiveness.

Kasey Reiter, Managing Partner at Rise Together Ventures,  said that she is "ecstatic about this partnership as it demonstrates how BookNook can leverage their unique expertise in science-based literacy instruction to drive data-driven research initiatives that will further educate our teachers, schools, and practitioners about the most effective ways to teach students how to read." 

Quick Highlights

The recent cluster randomized controlled trial rigorously evaluated BookNook's effectiveness in first through fourth-grade classrooms. The study involved 1,777 Rocketship students, with a portion using BookNook for reading instruction, while a control group maintained traditional methods. The results were significant and demonstrated BookNook's impact on student success. Some notable highlights include the following: 

1. Usage and Effectiveness: The impact of BookNook on reading gains becomes more pronounced with increased usage. Notably, students who completed the recommended 20 or more sessions with BookNook exhibited a remarkable developmental advantage of 0.26 standard deviations (SDs). This significant improvement underscores the effectiveness of consistent tutoring. While students completing at least ten sessions also saw benefits, with an advantage of 0.08 SDs, the sustained, higher engagement yields the most substantial gains in reading growth.
2. Implementation Fidelity: 20.4% of the students met the lower-bound BookNook engagement threshold, calculated as two completed sessions per week. Despite this, significant reading gains were observed, suggesting the potential for an even more substantial impact with higher implementation fidelity.
3. Demographic Factors: The study found no significant associations between BookNook usage rates and student race/ethnicity, sex, or IEP and ELL status, indicating that the platform's benefits were broadly applicable across diverse student groups.
4. Rapid Efficiency: The presence of significant effects within a relatively short implementation period (10 weeks) was particularly encouraging, suggesting that the BookNook platform might be especially effective in rapidly improving reading skills.