Reading Growth by Level on Independent Reading Level Assessment (IRLA) 2016-18

Students in Bridges classrooms improved their reading skills during the past two years. Reading level is measured by the Independent Reading Level Assessment (IRLA), a normalized assessment from American Reading Company.

  • In a sample of four schools across two school years, 95.2% of students achieved at least one level of reading growth on the IRLA. Of these students, 35.3% achieved 3-5 levels of growth.
  • Reading data collected from Bridges classrooms between 2016-2017 show that 129 out of 130 students across three schools advanced by at least one reading level while in the Bridges program.
    • Of these students, 66.9% (87 students) made 1-2 levels of growth across the school year, and an additional 32.3% (42 students) made 3-5 levels of growth.
  • Reading data collected from Bridges classrooms between 2017-2018 show that students in Bridges classrooms experienced an average of 2.08 levels of growth, with 6 out of 37 students showing 4 levels of growth.

See figure below for a visual representation of the scores by school and across schools.

IRLA 2019 Reading Levels GainedFor more information, see Creating Responsive Classroom Communities: A Cross-Case Study of Schools Serving Students with Interrupted Schooling