Publications & Resources

The Implementation and Effects of the Literacy Design Collaborative (LDC): Early Findings in Sixth-Grade Advanced Reading Courses

Jul 2015

Joan L. Herman, Scott Epstein, Seth Leon, Yunyun Dai, Deborah La Torre Matrundola, Sarah Reber and Kilchan Choi

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation invested in the Literacy Design Collaborative (LDC) as one strategy to support teachers’ and students’ transition to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in English language arts. This report provides an early look at the implementation of LDC in sixth-grade Advanced Reading classes in a large Florida district, and the effectiveness of the intervention in this setting. The study found that teachers understood LDC and implemented it with fidelity and that curriculum modules were well-crafted. Teachers generally reported positive attitudes about the effectiveness of LDC and its usefulness as a tool for teaching CCSS skills.

Although implementation results were highly positive, quasi-experimental analyses employing matched control group and regression discontinuity designs found no evidence of an impact of LDC on student performance on state reading or district writing assessments. Furthermore, students generally performed at basic levels on assessments designed to align with the intervention, suggesting the challenge of meeting CCSS expectations. Exploratory analyses suggest that LDC may have been most effective for higher achieving students. However understandable, the findings thus suggest that, in the absence of additional scaffolding and supports for low-achieving students, LDC may be gap enhancing.

Herman, J. L., Epstein, S., Leon, S., Dai, Y., La Torre Matrundola, D., Reber, S., & Choi, K. (2015). The implementation and effects of the Literacy Design Collaborative (LDC): Early findings in sixthgrade Advanced Reading courses (CRESST Report 846). Los Angeles: University of California, Los Angeles, National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing (CRESST).