The Science of Reading + AI = Student Reading Growth

Research from across the nation, conducted over many years, spanning grades Kindergarten through fifth grade, shows that Amira helps American students grow.

North Dakota Efficacy Data

The State of North Dakota enables all Districts to utilize Amira Tutoring. This state-reviewed research measures Amira's impact on student reading mastery. Growth was evaluated via the NDSA (the state's summative test).

Analysis shows that high using students grew twice as fast as non-users of Amira during the 2023-2024 school year.

A statistical analysis of student performance in North Dakota demonstrates that students who frequently used Amira grew roughly twice as fast as peers who did not use the program. Higher engagement with Amira's AI-powered literacy tutoring platform was strongly correlated with improved performance on the North Dakota State Assessment (NDSA) in English Language Arts (ELA). These are substantial gains rarely attributable to the use of a particular edtech solution.

Specifically:

  • Third-grade students in the highest usage group grew 13 points higher on the NDSA ELA than those in the lowest usage group

  • Fourth-grade students in the highest usage group grew 11 points more their lower-usage peers.

  • Fifth-grade students who used Amira more frequently grew 4 points more than non-using peers.
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Louisiana

The Louisiana Department of Education has made Amira available to all Louisiana Districts. Instructure was retained by the LADOE to evaluate Amira's impact on student performance on the state's summative assessment.

The research found that, when used frequently, Amira produced a positive acceleration on State Scores for students in every single grade. For example, as shown below, high-use Amira First Graders gained a full 13 Percentile Ranks on non-users.

Who Conducted and Published the Research?

This study was commissioned by the Louisiana Department of Education. The research was conducteed by Instructure, a third party research firm.
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Utah

The Utah State Board of Education approves and funds several intervention programs for use by Utah Districts. Employing usage data at the student level, the state then commissions independent research to analyze the impact and effect size of these programs.

In 2022, for students using at the recommended dosage, the state's data showed that Amira's effect size was over .4, in Hattie's Zone of Desired Effects. The study shows gains on the Utah State Summative Assessment for frequent users of Amira far in excess of the average for Utah students employing other interventions.
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What did this study show?

The research shows that the Amira delivers effect size in Hattie’s Zone of Desired Effects when a student works with the program more than 30 minutes a week. The researchers concluded: “Students served by Amira outperformed the students who were not. Further, the students who were able to use with the software as it was intended by Amira also showed greater end-of-year literacy scores relative to those participating below the recommended usage levels in the program.”

The research was sponsored by the Utah State Board of Education. The study was conducted by The Evaluation and Training Institute, a non-profit, nonpartisan research organization, is dedicated to improving academic excellence and social-emotional well being from preschool to adulthood.

Texas

To support the Texas Education Association's (TEA's) review of efficacy, Amira worked with Amira-using districts in Texas to create a sample of using and non-using students. YoY growth in STAAR score performance was then used to isolate Amira's impact.
 
Amira generated gains that averaged 36 STAAR points per student. @Dosage students gained roughly 9 Percentile Ranks compared to non-using peers.
 
After reviewing the test data, the TEA validated Amira's impact by granting one of the few 1416 waivers awarded. Amira's acceleration takes hold when students work about 15 to 20 minutes a week. Peak effect is achieved via 2-4 short sessions weekly, consisting of ~30 minutes of Amira-scaffolded practice.

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What did this study show?

Amira's Reading Suite consisting of Assess, Instruct, and Tutor, has had significant impact on student growth in Texas, as measured by STAAR scores.

  • Amira Assess accurately predicts STAAR scores, with a correlation of greater than 0.8 between ISIP 2nd grade EOY scores and 3rd grade EOY STAAR scores.
  • Amira Instruct improves STAAR scores, with an average gain of 16 points for students using the app at the recommended dosage.
  • Amira Tutor substantially enhances STAAR performance, with students working more than 30 minutes a week growing with an effect size of .45.
  • The research conclusively demonstrates that Amira's Reading Suite predicts STAAR's results and drives STAAR outcomes. Districts using Assess will have better information for shaping instruction. Districts using Instruct & Tutor will see better results.
  • The research confirms that Amira generates growth equivalent to good, human-delivered High Dosage Tutoring.
  • The 1416 waiver is keyed to the legislative requirement to demonstrate HDT-level impact. Amira is now in use at more than 70 Texas Districts producing gains that meet or exceed this threshold.


This research was conducted by Amira Learning in partnership with leading Texas School Districts.  The research was done to support the Texas Education Agency’s 1416 Waiver process.

Houston

The Houston Independent School District is one of the nation's largest and has recently delivered unprecedented gains for Houston students. Amira was chosen to support HISD's science of reading initiative and is in use across the District. Amira generated gains that were more than 300% greater than Houston students who did not work with the Reading Tutor.
 
The TEA validated Amira's impact on student reading scores by granting it one of the few 1416 waivers awarded. Amira's full impact as a Tutor takes hold when students work about 15 to 20 minutes a week, reading out loud. But peak effect is achieved via 3 to 4 short sessions weekly, when students spend 30 to 40 minutes most weeks receiving the Al tutoring.

Who Conducted and Published the Research?

This research was published in partnership With the Houston Independent School District. Analysis was conducted by the Amira Psychometric Team.

 
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MLLS

Over time, Amira's efficacy for Multilingual Learners has been studied via District case studies and in formal academic research.This report summarizes that research, providing a meta-analysis.

While Amira generally produces effect sizes in Hattie's Zone of Desired Effects, some of the greatest accelerations observed have been for English Language Learners (ELLs)/Multilingual Language Learners (MLLs).

The positive impact is mirrored in case studies from a cross- spectrum of school districts with high MLL populations across the country.

The Louisiana Department of Education (LADOE) initially funded District acquisition of Amira to aid in improving test scores for MLLS across the state. Recent research conducted by Instructure on behalf of the LADOE showed Amira produced acceleration for MLLs across all grades. 

A meta-analysis of the research shows Amira produces significant gains for Multi-lingual learners across grades.

Formal Random control trials, State-sponsored twinning studies and District case studies all confirm that MLLs who work with Amira ~30 minutes per week will make greater gains.
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