Research

White Paper:

My Reading Academy: An Adaptive, Game-Based Solution to Forming the Building Blocks for Reading Success

This white paper describes how My Reading Academy is research-driven, adaptive, engaging, and empowering. Grounded in the science of reading, My Reading Academy guides children ages 4–8 through explicit, systematic phonemic awareness and phonics instruction, paired with rich reading and language experiences. Using current research and an understanding of playful engagement and educational games, the team at Age of Learning, Inc. developed My Reading Academy to provide more than 20 compelling games that address over 500 Learning Objectives. My Reading Academy uses a mastery learning approach to deliver differentiated instruction, appropriate scaffolding, and feedback to ensure that every learner masters each skill as they advance through the system.
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Research Brief:

My Reading Academy Helps Prekindergarten and Kindergarten Students Strengthen Early Reading Skills and Become More Interested in Learning to Read: A Case Study of Implementation During the Pandemic

This semester-long study involving over 150 prekindergarten and kindergarten students in two Texas districts during a school year disrupted by the pandemic provides preliminary evidence that My Reading Academy helps students strengthen early reading skills. Using My Reading Academy was associated with higher performance on the state-administered end-of-year literacy assessment. Teacher feedback indicated that My Reading Academy also helped their students become more confident, interested, and focused on learning to read. My Reading Academy was easy for students and teachers to use, and teachers found it to be a resource that enabled them to provide individualized instruction.
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Research Brief:

ABCmouse English, a Self-Guided Digital English Learning Program, Significantly Increases Young Japanese Children’s English Skills: Replication and Extension of a Randomized Controlled Trial

This randomized control trial replicates and extends the findings of a previous study evaluating the effectiveness of ABCmouse English, a self-guided, digital learning program designed to help young learners develop their English skills. The study included 148 Japanese children (ages 7-8), half of whom were randomly assigned to use ABCmouse English and averaged 100 minutes per week in the program over 4 months (26 hours total). Treatment group children made nearly three times greater gains on a leading, independent assessment of English language skills than their control group peers, most of whom were learning English through classes or other means. Additionally, treatment group parents reported that ABCmouse English helped their children become more interested and confident in using English, while encouraging them to develop a positive view of themselves as learners.
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Research Brief:

Pre-Kindergarten Students Using My Math Academy Significantly Improved Their School Readiness in Math During a School Year Disrupted by the Pandemic

This study involving nearly 1,000 Pre-K students in a Title I school district during a school year disrupted by the pandemic adds to the existing body of evidence demonstrating My Math Academy’s effectiveness in helping young children achieve in math while increasing their interest, confidence, and enjoyment in learning math. Students who used My Math Academy were significantly more likely to end the school year On Track in math on the state-administered standardized assessment in comparison to their peers who did not use the program. Virtually all students who used the program regularly (~45 minutes per week), mastering at least 15 skills in My Math Academy were On Track at the end of the school year. Read the research brief...

Research Brief:

My Math Academy Empowers Pre-K and Kindergarten Teachers to Provide Personalized, Equitable Instruction to Accelerate Learning

This study conducted during a school year disrupted by the pandemic sheds light on the effectiveness of educator resources in My Math Academy. It focuses on how nearly 80 early childhood educators working with over 1,200 Pre-K and Kindergarten children in Harlingen, Texas used My Math Academy to tailor their instruction to provide personalized, equitable instruction that gives every child an equal chance to succeed. Children who used My Math Academy for 30 minutes each week for 4.5 months, on average, saw a two-to three-fold increase in their math knowledge, demonstrated gains beyond their grade level, and experienced greater interest, enjoyment, and confidence in learning math.
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Research Brief:

Promising Evidence of ABCmouse Closing the Achievement Gap and Minimizing Summer Learning Loss

This study involving more than 14,000 children between ages 2 and 8 shows that ABCmouse is effective in minimizing summer learning loss and closing the achievement gap. Age of Learning researchers partnered with WestEd to conduct an exploratory study focused on how parents used ABCmouse to support learning at home during summer 2020. Results suggest that using ABCmouse benefits children at all skill levels. Using the program for 45 minutes a week and completing 15 learning activities across three separate days per week can increase learning and minimize summer learning loss. It is especially beneficial to those who start the summer with lower skills, who can catch up to their higher-skilled peers by the summer’s end, closing the gap by up to 87 percent. Read the research brief...

Research Brief:

My Math Academy Significantly Accelerates Early Elementary Children's Math Skills and Fosters Greater Engagement in Math: A Replication of a Randomized Control Trial

This study replicates and builds upon a randomized control trial of an earlier version of Age of Learning’s My Math Academy. The study was conducted with nearly 1,000 kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd grade students across two school districts in Southern California in collaboration with WestEd, a learning nonprofit research agency. By using My Math Academy as a supplementary curriculum for about 15 hours over the course of 12-13 weeks, the treatment group significantly outperformed the control group on posttest. The study also revealed that in comparison to other educational technology, My Math Academy had a significantly positive impact on student engagement, motivation, and confidence in learning math.
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Research Brief:

ABCmouse Prevents Summer Slide for Rising First Graders in Miami-Dade County Public Schools

This study examined the impact of ABCmouse Early Learning Academy on summer learning loss (known as “summer slide”) in a diverse sample of 999 rising first graders. Results showed that ABCmouse helped prevent summer slide in reading for students who regularly used ABCmouse over the summer, completing at least 17 activities and 70 minutes per week. Students who met this usage threshold demonstrated reading gains equivalent to the benefits of one month of academic instruction. Additionally, the benefits of regular ABCmouse usage over the summer were found to be sustained into the winter of the following school year.
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p < .001, effect size (Cohen's d) = 2.17
Lighter shades = pretest scores; darker shades = posttest scores

Research Brief:

ABCmouse English Is Highly Effective in Helping Young Chinese Children Learn English: A Randomized Control Trial

This randomized control trial evaluated the effectiveness of Age of Learning’s ABCmouse English, a self-guided digital learning program designed to help young learners develop English language skills. Age of Learning researchers partnered with OneLeap, a design and research consultancy in China, to conduct this study with 122 Chinese children (ages 5-6) and their parents in Hangzhou, China. In comparison to children in the control group, those who used ABCmouse English for about 30 hours over the course of 6 months improved their English language skills nearly threefold. Additionally, treatment group parents reported their children’s increased confidence, interest, and motivation to learn English. Read the research brief in English or Simplified Chinese and the peer-reviewed journal article...

Research Brief:

ABCmouse Significantly Increases Children's English Language and Digital Literacy Skills

This study examines ABCmouse’s effectiveness in helping children in a Spanish-speaking country learn English and develop digital literacy skills. Age of Learning researchers worked with the Costa Rican Ministry of Education and a local education nonprofit, Creciendo Juntos, to conduct this study with 266 students (grade 1-3) and 13 English teachers across 15 public elementary schools in Guanacaste, Costa Rica. In comparison to students who received business-as-usual instruction, those who used ABCmouse for about 11 hours over 6 months made significantly greater gains in their English knowledge and experienced increases in their interest and enjoyment in learning English. Additionally, students and teachers alike developed greater comfort in using technology as a tool for learning and teaching.
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Average English Language Improvement

Grade 1 effect size (Cohen’s d) = 0.36, p < .05; Grade 2 effect size (Cohen’s d) = 0.27 p =.12. Lighter shades = pretest scores; darker shades = posttest scores.

Research Brief:

My Math Academy Significantly Accelerates Early Mathematics Learning

This randomized controlled study evaluated the impact of Age of Learning’s My Math Academy, an adaptive digital learning program designed to accelerate children’s achievement of mastery of early math skills. The study was conducted with more than 400 pre-k and kindergarten students in several high-need schools in Southern California in collaboration with WestEd, a leading nonprofit research agency. Results reveal that with an average of 5 hours of My Math Academy usage per student over a 12-14-week period, the treatment group had 36% greater gains on key math skills than the control group. The study also found that the more students used My Math Academy, the greater their learning gains, with the greatest impacts found on the most difficult math skills.
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Research Brief:

ABCmouse Use at Home Accelerates Kindergarteners’ Academic Growth—A Randomized Controlled Trial

This randomized, double-blind experimental study examined the impact of home use of ABCmouse.com Early Learning Academy on literacy and math skills in kindergarten-aged children. After using ABCmouse for an average of 45 minutes per week, children achieved significantly greater gains on key early literacy skills than children who did not use ABCmouse. The learning gains were even greater for children who entered the study underperforming. These findings are especially notable because the intervention occurred at home rather than in a classroom and was of a relatively short duration (13 weeks).
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Research Brief:

ABCmouse Significantly Improves Student Outcomes in Pre-K and Kindergarten

Research has established the importance of early reading and math skills in predicting both academic success and grade retention. Age of Learning examined the impact of ABCmouse.com Early Learning Academy on the acquisition of literacy and math skills in a longitudinal study of pre-kindergarten and kindergarten students. Results suggest that regular usage of ABCmouse across two grade levels helped students who had been identified as at-risk for school failure to better prepare for kindergarten and achieve greater growth in literacy and math during kindergarten.
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Research Brief:

Using Early Learning Technology to Prepare Head Start Families for Kindergarten

Age of Learning partnered with the Albina Head Start program in Portland, Oregon to offer enrolled and waitlisted children free access to ABCmouse Early Learning Academy. This case study shows that the more ABCmouse was used in a classroom, the better prepared those students were for kindergarten. Teachers also found that ABCmouse helped engage families and foster a meaningful classroom-to-home connection.
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White Paper:

What It Means to Be Kindergarten Ready in All 50 States

Age of Learning carried out an unprecedented, comprehensive analysis of Kindergarten Readiness standards across all 50 states. The report reveals substantial common ground among state Kindergarten Readiness standards, with 15 specific skills that 85 percent or more of states would like to see children acquire before entering kindergarten.
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Case Study:

Harnessing Education Technology to Meet Diverse Learning Needs in the Classroom

This case study focuses on the experience of Laura Bryant, a kindergarten teacher in the low-income community of Las Cruces, New Mexico. By integrating ABCmouse.com into her daily lessons, she was able to engage the diverse learners in her classroom, including a significant percentage of English Language Learners (ELL) and at-risk students. ABCmouse also allowed her to effectively differentiate instruction based on both student level and instruction mode, resulting in strong academic gains for her students
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Case Study:

Differentiating Instruction and Engaging Families with Technology

This case study focuses on the experience of Julie Choudhary, a 25-year-veteran kindergarten teacher in Escondido, California, and her use of ABCmouse.com to differentiate instruction and engage families. Julie found that ABCmouse helped her students make significant academic gains, with growth on key early literacy skills more than twice the national average.
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Case Study:

An Effective Digital Learning Resource Can Significantly Improve Motivation, Engagement, and Self-Confidence

This case study focuses on two families with children at different stages of development. After finding numerous education websites and apps ineffective, both families turned to ABCmouse.com because of its comprehensive academic curriculum and found the outcomes they had been seeking. Both families discovered that the benefits of using ABCmouse transcended academics and contributed to major gains they hadn’t anticipated, but eagerly welcomed, in their children’s approaches to learning, including motivation, focus, engagement, and self-confidence as learners. The families’ experiences echo the results of a comprehensive 2014 survey of nearly 5,000 parents with children using ABCmouse.com, also cited in this case study.
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