Using CAI to Provide Early Literacy Instruction for All Learners

Identifying effective means of ameliorating achievement gaps and addressing literacy deficits is essential. Computer-assisted instruction (CAI) is one avenue for providing this effective instruction to the students that can most benefit from it. In the current study, kindergarten students in a public school district in Illinois received supplemental computer-adaptive reading instruction. Performance was assessed at the beginning and end of the kindergarten school year, and scores for students who had used the program to fidelity, at least 1,500 minutes, were compared to the scores of students with less than 800 minutes of usage. Students that used the program to fidelity scored significantly higher than comparison students. Demographics in terms of special education status and ethnicity were examined, and no significant effects were found, indicating that all groups assessed were benefiting from the use of the program in comparable terms. [This a chapter in: V. L. Uskov et al. (eds.), "Smart Education and e-Learning--Smart University, Smart Innovation"(pp. 79-88), Systems and Technologies 355, 2023.]