Project: RE-AIM Structured Literacy for Language

Purpose: This study examined the real-world implementability of Story Champs Curriculum–First Grade (SCC-1), a multitiered structured literacy program for language, within an ongoing research-practice partnership (RPP). Using the RE-AIM framework, we completed a Type 1 hybrid effectiveness-implementation study to advance SCC-1 toward scale while building local capacity for sustained multitiered language instruction.
Method: Ten elementary schools were randomly assigned to treatment or waitlist control conditions in a cluster randomized trial. Participants included 155 first-grade students (74.2% White, Non-Hispanic; 50% female; 93.6% monolingual English-speaking) who scored below a language screening benchmark. Thirty educators (100% White females) served as deliverers. Mixed-method data were collected via assessments, logs, interviews, observations, and rating scales.
Results: Approximately 26% of first graders needed Tier 2 language intervention. Moderate-to-large follow-up effects on listening (ES = 0.63) and reading comprehension (ES = 0.98) were observed. Treatment schools gained 25.6 percentage points on a systems-level MTSS fidelity measure compared to 4.6 for controls. Tier 1 deliverers completed 75% of SCC-1 lesson components, with near-ceiling rates for narrative lessons. Teacher readiness, student language gains, and program acceptability were primary facilitators; time constraints, expository lesson difficulty, and insufficient resources were key barriers. At five-year follow-up, deliverers maintained their use of SCC-1 at a rate of 106%.
Conclusion: SCC-1 shows promise as a structured literacy program for language when embedded in authentic MTSS contexts and supported through a sustained RPP. Findings point to curriculum revisions targeting expository lesson complexity, deliberate de-implementation planning, and system-level leadership support as conditions for scaling.