CAPIT Reading: Significant Gains in Reading Achievement Across Grades K–5
Interim findings from an ongoing evaluation by Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Research and Reform in Education (JHU CRRE) in the Archdiocese of San Antonio.
Study Overview
Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Research and Reform in Education (JHU CRRE) is conducting an evaluation of CAPIT Reading as implemented in elementary classrooms across the San Antonio Archdiocese (SAA), where CAPIT is used as both a supplemental and an intervention curriculum in grades kindergarten through fifth.
Drawing from a pool of 20 archdiocesan schools, three CAPIT schools were matched to three comparable non-CAPIT schools using propensity score methods based on average NWEA MAP score, enrollment, and school locale. Researchers compared beginning-of-year to end-of-year growth during the 2025–26 school year across 316 CAPIT students and 302 comparison students, controlling for student pretest, grade, and school.
Key Findings
Reading
+6.27 NWEA MAP Reading RIT points gained above comparison students (ES = +0.28, p < .001)
Fluency
+2.20 Reading Fluency RIT points gained above comparison students (ES = +0.19, p = .029)
K–5 grade levels showing measurable impact
Students receiving instruction through CAPIT significantly surpassed their matched peers in learning gains on both the NWEA MAP Reading Assessment and the NWEA MAP Reading Fluency Assessment during the 2025–26 school year.
On the NWEA MAP Reading Assessment, administered across grades K–5, CAPIT students gained 6.27 additional RIT points compared with students at similar schools not using CAPIT (effect size +0.28). On the Reading Fluency Assessment, administered in grades K–1, CAPIT students gained 2.20 additional RIT points (effect size +0.19).