Hoot Reading Earns “Strong” Evidence Rating from Evidence for ESSA

We are thrilled to announce that Hoot Reading has earned a “Strong” evidence rating on the Evidence for ESSA website, evaluated by the Center for Research and Reform in Education at Johns Hopkins University.

This recognition places Hoot Reading among a select group of reading programs whose research meets ESSA’s highest standards for evidence. We’re proud to have achieved such a meaningful milestone in our mission to accelerate literacy growth for students across the U.S. and Canada.

What Constitutes Strong Evidence?

Under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) framework, educational programs are categorized based on the rigor and quality of their research evidence showing impact on student outcomes. Programs that meet Strong evidence standards are supported by well-designed and well-implemented experimental studies with statistically significant positive results .

Hoot Reading’s Strong evidence rating is supported by results from a recent randomized controlled trial (RCT), the most rigorous methodology used to determine program effectiveness. The study found statistically significant positive impacts on student reading outcomes for students receiving Hoot tutoring compared to a control group. Because randomized controlled trials are designed to isolate the causal effect of an intervention, they meet ESSA’s highest standard for research evidence. Read more about Hoot’s RCT findings here: New Stanford Study Shows Hoot Reading’s 1:1 Tutoring Delivers Measurable Literacy Gains for Struggling Students

Why This Matters for Schools & Districts

Educators are looking for instructional solutions they can trust, ones backed by real research that correlates with meaningful student impact. A Strong evidence rating from Evidence for ESSA helps districts and schools:

• Consider Hoot Reading as a research-validated intervention that can strengthen literacy outcomes.
  
  
• Support grant applications with credible evidence.
  
  
• Communicate with diverse stakeholders about the quality and effectiveness of Hoot’s approach.
  
  

Why This Matters for Parents

When parents search for reading tutoring, it can be difficult to know which programs are truly effective. Many promise results, but few have independent research showing that students actually improve. A Strong evidence rating from Evidence for ESSA helps families feel more confident that the tutoring they choose is grounded in real results. For parents, this means:

• Knowing the program their child is using has been evaluated through rigorous research.
  
  
• Feeling confident that tutoring is focused on skills that truly help children learn to read.
  
  
• Choosing a program that has demonstrated measurable improvements in student literacy outcomes.

An Important Milestone in Our Research Journey

We’ve always believed that research should guide practice. In fact, Hoot Reading grew out of a 2010 research project with researchers affiliated with the Joan Ganz Cooney Center, Sesame Workshop, the MIT Media Lab, and Nokia Research. After 15 years, we are truly proud to have participated in a large-scale randomized controlled trial with the National Student Support Accelerator at Stanford University.

Thank you to everyone in the Hoot Reading community, including our district partners, educators, and families who have supported this journey. This milestone isn’t just about a rating: it’s about ensuring every student has access to structured, effective reading instruction grounded in evidence.