Core5 and PowerUp:
Guided Pathways to Pre-K–12 Literacy Success
Lexia® Core5® Reading and Lexia® PowerUp Literacy® Adaptive Blended Learning programs are research-proven to help educators close students’ literacy opportunity gaps. Multiple studies, including third-party and peer-reviewed studies, have demonstrated the efficacy of both programs.
Core5 helps educators accelerate the development of fundamental literacy skills for students of all abilities in grades pre-K–5.
Pre-K–K1 students using Core5 achieved greater phonological awareness gains than students who didn’t use the program.
Core5 students made significantly greater gains on sound blending and nonword reading tests.
Grade 1 students1 identified as below average in reading ability accelerated reading gains with Core5. Core5 users’ WRMT-III scores were 3.63 points higher on average than the control group (equivalent to one month of additional progress).
Core5 helped students in grades 1 and 21 at a low-socioeconomic school enhance reading skills. Results showed significantly greater Total Test score gains on the Pearson GRADE, with a 0.53 effect size.
Grade 2 students1 used Core5 to advance on DIBELS Next®, with significantly greater gains (0.23 effect size) than their peers. In addition,
of Core5 students advanced in Instructional Categories, while students who did not use Core5 did not advance at all.
Core5 helped improve third grade students’1 aimsweb scores with effective differentiated instruction across reader profiles.
- Poor decoders improved from the 18th to 31st percentile in oral word reading fluency
- Poor comprehenders advanced from the 13th to 36th percentile in reading comprehension
Core5 helped third grade students1 outpace peers on the HMH Reading Inventory in just eight weeks and Core5 students’ reading gains were 4x greater than gains made by the rest of the group.
For pre-K–5 students2 who started the 2022–2023 school year two or more grade levels behind:
Core5 helped
end the year working on-grade level or reaching grade-level benchmarks
gained two or more grade levels in one year
The district started using Lexia Core5 with our K-5 students a few years ago. We expanded to our 6-8 campuses the following year. The platform is easy to monitor and provides the supplemental support our students need. We love Lexia!”
– Alisa Gray, Director of Federal Programs & Curriculum, Sheridan School District, Arkansas
PowerUp is an intervention for students who need to gain reading proficiency in grades 6–12.
Students in sixth grade3 who used PowerUp scored significantly higher than other students after just one semester. PowerUp users were 1.48 times more likely to move up a benchmark level on STAR Reading, and scored 21 points higher than their peers on the winter test.
PowerUp helped sixth grade Emergent Bilinguals3 and other students reading below grade level gain 26.7 points on the TOSCRF2, while students who didn't use the program saw no gains.
Sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students3 made significant strides with PowerUp, improving 10 percentile points on the Renaissance STAR Reading test. Higher scores were seen regardless of race.
Time in PowerUp helped eighth grade students3 gain ELA skills. Every 10 minutes spent on task in the program correlated with a 3%–5% improvement in the Reading or Writing portions of the state ELA test.
99% students in grades 6–103 who completed all three strands in PowerUp (Word Study, Grammar, Comprehension) scored above the 40th percentile on the MAP assessment.
During school year 2022–20234:
of students who used PowerUp with fidelity covered 3+ grade levels of skills
The percentage of students working on foundational skills skills DROPPED BELOW 5% in all strands of content by the end of the year
I recommend both Lexia Core5 Reading and Lexia PowerUp Literacy as a K–12 blended learning solution because the programs engage students while tackling the fundamental skills they need. The computer-based programs offer differentiated instruction and substantial practice at the appropriate level for each student, and the just-right pencil-and-paper materials allow teachers to transfer those skills into the offline world. I’m very happy with our students’ progress—there’s no doubt, Lexia® makes an impact on their reading. Professionally, I’ve been using Lexia’s programs for 16 years, and I’ve looked at a lot of different vendors, but Lexia was always the best.”
— Lee-Ann Mertzlufft, Assistive Technology Specialist for Individuals With Disabilities, City School District of Albany, New York
1. Studies: 11, 30, 14, 7, 40, 37, 35, 1, 10, Lexia® Core5® Reading Efficacy Research, 2024. https://www.lexialearning.com/resources/research/lexia-core5-reading-efficacy-research.
2. Lexia Core5 Reading United States National Report, 2023. https://www.lexialearning.com/resources/research/core5-us-annual-report-national.
3. Studies: 2, 3, 1, 10, 16, Lexia® PowerUp Literacy® Efficacy Research, 2023. https://www.lexialearning.com/resources/research/lexia-powerup-literacy-efficacy-research.
4. Lexia PowerUp Literacy United States Annual Report. 2023. https://www.lexialearning.com/resources/research/lexia-powerup-literacy-us-annual-report
