i-Ready Personalized Instruction and STAAR Improvement: A Report on the TX LASO Project
Overview
Published: September 2025
This report evaluates the impact of i-Ready Personalized Instruction on student achievement in mathematics and reading/language arts, as measured by the Texas State Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR), within the context of the Texas Education Agency’s Learning Acceleration Support Opportunities (LASO) program.
Using a large, matched sample of Texas students from the 2023–2025 school years, the study employs rigorous propensity score matching and hierarchical linear modeling to compare STAAR outcomes between students who used i-Ready Personalized Instruction with fidelity and those who did not. This study was designed to meet the criteria for ESSA Tier 2 evidence.
The results indicate that students who engaged with i-Ready Personalized Instruction as recommended consistently outperformed non-users on STAAR metrics across Grades 4–8. Effect sizes are moderate to large, depending on the grade and subject.
STAAR is a federally registered trademark owned by the Texas Education Agency and is used pursuant to license.
- Program:i-Ready Personalized Instruction for Mathematics, i-Ready Personalized Instruction for Reading
- ESSA Level:2—Moderate
- Subject:Literacy, Mathematics
- Demographic:Economically Disadvantaged, English Learners, Students with Disabilities
- Grades:4–8
- Topic:Academic Achievement, Intervention, Multilingual Learners, Special Education
- Study Year:2023–2025
- State:Texas
Meet the Experts behind the Program
Gregory King
Greg King started his career trying to fix access to higher education and somehow ended up working across the entire education system. Driven by a passion for supporting at-risk students (and a mild obsession with research design), he has built tools and studies to help students see themselves as successful learners.
Mariah Serrano
Mariah Serrano has had a passion for education research since her undergraduate in mathematics, which led her to pursue a Master of Data Science and Statistics degree. While studying, she created a personalized lesson process for a school of underserved inner-city students in Houston. Her passion for providing equal opportunities to students from all backgrounds continues to drive every project she touches. Serrano's current work supports the data needs of the Efficacy and Implementation Research team.