ITSS tutoring software raises reading comprehension in two trials

The What Works Clearinghouse rates ITSS as having positive effects on comprehension. Across two randomized studies with 6,724 students in grades 4, 5 and 7, the improvement index was +9.

  • 2 a person

    Across the two studies, the improvement index for comprehension was +9 percentile points for 6,724 students.

Depth runs from 1, a convenience or time saved, to 5, a life or a livelihood preserved.

Status
Reported benefit.
Evidence

foundstudiedreportedclaimed

An independent assessment report supports the benefit.

Compared with

Classrooms using the usual language arts curriculum. Measured.

The system’s part
Both trials randomly assigned classrooms to ITSS or to the usual language arts curriculum, with equal instruction time. The comparison groups had no structure strategy instruction, so the trials do not separate the tutor's feedback from the strategy it teaches. The report does not describe a model trained on data.
Limits
Not yet checked.
Costs and harms
Not yet checked.
Later
Not yet checked.

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Benefit type
Improved Learning
System
Web-Based Intelligent Tutoring for the Structure Strategy (ITSS)
Made by
ITSS developers led by Kausalai Wijekumar (contact at Texas A&M University)
Used by
Rural and suburban schools in two US states (grades 4, 5 and 7) in the two rated studies
Where
United States (two states that the report does not name)
Stage
In a pilot
Date
Kind
Aggregate result
Broad benefit
Training and Teaching Others, Judging the Qualities of Objects, Services, or People
Collections
Scrutiny and findings
Last revised
31 October 2026

Sources

  1. Assessment report, by authors with no tie to the system.

    What Works Clearinghouse, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. Web-Based Intelligent Tutoring for the Structure Strategy (ITSS). Intervention Report, Adolescent Literacy Topic Area, NCEE 2020-009. April 2020, revised April 2021.

    The WWC determined that one study that meets WWC group design standards without reservations and one study that meets WWC group design standards with reservations showed evidence of a positive and statistically significant effect of ITSS on comprehension (Wijekumar et al., 2012, 2017).

Details

AI system

Workflow

Students used ITSS on computers with earphones for 30 to 45 minutes a week over 6 to 7 months. ITSS partly replaced the regular language arts curriculum, with total instruction time unchanged. The research team trained the teachers of intervention classrooms.

Follow-up

Conditions for replication

Teachers and administrators attend the professional development that the developers require. Students have computer access in class.

Entry details

Sector

Education.

Purpose

The ITSS developers, led by Kausalai Wijekumar, built ITSS to teach students in grades K-8 to follow the structure of factual texts to improve understanding and recall.

Not yet checked: model, release, provider, role, configuration, inputs and outputs, autonomy, human oversight, beneficiaries, reach, distribution and access, duration, every measurement question, every money question, ownership and control, dependencies, cross-border connections, geopolitical implications, replication attempts, availability, institutional decision, grounds, action and result, success criterion, every evidence question, observed or intended, alternative assessments, related entries, other identifiers, category mappings.

Cite this record

Peter H. Vartanian. (2026). ITSS tutoring software raises reading comprehension in two trials (AIBD-0724). Artificial Intelligence Benefits Database, edition of 31 October 2026. https://petervartanian.xyz/aibd/records/AIBD-0724.html (archived at https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/AADSII, version 4.0)

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