Program Description

"Countdown is an essential preventative supplement to any core kindergarten reading program. It’s designed to be taught 15–20 minutes a day, 5 days a week. This powerful, sequential, and efficient exposure to key literacy concepts ensures that your students establish a firm foundation in the subskills that lead to strong decoding and fluent reading." According to EdReport’s Science of Reading Snapshot, this program addresses 3/5 foundational literacy components for grades K-1 and 2/5 for grade 2.

Cost

$999.00 for classroom set (20 students)

Intended Population

• Core

Grade

• Elementary School

Intended Group Size

• Any

ELL/DLL

• Unspecified

Multisensory Applications

• Yes

Computer-Based Delivery

• Partial

Scripted

• Instructor Scripted

Comprehensive or Skill Specific

• Skill Specific

Placement Tests

• Unspecified

Accelerated Learning

• Unspecified

Assessment to Monitor Skills Mastery

• Yes

Error Correction Built In

• Yes

Fidelity Measures Provided by Publisher

• Unspecified

Research Summary

One third-party research study was found, but did not report outcomes for kindergarteners using Countdown. One master's thesis found no statistically significant difference in letter identification or letter sound recognition between kindergarteners using Countdown and a comparison group using a teacher-created intervention after eight weeks of instruction. However, those in the Countdown group did experience a greater effect size in letter sound recognition than their comparison peers. No peer-reviewed research was found. Therefore, there is insufficient evidence to support the efficacy of this program at this time.

Study Citations

Carson, S. (2020). Research-based Early Literacy Interventions or Teacher-Created Early Literacy [Master's Thesis, Northwestern College] Master's Theses & Capstone Projects. 249. https://nwcommons.nwciowa.edu/education_masters/249

SEG Measurement. (2018). Helping struggling readers in a title one elementary school. https://www.reallygreatreading.com/sites/default/files/rgr_cafferata_case_study_6.13.18.pdf

Evidence-Based Practice (EBP)

• Insufficient evidence

Additional Reviews

• https://www.edreports.org/reports/overview/really-great-reading-2021