To earn its place among nationally-validated school reform models, Instructional Design was field-tested between 1997 and 2000 in six Ohio school districts and then evaluated by Dr. Daniel U. Levine (from the National Center for Effective Schools). The data were from the Grade 4 and Grade 6 Ohio Proficiency Test results in Math, Reading, Writing, and Science.

Dr. Levine compared the six districts' entry-level scores with their exit scores three years later. Of the total 21 sub-tests examined, the percent of students passing improved in 17 ( or an 81% growth in the areas of focus ). At grade 4, the mean gain was 8 %; in Reading, it was 10%, in Writing 12%, and in Science 21%. At grade 6, the mean gain was 13% in Math, 5% in Reading, 13% in Writing, and 16% in Science.

Between 2001 and 2004, a small urban district elsewhere in Ohio experienced similar gains, having worked with Instructional Design. The district moved from "Academic Emergency" in 2000 (the lowest ranking) to "Continuous Improvement" (the middle ranking) in 2003-04. Between 200 and 2004, the percent of students passing increased as follows: In grade 1, scores increased by 38% in Math and 21% in Reading; in grade 3, scores improved by 8% in Math and nearly 10% in Reading; in grade 4, scores improved by 25.2% in Math, 14.5% in Reading, and 9% in Writing; in grade 6, the scores improved by 18.2% in Math, 27.1% in Reading, and 13.4% in Writing; and at grades 9 and 10, the scores increased by 48% in Math and 24% in Reading.

Between 2003 and 2005, Instructional Design was used as a Comprehensive School Reform process through two federal grants - one to a middle school in Minneapolis, Minnesota and one to Hamilton Township, New Jersey, a K-8 suburb of Atlantic City. The results are summarized as follows:

In the middle school in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the the projections for this middle school for the 2004-05 school year were that 29% of the students would pass the Math portion of Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment test ( MCA ), and 43% would pass the Reading portion. But after only 18 months using the Instructional Design process, the actual results exceeded these projections: 38% passed Math, and 55% passed Reading.

In the New Jersey district, the percent of students passing the Math portion of the GEPA ( Grade Eight Proficiency Assessment ) test increased from 49.4% in 2003 ( before the CSR project ) to 64.9 % in 2005, at the end of Year II. The Language Arts scores increased from 63.5% to 75.4%. In grade 3, the New Jersey ASK scores improved from 67.1% mastery to 74.7% in Math and 77.4% to 81.6% mastery in Language Arts.

Summary of Results for 13 Ohio Districts Using Instructional Design

A summary of the overall student performance in 13 Ohio school districts using Instructional Design for multiple years between 2001 and 2007 indicates the continuing viability of the process. The following table compares the percent of students passing the state tests before the district began Instructional Design and after using it across multiple years.

Average Growth in the Percent of Students Passing the High-Stakes Tests in Ohio