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District presentation: 'Finding Focus' pilot linked to measurable reading gains in high‑school study
Summary
Rochester Public Schools researchers presented 'Finding Focus,' an attention‑training program paired with a companion app that, in a ~1,000‑student pilot, produced reading‑score gains the presenters described as equivalent to roughly 15 weeks of additional instruction versus an active control.
Dr. Ruck, RPS director of research and evidence, told the school board on April 21 that a district research project called "Finding Focus" produced reading gains in participating high‑school students that the team quantified as roughly the equivalent of 15 weeks of additional reading instruction compared with the control group. The pilot enrolled just over 1,000 students across three comprehensive high schools in 40 classrooms and involved 13 teachers.
The study tested an 80‑minute, in‑class attention‑training curriculum delivered in 10 short lessons (roughly eight minutes each) plus a companion "focus coach" app. Students in the experimental condition practiced anchoring attention, deciding where to direct focus and sustaining it; teachers used a dashboard that did not display individual student…
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