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All resourcesEfficacy Study & Validity Reports

Intentional practice encourages deep reading and boosts ELA achievement: A study of Newsela’s Checks for Understanding (CFUs)

December 19, 2025

Efficacy study preview

Review how CFU practice is associated with stronger ELA outcomes

This study of nearly 40,000 students in grades 3–8 examines how Newsela’s Checks for Understanding are associated with ELA achievement on MAP Growth.

Key Findings

What the study found

Review the headline findings from the study while keeping the full research details in the downloadable report.

+2.5 points

Regular CFU use

Regular CFU usage is associated with an approximately 2.5 percentile point boost to ELA achievement when accounting for overall Newsela use.

+3.5 points

Deep learner advantage

Students with thoughtful, consistent CFU engagement showed an approximately 3.5 percentile point advantage over students with shallow or sporadic use.

1st try success

Stronger outcomes

Students who tended to answer CFU questions correctly on the first try saw stronger ELA outcomes than students who needed multiple attempts.

CFU scaffold

Comprehension monitoring

CFUs create built-in checkpoints that ask students to pause, monitor comprehension, and evaluate their understanding as they read.

Authored By

Kayleigh Ryherd, Ph.D.
Kayleigh Ryherd, Ph.D.
Lead Research Analyst
Sophie Su
Sophie Su
Impact Research Intern
All ResourcesEfficacy Study & Validity Reports

Intentional practice encourages deep reading and boosts ELA achievement: A study of Newsela’s Checks for Understanding (CFUs)

Newsela validity study MAP CFUs

Efficacy study preview

Review how CFU practice is associated with stronger ELA outcomes

This study of nearly 40,000 students in grades 3–8 examines how Newsela’s Checks for Understanding are associated with ELA achievement on MAP Growth.

Key Findings

What the study found

Review the headline findings from the study while keeping the full research details in the downloadable report.

+2.5 points

Regular CFU use

Regular CFU usage is associated with an approximately 2.5 percentile point boost to ELA achievement when accounting for overall Newsela use.

+3.5 points

Deep learner advantage

Students with thoughtful, consistent CFU engagement showed an approximately 3.5 percentile point advantage over students with shallow or sporadic use.

1st try success

Stronger outcomes

Students who tended to answer CFU questions correctly on the first try saw stronger ELA outcomes than students who needed multiple attempts.

CFU scaffold

Comprehension monitoring

CFUs create built-in checkpoints that ask students to pause, monitor comprehension, and evaluate their understanding as they read.

Authored By

Kayleigh Ryherd, Ph.D.
Kayleigh Ryherd, Ph.D.
Lead Research Analyst
Sophie Su
Sophie Su
Impact Research Intern

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