| Sumario: | Background: Learning Progress Assessments (LPA) have been developed to help teachers individualize their curriculum. The use of LPA is facilitated by an increasing number of computerized LPA tools. However, little is known about student factors that influence the effectiveness of computerized LPA. Objectives: In this study, we explored whether a computerized LPA that focused on reading comprehension was differentially effective depending on students' initial reading comprehension abilities. Moreover, effects of the LPA implementation on underlying or related form‐based literacy skills (i.e., decoding, spelling) were explored. Methods: The development of reading and spelling skills of 668 third graders was assessed in 41 LPA and 36 control classes in a pretest–posttest design. We used multi‐level modelling to analyse effects of the LPA on reading comprehension, decoding, and spelling skills, and tested whether these effects were qualified by students' initial achievement level. Results: The LPA treatment proved beneficial for improving reading comprehension but not for improving decoding or spelling. Children with low levels of reading comprehension at the beginning of the school year benefitted particularly from LPA. Takeaways: Teachers seem to make use of the data offered by the computerized LPA to identify children with reading comprehension difficulties. For these children, an accelerated increase in reading comprehension ability was observed. Results also suggest that this effect is specific to the literacy skill measured by the LPA and does not generalize to underlying or related literacy skills (i.e., decoding, spelling). Lay Description: What do we know?: Computerized Learning Progress Assessments (LPA) help educators to individualize their teaching.An increasing number of computerized LPA tools facilitate the use in daily routines.LPAs are orientated on skills that are relevant for the current curriculum.Many studies have shown the effectiveness of the use of LPA in reading education. What does our study add?: We know little about student factors that influence the effectiveness of LPA.We studied the effects of LPA in a study with 668 third graders.Our results show that this specific LPA treatment proved beneficial for improving curricular skills like reading comprehension but not for improving underlying or related skills like decoding or spelling.Children with low levels of reading comprehension at the beginning of the school year benefitted particularly from computerized LPA. What implications does our study have for practitioners?: Our results suggest that teachers used the data offered by the Computerized LPA to identify children with reading comprehension difficulties – a curricular skill.The use of computerized LPA seems to help teachers support children who have deficits in specific curricular skills that correspond with the type of LPA assessment.However, children with other reading‐related difficulties are not necessarily detected.Maybe a combination of computerized tools could solve this issue in the future.
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