Bostonian- Every study I've seen that showed an advantage for disadvantaged students using Open Court was funded by the publishers of Open Court.
"This study analyses the research that supports Open Court, describes its translation into instructional policy in California, and compares the average SAT 9 reading scores of English-only children in schools using Open Court against comparable schools using non-scripted programs in one large urban school district. It found no significant difference in the average second grade SAT 9 reading scores in Open Court and comparison schools. Furthermore, it found no Open Court school had positive differences of 10 or more percentile points between second and fifth grade whereas 21% of the comparison schools did. Long-term Open Court schools had negative differences of 10 or more percentile points between second and fifth grade twice as often as schools using non-scripted programs. Finally, long-term Open Court schools serving communities where 97-100% of the children receive free / reduced-price meals were significantly more likely to be in the bottom quartile of the SAT 9 reading assessment than schools using non-scripted programs serving similar children."
http://instructional1.calstatela.ed...o_Instructional_Policy_in_California.htm
