All resources Efficacy Study & Validity Reports

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

December 19, 2025

All Resources Efficacy Study & Validity Reports

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

What are the key takeaways of this study?

This study of ~40,000 students in grades 3 through 8 evaluates the impact of Newsela’s Checks for Understanding (CFUs) feature on student ELA achievement.

Regular usage of CFUs is associated with a 2.5 percentile point boost to ELA achievement, even after accounting for overall use of Newsela.

In particular, students with thoughtful, consistent use of CFUs showed a 3.5 percentile point advantage over those engaging with CFUs in a more shallow and sporadic manner.
- Students who tended to get CFU questions right on the first try saw better ELA outcomes than those who needed multiple attempts.

Regular usage of CFUs is associated with a 2.5 percentile boost in ELA achievement.

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