Back to all posts

2025-26 JHU–Once Randomized Controlled Trial Randomization Brief

Once is partnering with Johns Hopkins University on a multi-year randomized controlled trial to rigorously measure program impact on early-literacy outcomes.

Once is partnering with Johns Hopkins University on a multi-year randomized controlled trial (RCT) — one of the most rigorous research designs available — to measure the impact of Once on kindergarten reading outcomes.

Districts joining the study in 2025–26 include Wentzville, Aiken, and Spartanburg School District 7, with more to follow.

This brief explains the randomization design, timeline, and how districts and schools are matched into treatment and control groups to produce causal evidence about Once’s effect on student reading growth.

Stay tuned for interim findings — and get in touch if you’d like to learn more about participating in future RCT cohorts.

More from Research

Research

Quasi-Experimental Study on Impact of Once on Kindergarten Reading Growth 24-25 as Measured by Fastbridge

The first ESSA Tier II quasi-experimental study on Once — LXD Research finds a 0.46 standard deviation effect (p<0.001) for kindergarten students who received 80+ Once tutoring sessions.

Research

End-of-Year Report: Impact of Once on Kindergarten Reading Growth 24-25 as Measured by Fastbridge

An LXD Research study of 551 kindergarteners across 35 Southeast schools shows students who completed 80+ Once sessions were 7× more likely to reach low/no risk by spring.

Research

End-of-Year Report: Impact of Once on Kindergarten Reading Growth 24-25 as Measured by i-Ready

A new LXD Research study of 822 kindergarten students found those receiving 20+ hours of 1:1 Once tutoring grew over 20 percentile points on i-Ready.