A case study on developing confident, motivated readers through evidence-based innovation
At Leanlab Education, we believe that the most transformational education innovations emerge when educators, students, and families are at the center of product development. This belief guided our recent research partnership with Barbershop Books, Inc. to pilot their Reading So Lit® platform for PK-3, a first-of-its-kind learning personalization solution designed to support reading identity development, a critical gap in early literacy education.
While traditional reading curricula focus heavily on skills, they often overlook social and emotional drivers of early literacy development and lifelong reading: motivation, confidence, identity, and agency. Reading So Lit tackles this gap head-on by creating a Reading Identity Profile® for each student that summarizes their reading preferences, helping teachers personalize reading experiences and make student-driven decisions.
Codesign Research Partnership
Reading So Lit approached Leanlab Education with a commitment to understanding the platform’s impact during classroom implementation through codesign research. The research partnership engaged nine elementary teachers in an exploration of the value Reading So Lit provides to teachers and students, and offered insights into teacher experience implementing the platform.
The study revealed promising evidence that Reading So Lit provides meaningful value in the classroom, including preliminary evidence of the potential for Reading So Lit to improve students' reading identity, motivation, confidence, and agency, as well as vocabulary development. Teachers reported that the platform was highly aligned with their classroom goals and observed notable changes in their students' relationships with reading:
"I think the program makes reading interesting and really personalizes reading for students. It does what I cannot do in the classroom. It makes students think about reading in a way that makes reading seem fun. I really appreciate that!"
The quantitative data supported these observations, with 100% of teachers reporting that their students became either "somewhat" or "very much" more motivated readers after using Reading So Lit. Similarly, all teachers felt their students became more confident readers.
Perhaps most significantly, 100% of teachers observed that students began to identify more as readers after using Reading So Lit. As one educator noted, "It is introducing them to different aspects of reading. That reading does not have to [just] take place at a desk or at school."
The research also revealed an important practical insight: Fall implementation of Reading So Lit offers greater benefit to schools. Starting at the beginning of the school year allows teachers to integrate Reading So Lit into their routines before calendar and standardized testing pressures intensify, while giving students a full academic year to develop their reading identities.
Given this finding, Reading So Lit is currently offering up to five free classroom licenses to interested districts for the new school year—offering an opportunity for schools to pilot the supplemental, strengths-based reading identity development platform codesigned with educators.
Turning Findings into Action
Reading So Lit’s commitment to codesign has led them to quickly act on feedback from study participants, with the company already implementing user experience and technical improvement recommendations from the study. Reading So Lit is working toward achieving Leanlab's Codesign Badge—a recognition given to companies that implement at least 75% of research recommendations within six months, demonstrating genuine commitment to user-centered design.
As Reading So Lit continues to iterate based on research findings, they're building toward something larger: a literacy ecosystem that recognizes reading as both a skill to develop and an identity to nurture. This holistic approach, grounded in evidence and refined through educator feedback, has the potential to transform how we think about early literacy education and exemplifies Leanlab's vision for codesigned transformational education innovation!
Interested in learning more about Reading So Lit? Request a demo and take advantage of a free classroom license ahead of the 2025-2026 school year.
Ready to explore research partnerships that put educators and students at the center? Learn more about Leanlab's Codesign Product Research.