The effect of chess on reading scores: District Nine chess program; Second year report

This 1992 report evaluated the impact of an after-school chess program on students’ reading scores. Twenty-two students chose to participate in the intervention, which included instruction from chess masters and use of IBM software, with a control group of 1,118. Students in the mid-elementary grades must have taken the Degree of Reading Power Test before and after the intervention, and only students who scored in the 10th percentile or higher on the pre-test were eligible for inclusion. The effect size for students who participated in the after-school chess program was 0.422 standard deviation units in reading. The results were statistically significant. This study was eligible for inclusion in the systematic literature review and categorized as a Tier III study. While the study compares students with similar pre-test scores, its effects may be biased due to student self-selection into the chess program.