Students taking part in the pilot of a groundbreaking reading intervention programme have made significant gains in their reading abilities.
Year 7 pupils at 6 North East schools taking part in the first year of the Fluency for All programme had their reading skills measured by a range of data sources.
The main measure of progress for all six was a standardised reading test.* Analysis of students’ standard age scores (SAS) demonstrated significant progress. Students who received the intervention consistently outperformed those who did not.
Impact highlights include:
- 41% of students initially read at less than 100 words per minute (WPM). By the end of the intervention, this had dropped to just 7.1%.
- 62.9% of students now read at least 120 WPM, enabling them to access the majority of the curriculum, up from only 24% at the start.
- 10% of students achieved over 161 WPM, fully equipping them to access the whole curriculum.
- Only 2.25% of pupils overall did not improve WPM.
Reading test data also indicates that students’ comprehension of texts they read has improved. “We hypothesise that this is because pupils background knowledge has increased through reading a range of carefully curated non-fiction,” said project lead Louise Quinn, Director of Shotton Hall Research School in Peterlee.
“Overall, quantitative data suggests real evidence of promise for the programme,” said Louise, who last year successfully bid for funding of almost £100,000 from SHINE for the Fluency for All project.
At its core, Fluency for All is an evidence-based peer-tutoring programme that sees children reading out loud for 20 minutes a day, two days a week, under the guidance of tutors – older students who have received bespoke training.
The sessions, which take place during morning registration time, involve three anthologies of non-fiction texts, written specifically for the programme by Louise and her colleagues.
The project targets pupils who are struggling, hesitant readers, some of whom come from a disadvantaged background.