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Reading intervention at age 6: Long-term effects of Reading Recovery in the UK on qualifications and support at age 16

Hurry, J; Fridkin, L; Holliman, AJ; (2021) Reading intervention at age 6: Long-term effects of Reading Recovery in the UK on qualifications and support at age 16. British Educational Research Journal 10.1002/berj.3752. (In press). Green open access

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Abstract

One argument for early intervention for reading difficulties is that it can sustainably improve children’s reading competence trajectory (the ‘inoculation model’), but there are virtually no studies on sustained effects at the end of compulsory schooling. This study reports on a 10-year follow-up of a widely used early literacy intervention, Reading Recovery. UK schools adopting Reading Recovery enrol selected teachers for a year’s training, after which they provide one-to-one tutoring and typically act as literacy advisors. In a quasi-experimental, intention to treat, design, 293 6-year-olds with reading difficulties in 42 London schools were assigned to Reading Recovery (RR), standard provision in Reading Recovery schools (RRS) or standard provision in comparison schools (CS). Children were traced at ages 14 (204) and 16 (271) and data collected from the National Pupil Database. At age 14 and 16, significantly fewer RR than CS pupils were officially identified as having special educational needs, a potential consequence of reading difficulties. Using multi-level modelling and controlling for baseline reading and Free School Meal status (an indicator of poverty), at age 16 the RR group significantly outperformed the CS group on academic qualifications (GCSEs) (d = 0.52). However, the RRS group also performed significantly better than the CS group (d = 0.37), consistent with the fact that standard provision for weaker readers in RR schools differed from that provided in CS. Thus, these results support the long-term effects of early intervention but raise questions about the importance of whole-school effects and systemic intervention.

Type: Article
Title: Reading intervention at age 6: Long-term effects of Reading Recovery in the UK on qualifications and support at age 16
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1002/berj.3752
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1002/berj.3752
Language: English
Additional information: © 2021 The Authors. British Educational Research Journal published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Educational Research Association This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Keywords: reading intervention; longitudinal; social disadvantage; reading difficulty
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education > IOE - Psychology and Human Development
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education > IOE - Social Research Institute
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10131352
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