This report presents baseline information about the degree to which children and young people in Middlesbrough enjoy reading and writing, how often then engage in reading and writing, what types of materials they read and write and how they feel about reading and writing. It also outlines baseline information about their confidence in their own…

This paper presents additional information from the 2009 survey of young people's reading and writing; for more information see the full report "Young People's Reading and Writing Today", to be published July 2010. This paper explores the types of resources young people have at home that support literacy and how this differs according to…

At the end of 2009 the National Literacy Trust surveyed 17,000 children and young people online in the United Kingdom's largest ever study of young people's attitudes to literacy and literate behaviour. This survey was of special interest as it repeated questions asked by the National Literacy Trust in a survey of attitudes and reading behaviour…

Earlier this year Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Education, announced that British children were not reading enough and should, he believed, reading 50 books a year. This idea had come from a charter school he had visited in the US and was met with some degree of scepticism by authors and professionals who questioned whether a focus on…

18,141 young people aged 8 to 17 participated in this online survey in November/December 2010. While the survey focuses on young people's attitudes towards reading, writing, communication skills as well as technology use, this report focuses exclusively on the reading aspect of the survey. More specifically, it explores how much young people enjoy…

This report reveals that children and young people are reading less and more are embarrassed to be seen reading, while many also believe that their parents don't care if they spend time reading. However, not only are children and young people reading less and developing more negative attitudes towards reading, but there is also a clear correlation…

A recent ground-breaking study from the University of Nevada (Evans et al., 2010) found that the number of books in the home has as great an impact on children's attainment as parental education levels. The 20 year study by Evans and her colleagues found that having as few as 20 books in the home still has a significant impact on propelling a…

This report presents second year information about the degree to which children and young people in Middlesbrough enjoy reading and writing, how often then engage in reading and writing, what types of materials they read and write and how they feel about reading and writing. It also outlines information about their confidence in their own…

This paper presents additional information from the authors' 2009 survey of young people's reading and writing--for more information see their forthcoming report Clark and Douglas (2010) "Young People's Reading and Writing: An in-depth study focusing on enjoyment, behaviour, attitudes and attainment." To support the School Library…

This paper explores reading for pleasure, its importance, and its impact on literacy attainment and other outcomes and reviews much of the research on the importance of reading for pleasure. A debate has been rife in the UK over the past few years as to how best to teach children to read, which culminated in an "Independent Review of the…

Imagine what a difference it would make if every child loved to read. Every teacher knows the difference that a love of reading makes to a child's performance; reading opens so many doors. However, research has long shown not only that men and boys in the developed world lag behind women and girls when it comes to engaging with reading. Thus…

This report, based on a recent survey of over 8,000 primary and secondary pupils in England, explores why some pupils choose to read and others do not. The research literature shows that reading for pleasure benefits children in numerous ways. Yet, research also shows that young people's reading enjoyment may be declining. Given current political…