Background: Parents play a crucial role in supporting children's literacy, especially in the first years of school. However, parents can find this challenging if they struggle with reading themselves. We explore whether family learning phonics courses boost parents' reading-related skills and ability to support their children's reading, in a…

There is evidence that pupils with weak literacy skills struggle on transition to secondary school. Many experience a drop in attainment in the summer break between the two. A British government-funded programme of rigorously designed research on boosting literacy at transition had (by 2015) found only four of 15 interventions evaluated had…

Academic reading is different from other forms of reading because it is complex and discipline-specific. It involves a measured, challenging, and multifaceted process in which students are dynamically engaged with a range of reading strategies. Academic reading improvement is possible, provided students work on it and there are no short cuts or…

Against a background of increasing student eligibility for "access arrangements" in examinations for the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE), this article examines the processes within schools that structure a student's access to the provision of reading support, including staff and student viewpoints. Dominic Griffiths,…

Presents results of a cross-sectional study of a sample of Year 2 children in reading. Finds an improvement in the attainment level of children in 1992 compared to 1991. Concludes that there is a need to view apparently rising standards in England, as measured solely by the Standard Assessment Task results, with a degree of caution. (PA)

States that 46 children aged 12-16 were shown a page of meaningless text covered with plastic overlays, including 7 that were various colors and 1 that was clear. Explains that each child selected the overlay that made reading easiest. Notes that children who read with a colored overlay complained of visual discomfort when they read without the…

The Plaut, McClelland, Seidenberg and Patterson (1996) connectionist model of reading was evaluated at two points early in its training against reading data collected from British children on two occasions during their first year of literacy instruction. First, the network's non-word reading was poor relative to word reading when compared with the…

Presents a study evaluating the effect of reading intervention with children at risk of reading failure. Explains the program spanned 10 weeks and emphasized word building and phonics skills. States there is a need for continual support as opposed to a short intervention. Includes references. (CMK)

This study reports the results of a long-term follow-up of an exercise-based approach to dyslexia-related disorders (Reynolds, Nicolson, & Hambly, "Dyslexia," 2003; 9(1): 48-71). In the initial study, children at risk of dyslexia were identified in 3 years of a junior school. One half then undertook a 6 month, home-based exercise…

Examines current Adult Basic Education teaching and assessment methods in the United Kingdom and the United States to help define what constitutes success in adult basic literacy tuition. (SR)

A total of 125 7-year-old students who were poor readers were assigned to 1 of 4 experimental teaching conditions: reading with phonology, reading alone, phonology alone, or a control. Although the phonology alone group showed the most improvement on phonological tasks, the reading with phonology group made the most progress in reading…

This article considers the research evidence from United Kingdom evaluations of integrated learning systems, systems that include extensive computer-based courseware plus management software. It discusses the value of these systems for pupils with learning difficulties and focuses on their effects on the reading attainments of pupils who are lower…

An intervention is described which had the twofold aims of increasing the literacy teaching skills of teachers and raising the achievement in Key Stage 1 national tests of selected groups of Year 2 children. The theoretical framework for the intervention is discussed. The training course for and delivery and success of the intervention are…