We report an evaluation of a book gifting scheme (the Dolly Parton Imagination Library; DPIL) that targeted families from disadvantaged areas. We considered the impact that length of participation had on children's interest in literacy-related activities, the frequency of parent-child reading interactions, duration of reading, and whether the…

Motivation and engagement play a crucial role in literacy development and achievement. However, the construct of reading engagement has become blurred and ambiguous, both in research and in discussions of practice. In order to guide future research and to extend our existing understanding of reading engagement into classroom practice, this study…

Acknowledging the importance of yearly trend data, the Annual Literacy Survey was established in 2010, which tracks UK children and young people's reading and writing enjoyment, attitudes and behaviours year-on-year. This report outlines findings from the eighth Annual Literacy Survey relating to children and young people's reading. 49,049…

This report outlines findings from our ninth Annual Literacy Survey relating to children and young people's reading. 56,906 children and young people aged nine to 18 in the UK participated in our survey between January to March 2019. For the first time we also had information from 3,748 children aged 5 to 8 who completed a similar survey designed…

Although it has been argued that school libraries are important for supporting the reading engagement of pupils who receive free school meals, to date there has been little analysis of the extent to which use of school library spaces is related to these pupils' reading behaviors. We analyzed data from 6,264 children and young adults in the United…

This research was funded by law firm Slaughter and May and carried out with 21,000 children and young people across the UK. One of its key findings is that children and young people are reading less as their lives get more crowded. In 2005 the researchers found that four young people in 10 read daily outside of class. This research carried out at…

Accelerated Reader (AR) is a tool for monitoring and managing independent reading practice. Although a wealth of data is routinely collected about children's reading skills as part of the AR tool, no information is collected on the "softer" reading outcomes, such as reading enjoyment and attitudes towards reading. The National Literacy…

This essay offers a commentary on how the relationship between language and literacy practices in and out of school has been conceptualized. It draws upon two new books in the field. Shirley Brice Heath's new book, "Words at Work and Play: Three Decades in Family and Community Life," which makes use of rich ethnographic accounts of…

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…

Using a UK representative sample from the Millennium Cohort Study, the present study examined the unique and cumulative contribution of children's characteristics and attitudes to school, home learning environment and family's socio-economic background to children's language and literacy at the end of Key Stage 1 (age seven-years-old).…

The relationship between home and school is often raised in public discussion about boys' education as an aspect of boys' overall lower achievement in school, and particularly in literacy, relative to girls. A critical review of two influential Australian and one UK government commissioned reports into boys' education sets the scene for our…

Background: Before the 1990s, an individual or medical model dominated educational research methodology with respect to younger children: the subjects of the research were usually considered untrustworthy sources of information. A subsequent shift towards an ecological model has focused on the child's perspective: however, Lewis and Lindsay have…

Reading for pleasure is associated with numerous educational and social benefits. For example, it has been associated with increased reading attainment and writing ability, greater breadth of vocabulary and greater general knowledge (e.g. Cox and Guthrie, 2001). Children who read very little do not reap these benefits, and studies show that when…

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…

New Literacy Studies is the theoretical basis for this research, providing a social view of literacy. Recent work in New Literacy Studies has extended further the notion of literacy and demonstrated the ways in which people engage in practices in their everyday lives that do not always get translated into their studies. This article draws on…