The Better Reading Partnership is currently being monitored and an evaluation report is will be submitted at a later date.Please see below for 2 Single regeneration reports for 2 areas in the Bradford District who received funding specifically for the Better Reading project

Keighley SRB Reading Project

1997 - 2002

Reading support in schools

For many years schools have used parents, classroom helpers and other volunteers to assist them in hearing children read and helping children to develop reading skills which provide access to the curriculum. The main aim of teachers is to encourage pupils to become independent learners and many pupils have appreciated the patience of a parent or classroom helper as they learned to read.

The Better Reading Partnership

The need to raise reading achievement in Education Bradford gave rise to the development of the Better Reading Partnership (BRP); a programme which provided intensive and ongoing training for adult reading partners and a fixed period of reading support for selected children. The Better Reading Partnership is one component of an integrated strategy within Education Bradford to raise levels of literacy.

Aims of BRP

The twofold aim of Better Reading is to provide excellent training and involve the whole community in helping pupils to become better readers.

The Programme

BRP is a one to one additional support programme for reading. The programme lasts for ten weeks and pupils receive 15 minutes support three times a week, following a common lesson structure. Trained partners focus on the development of independent reading strategies and understanding of text.

Each lesson begins with the re-reading of familiar text to develop fluency, phrasing and pace and to provide an opportunity to investigate further aspects of understanding.

Familiar reading is followed by an assessment of text reading in the form of a running record. The running record is taken as the child reads aloud from a text that has been introduced by the Reading Partner and read by the pupil for the first time in the previous lesson. The Partner is able to use the running record to analyse the pupil’s errors and other reading behaviours in order to assess how the pupil is processing text when reading independently. The final and greater part of the lesson is spent in introducing, exploring meaning and reading a new book. Partners introduce pupils to a wide variety of genres both fiction and non fiction, finding texts that pupils enjoy, develop their understanding and widen their horizons.

Selection of pupils

Pupils are selected from Year one to Year ten. At Key Stage one pupils selected are at the average reading ability of their class. Pupils in Key Stage two selected for the programme may be at the average of their class or slightly below and in Key Stage three pupils are selected who have a reading age two to three years below their chronological age. BRP is also used to target pupils at National Curriculum Level 3 in Key Stage two who need additional support to achieve Level 4 and at pupils who need extra opportunities to develop their understanding at an inferential level.

 Training

BRP Training is aimed at school staff including support assistants, classroom assistants, caretakers, lunchtime supervisors etc., parent volunteers, business volunteers, sixth formers and volunteers.

The initial training for Reading Partners is two days. The training is presented through a variety of media, is very practical and based on discussion and reflection. A key feature of the training is an observation of a lesson through a two way mirror on both days. Guided by the trainer, trainees are able to observe the structure of the lesson, the decisions of the Reading Partner and the response and reading behaviour of the pupil. The observation is a valuable opportunity to discuss and reflect upon the interaction of pupil and partner; to see the learning process in action and to see the pleasure and excitement that it gives to the partner and pupil. All trainees see the value and appreciate the privilege of this part of their training and many report it as the highlight of the two days.

Trainees are also instructed in the structure of the project, the reading process and how children learn to orchestrate the meaning, grammatical and syntactical structure and visual aspects of the words within text in order to read and problem solve. The training aims to develop in trainees a broad and inclusive range of teaching strategies and questioning skills to help develop pupils' understanding. Record keeping, running record assessment procedures and skills in text selection are also covered on the two day training.

The Better Reading Partnership and SRB

SRB funding was provided to foster links between school and community; to provide opportunities for training and work for adults and to help raise the achievement of pupils in schools in the area. The Better Reading Partnership training and programme has achieved all of these criteria and has also funded training for volunteers to work in the programme.

As a result of the programme, there have been gains for adults, pupils and schools. Adults have received quality training which has given them the opportunity to develop their skills and extend their learning. This in turn has given them the confidence and skill to take on additional roles in school, to go on to further training and apply for other employment using their newly acquired skills.

Pupils in school who have received the programme have improved their level of achievement in reading over the ten weeks by an average of six months; have increased confidence in reading which has led to greater confidence in classroom activities enabling access to all areas of the curriculum, a marked improvement in behaviour and a probable contribution in the long term to crime reduction figures. For those pupils for whom English is a second language BRP has improved their language acquisition and enabled them to have better access to the curriculum.

Head Teachers and staff in schools have appreciated the part that BRP has played in raising literacy levels and involving the community in the education of its children. Schools have received far more from Partners than just reading support, with many of them becoming involved in the whole life of the school.

MANAGING THE PROJECT

The BRP Programme in School.

All schools which run the Better Reading Partnership have a BRP co-ordinator who is a teacher and who is responsible for supporting the Reading Partners through regular meetings and additional training. The Co-ordinator selects pupils for the programme and is responsible for monitoring and evaluating the Reading Partners, the programme operation and pupil progress; for communicating with parents and liaising with staff. A good co-ordinator is invaluable to the success of the programme in school and training and support for co-ordinators has been offered on a regular basis.

Reading Support Manager

The role of the Reading Support Manager has been to provide initial training and develop ongoing training for Reading Partners. Regular visits to schools have included staff meetings about the project, information and help with resources, linking BRP to the National Literacy Strategy, observing Reading Partners in order to monitor practice and working with parents to encourage reading at home.

There have been two Reading Support managers during the life of the Keighley SRB Reading project and they too have widened their horizons. The first Project Manager (1996 – 1999) is now a Literacy consultant within Education Bradford and the second Project manager (1999 – 2002) has been accepted on an MA course at the London Institute of Education to become a Reading Recovery tutor.

Benefits and gains of the programme

In the initial pilot for BRP pupil gains over the ten week programme were an average of six

months. As the programme has matured and Reading Partners have become more experienced the average gain has improved. Results vary of course, from term to term but the above graph is typical.

97 pupils at Key Stage one who received BRP in Year 1 or Year 2  56.7% achieved level 2b or above in their Standard Assessment Tasks in June 2002 and would be expected to achieve level 4 in Key Stage two. 49% of the total are pupils learning English as a second language, some of whom started school with no English language. They have made considerable progress in reading and BRP has also given them an opportunity to develop and improve their English which has been noted by Reading Partners and teachers.

 
101 pupils at Key Stage Two who received BRP 69.3% achieved level 4 or above which is a target level at Key stage two and a good starting point for access to education at Key Stage three.

Initial and ongoing training

All Reading Partners received the two day initial training and were then encouraged to attend ongoing training which was offered every term. The ongoing training provided an opportunity to observe a lesson and share and develop their observations with their colleagues. They learn that by analysing others' teaching they gain insights to help their own teaching.and become more sensitive observers of the child's reading behaviours. Partners would also have time to share their successes and difficulties with pupils or within their role in school.

In addition to ongoing training, linked to the Better Reading programme, other  courses were offered including training in 'Progression in Phonics' the phonics programme linked to the National Literacy Strategy framework for teaching; specific training and practice in Running Records (a miscue analysis); guided reading and courses at different key stages to introduce a variety of genres of text and help Partners develop their own and pupil's understanding and enjoyment of these texts.

Table of training output October 1998 – December 2002

The above figures do not include Initial training which took place in Bradford (March – July 1997) before the two-way screen was available at Keighley.

Accreditation

The Better Reading Partnership training and programme is accredited by the West and North Yorkshire Open College Network. Partners may go on to do the accredited course after teaching the programme for at least one term and if successful, gain three credits at level three. The course covers ten weeks.  Candidates are required to complete a file showing detailed observations of three children in the programme and review and evaluate their progress; evaluate their training and changes in their personal development in the understanding of reading; provide evidence of observation of a fellow reading partner and show through minutes of meetings that they can work collaboratively with teaching staff and colleagues in school.

Thirty Reading Partners from Keighley schools at all levels have gained Accreditation and the external moderator, from Sheffield, commends the high standard of files submitted.

BRP Future

Some schools have allocated funds to continue to run the programme once SRB funding finishes and all schools with many, or all, of their classroom assistants trained  are able to provide a better quality of support in classroom.

Conclusion

The Better Reading Partnership is unique in that it raises awareness and achievement in school, the home and the community. Keighley SRB funding has enabled Reading Partners and pupils to achieve and use their skills to extend their learning. Schools have benefited from increased levels of reading achievement which has contributed to overall levels of achievement; and from the community involvement in the life of the school. 

            “It's the most valuable training I have received.” (Reading Partner)

            “.. children who have had BRP understand what they are reading and this has had   an impact on their writing.”  (teacher)

            “BRP has enabled our classroom assistants to take on an educational role ........    and given them confidence to develop their personal training . . “ (Headteacher)

            “He really sparkles with it..” (Parent)

            “ I was excited every time I went to read” (9 year old)

Final Report Gill Cartwright

(Keighley SRB Reading Project Manager)

May 2003