Evidence 1 ~ Anecdotes & Data

posted in: Evidence, Secondary literacy |

Memories from years past – but these are the stories I continue to hear. Behaviour and literacy often go hand in hand and young people who have made little literacy progress in all their years at school can take off with That Reading Thing. They both tell their stories in different ways. I especially love how the anecdote acknowledges the importance of a tutor who won’t give up in the face of resistance. I would like numbers so much more … Read More

Evidence 4 ~ One Story

posted in: Evidence, Secondary literacy |

One particular line of numbers caught my attention. F 13 05:11 06:05 00:06 5 hrs continuing White British truancy It’s the “Data Story” of a thirteen year old white British girl with truancy issues who struggles with reading and agreed to start meeting with a ThatReadingThing tutor.  I’m going to call her Amber. At their first session, her reading age was 5 years and 11 months which is what we would expect of a child at some point in Year … Read More

Evidence 3 ~ A Second Look

posted in: Evidence, Secondary literacy |

Here is the same data with a few extra details.  Here are the things I notice: Those with the greatest gains, started with a reading age of 8 or so One of the girls made a 2 year gain in one week. I would assume that her spelling age is now well behind her reading age. Of the three with the smallest gains, one has English as an additional language and a head injury, one is very new to the … Read More

Evidence 2 ~ Another Project

posted in: Evidence, Secondary literacy |

These numbers come from an inner city volunteer literacy project. The reading ages were measured using the Burt Reading Assessment which is usually available free online. I’ll add more details about the learners as I get them. It will be interesting to see who has statemented learning needs, who speaks English as an additional language and who has particular behaviour problems. (Or all three.) A huge thank you to all the tutors and young people for their hard work! Sex … Read More