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Approximately 3-6% of children in the UK have literacy difficulties and are at high risk of educational underachievement. Basic scientific investigation of reading and language development and disorders led to the design and evaluation of school-based interventions for children with language and literacy difficulties. The findings have fed into government reports on the teaching of literacy in schools, dyslexia and the assessment and monitoring of children's progress in phonics in the form of the nationally-introduced Phonics Screening Test. The interventions, delivered by teaching assistants, were implemented and evaluated in Cumbria and North Yorkshire. They are now recommended by the Department for Education and are commercially available from Down Syndrome Education International, and have influenced the procedures of the Special Educational Needs/Tribunal Service.
This is a case study of the impact of theoretically-motivated research in psychology on children's reading development. In 1990 an educational psychologist found that reading standards in England were in decline, which was thought to be due to the lack of phonics teaching. The underpinning research showed that synthetic phonics teaching was very much more effective at developing reading and spelling skills than the analytic phonics approach adopted in England in 1999. The Education Select Committee took evidence on this research from Johnston, and synthetic phonics became the recommended method in England. The Key Stage 1 national reading assessment carried out in 2012 showed that 2% more children (estimated to be around 7,500) reached the expected level in reading in 2012 than the previous year, and in 2013 it went up a further 2%. In 2012, 58% of children in Year 1 passed the new Phonics Check, and in 2013 69% passed.
Having conducted novel research into developmental dyslexia amongst Japanese children, Professor Wydell led the development of the first Screening Test of Reading and Writing (STRAW- 1), a systematic/comprehensive tool for diagnosing children with dyslexia across primary schools in Japan. The test also identifies areas of cognitive deficits enabling appropriate intervention programmes tailored for each dyslexic child's needs. As the first and only standardised test available, nearly 9,000 institutions in Japan use STRAW-1, including educational authorities, primary schools, schools for special needs education, local children's welfare centres, hospitals, clinics, and universities.
The Centre for Research into Inclusion and Vulnerable Learners' research on dyslexia and multilingualism in schools (Tilly Mortimore, Mim Hutchings and Anny Northcote) has influenced the public policy of several Local Authorities in England and of the South African Association of Learning Differences (SAALED), through which it has also impacted upon the practice of teachers, psychologists and facilitators in both countries. Mortimore's research on dyslexia and learning style in higher education is part of her wider body of research in this field which has influenced the curriculum and policies of several UK universities, and has also made an impact upon the policy and training offered by professional associations such as the British Dyslexia Association (BDA) and Professional Association of Teachers with SpLD (PATOSS).
University of Reading research on precocious (young early) readers identified phonemic awareness (the ability to hear, identify and manipulate small units of sound) as being important for success in learning to read words. These findings have impacted on national recommendations about the teaching of phonics in the early years; influenced the development of a series of television programmes for pre-school children; influenced the teaching of reading in English in Malaysia; and led to involvement in the development of a phonics screener for Year 1 children. The work has also had an impact on classroom assessments and the training of teachers.
Wood and Plester conducted the first empirical research into the impact of text messaging on children's literacy abilities, the results of which have impacted on:
The most significant impact of the REAL (Raising Early Achievement in Literacy) programme of research has been the increased literacy engagement of over 150,000 young children in the UK and internationally, which has been achieved through direct influence upon practitioners, charities and families. The underpinning research demonstrated how young children's literacy development could be enhanced through work with families, particularly in disadvantaged communities. The impacts of the research during the assessment period have been recognised through the inaugural 2013 ESRC Outstanding Impact in Society Prize (awarded to Nutbrown May 2013) and the 2012 Children and Young People Early Years Award (awarded to NCB November 2012).
Our research has transformed teachers' understanding of reading, leading to more effective practices. Teachers reconceptualised reading from a solitary to a social and multimedia practice, resulting in improved attitudes to reading amongst pupils. Championed by five English Local Authorities (LAs), one project was implemented in 800 schools (36,000 pupils per year group) with 61% of reading scores rising at twice the average rate. It was later developed in several other LAs. Embedded in the training of national literacy consultants (550) and initial teacher education lecturers (290), this research shaped policy and practice in England. Using new media, the Our Story app has influenced teachers' perceptions and children's reading enjoyment in diverse international settings.
Sussex research has led to changes in how children are taught reading comprehension across the UK and increasingly in South America. The 2013 Primary National Curriculum for English emphasises the acquisition of skills for reading comprehension. The Independent Review of the Teaching of Early Reading, which cites many of Oakhill's research papers, fed directly into the revised National Curriculum, English. The increasing emphasis on skills for reading comprehension led Whatmuff to develop `inference training', a published training programme inspired by Oakhill's studies now used across the UK. Independently, a group of Educational Psychologists in Argentina developed a programme for primary age children, comprising a theoretical manual and work book that draws directly from Oakhill's research findings and is being implemented across South America.
Professor Usha Goswami's research on reading development and dyslexia and in the relatively new field of educational neuroscience has gained her international renown as an expert in this field that brings together research in neurobiology and education. Her literacy research, which she and her group have undertaken in the Departments of Education and Psychology in the University of Cambridge, has focused on cross-linguistic factors underpinning reading development and developmental dyslexia, producing innovative data. She has also been an influential critic of the Government's focus on `synthetic phonics'. During this REF impact period, Professor Goswami's work has had significant impact on UK Government educational and other public policy, on public debate and understanding about reading and dyslexia, and on practitioners and services concerned with written material in every language.