New research division and first research study launched by Reading Solutions UK

Reading Solutions UK, which supports schools with reading development in the UK through its online programme Reading Plus, has announced its new research division, Insights.

Insights aims to provide research insights in education, focusing on EdTech, reading for pleasure, supporting disadvantaged children, and developing confident readers.

The company is also announcing news of their first research project collaborating with the Derby Research School and Spencer Academies Trust, who both believe evidence-based practices achieve outstanding education.

The study aims to investigate the impact of Reading Plus which is a programme designed to develop pupils’ reading fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension, as an intervention tool in eight schools against pupil outcomes, focusing on disadvantaged pupils and building a reading culture. There will be a control group to act as a comparison.

Clair Freeman, Head of Insights at Reading Solutions UK, said:

“This is our first collaborative research project, and we’re very excited to see the progress pupil’s make on the programme and their results.

“The project objective is to produce data that provides a true reflection of software efficacy. We expect to evidence that by using Reading Plus, pupils will demonstrate greater progress in their reading comprehension, vocabulary and fluency than pupils who have not had accessed to the software.”

Tammy Elward, Director of the Derby Research School, shares:

“Our schools are actively engaged with and in research to help us continuously learn and refine our practice. Reading is a vital skill, as pupils need to learn to read in order to read to learn. Our shared values for the importance of reading makes working with Reading Plus such an amazing opportunity for our staff and pupils.”

The project began in September 2021 and will run for the entire academic year. It comprises of three phases, with interim reports being created and shared at the end of each stage. In July 2022, the final information will be shared once SAT’s data has been released.