Reading Plus efficacy study in partnership with Derby Research School - Full Report

The study, which ran for the academic year 2021/22, involved 470 Y6 pupils from six Spencer Academy Trust schools. 245 pupils used Reading Plus for their reading development, and 225 pupils acted as a comparison-controlled group with no access to the programme.

Each school had its own approach to reading to suit their curriculum mapping, but all followed similar strategies:

• Weekly reading lessons focusing on content domains (whole class/school).
• A focus on reading and writing skills through English lessons (whole school).
• Two 30-minute weekly shared reading lessons using the Reciprocal Reading Structure (whole class/UKS2).
• Book talk – reading for pleasure – pupil premium (group).
• Pupil premium fluency intervention (group).
• Daily story time using high-quality texts to model reading (whole class/school).

The Reading Plus schools timetabled usage to fit with their curriculum and were recommended to use the programme for a minimum of 30 minutes, three times per week. Pupils also had access to Reading Plus from home as the programme can be
used on a variety of electronic devices such as laptops and tablets.

To benchmark progress throughout the study, national standardised tests were used at the beginning, mid-point and end of the study.

Study design

The study was a non-randomised control study which followed a difference-in-difference design using time trends to determine an outcome. Throughout the study, all pupils were assessed at three stages, September 2021, December 2021, and May 2022, to evaluate the effectiveness of Reading Plus on pupil outcomes. Both the intervention and control groups followed the same data collection procedure.

Testing

All pupils sat the same reading paper, at the same time, in each round of testing. Tests were standardised as past SATs reading papers were used to assess pupils in September 21 and December 21, and the latest SATs paper in May 22. This allowed the opportunity to compare data from the study against national data.

Sample size

Derby Research School and Spencer Academy Trust determined which schools would use Reading Plus and which would act as the control group. Schools were selected based on similar school Ofsted ratings and pupil demographics. Control schools’ Ofsted ratings were Outstanding, Good, and the third was a new academy so did not have a rating. Reading Plus schools’ ratings were Good, Good, and Outstanding. The study comprised of 470 pupils, 245 Reading Plus pupils and 225 control school
pupils. Both sample sizes were similar in their numbers and demographics, although there was more pupil premium in the Reading Plus schools due to the nature of the schools involved.

Data collection and GDPR

All schools participating in the study signed a data and school project agreement before the launch.

(Click images to enlarge)

The following results are highlights from the report. Please download the study to view the full results data.

Progress achieved

Figures 1.1 and 1.2 show that, on average, pupils who used Reading Plus for their reading development made more significant progress (36% more) than pupils who did not have access to the programme.

Girls made more progress than boys in the control schools, whereas boys made more progress than girls in the Reading Plus schools.

Demographic reporting

Figure 3.3 shows a comparison of progress across all demographics. Pupils identified as SEN who used Reading Plus made the most significant improvement throughout the study and achieved 119% more progress than SEN pupils in the control schools.

Pupil premium children using Reading Plus made 97% more progress than pupil premium children in the control schools.

EAL pupils in the Reading Plus schools made 50% more progress than EAL pupils in the control schools.

Hypothesis 1

In summary, results from the study favour our first hypothesis; when used as a reading development programme, Reading Plus has supported pupils to make more significant gains than pupils who did not have access to the programme.

Over the academic year, Reading Plus pupils achieved on average:

• A 50% increase in their results from the first to the last test.
• A rise of six marks on their scaled scores.

Control school pupils achieved on average:

• A 29% increase in their results from the first to the last test.
• A rise of five marks on the scaled scores.

Hypothesis 2

Results from the study support our second hypothesis; using Reading Plus, disadvantaged pupils (pupil premium) have made more significant reading gains than non-disadvantaged
pupils who have not used the programme.

Pupil premium eligible children in the Reading Plus schools achieved on average:

• Triple the progress of pupil premium eligible children who didn’t use Reading Plus in the first term of use.
• 97% more progress than pupil premium eligible children in the control schools across the academic year.
• A 68% increase in test scores from their first to the last test.
• A rise of eight marks on their scaled scores.

Children eligible for Pupil Premium in the control schools achieved on average:

• A 22% increase in test scores from their first to the last test.
• A rise of six marks on their scaled scores.