County-wide Paired Reading
Programme
Hampshire Children’s Services
Workshop for the National
Virtual School
Virtual Head Teachers conference
21 March 2014
(LAC Lead)
Julia Alfano
Educational Psychologist
Hampshire Children’s Services
Theoretical background
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In 2006, 6000 young people left the care of the state in the UK.
Of these, 4,500 left with no educational qualifications (Sergeant,
2006)
In 2003, the social exclusion unit reported children in care were
ten times more likely to be excluded from school than other
children
In 2007/08, 66% of Children Looked After (CLA) obtained at
least one GCSE/GNVQ on leaving school. This compares with
99% of all children in the general pupil population (DCSF, 2009)
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Only 14% of CLA leave care with five or more GCSE’s; their
contemporaries leave with 65% (DCSF, 2009)
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16% of care leavers are unemployed by September of leaving
school compared to 4% of all school leavers (DCSF, 2009)
Theoretical background
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Two crucial factors are needed in order for a child to do well in
education:
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Placement stability
An environment which encourages studying (Stein, 1997)
Children require an environment in which education is supported
and encouraged in order to achieve academically (Jaussen et al,
2003)
Problems we encounter with children in care–
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Placement instability – home and school
2006 – 40% of foster carers in England and Scotland did not have formal
educational qualifications (Sergeant, 2006)
Many do not attend parents’ evenings
Limited contact between child’s social workers, carers and teachers
Theoretical background
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The early experiences of CLA are often marred by
neglect or abuse (Department for Children, Schools
and Families, 2001)
These children continue to lack stability in their home
and school placements (Fletcher-Campbell & Archer,
2003)
This is not to suggest that poor academic outcomes
are inevitable for CLA rather that special attention
might be needed to ensure they are properly
supported during their school careers (Jackson,
1998)
Factors contributing to the education
of Looked After Children
Placement stability:
 Supportive home environment that
encourages studying
 Better communication between school,
carers and social workers (Martin &
Jackson, 2002)
Placement stability
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Placement stability of children in care is often
poor, both in terms of care and educational
placements. For example, Fletcher-Campbell
and Archer (2003) found that a quarter of the
young people in care in their study had six or
more care placements, where a third had had
three or more education placements while at
secondary school.
Attitude to education
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Limited contact between key adults involved in
supporting the education of CLA
Social workers, carers and teachers often do
not communicate regularly
Education seen as a low priority for some
foster carers. For example, in a study by
Barnardo’s (2006) 39% of children in care
responded that no-one attended their school’s
parent’s evenings compared to 4% of those
parents of children not in care
Attitude to education
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47% of children in care responded that they had never been
praised for doing well at school compared to 3% of children
not in care
Sinclair (1998) suggests such findings are exacerbated by
 Placement instability
 Turnover of carers
 Time pressure on social workers
Therefore children have no key adult to which they have a
strong attachment to and who will take an interest in and
support educational progress
The low priority ascribed to education of foster carers may
consequently result in low expectations in the part of children
(Firth & Horrocks, 1996)
Paired Reading – why we
chose it
In order for children in care to improve literacy
they need to:
 Placement stability
 Supportive home environment encourages
studying
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Better communication between school, carers
and social workers
Promoting Carer Involvement
The programme aimed to:
 Provide carer interest and involvement for children in
their care as this is a fundamental part of supporting
looked after children’s academic progress. The
programme was aimed at all children in care, regardless
of reading age for the following reasons:
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Children in care may be behind in literacy as a result of lack of
adult involvement (Jackson, 1994)
Reading ability is linked to future educational success (Jackson,
1987) suggesting that the establishment of good levels of
literacy may facilitate success in other areas.
Positive relationships are linked to educational success for all
children regardless of ability.
Promoting social worker
involvement
The programme aimed to:
 Promote understanding of carers and social workers
of the wider benefits of literacy
 Improve communication between schools and carers
Key Points – why we chose
Paired Reading
Paired Reading was chosen as it aimed to:
 Encourage a supportive home environment that
encourages studying
 Develop better communication between schools,
carers and social workers
 Promote carer interest and involvement in the
education of children in their care
 To encourage school staff to support carers in
providing carer interest and confidence
 Develop better relationships between carers and
children
Paired Reading Interventions
How does it work?
 Parents and carers are taught a specific way to read
with children and young people
 It does not involve breaking up of words, but it
focuses on reading together, and when the child feels
confident enough, reading alone or out loud with the
parents
Paired Reading interventions
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Although many interventions have been found
successful in raising literacy levels of children in care,
we wanted to focus on the role of the carer so they
also become engaged in the child’s education from
an attachment through the process of the shared
reading
This would facilitate success in all other areas, not
just educationally
Paired Reading – how does it
work?
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Paired reading involves a cycle moving from
reading together to reading alone, ensuring
the child receives as much help as necessary
The process is designed to be interactive and
motivating
The child selects their own reading material
and is supported by their partner through
discussion questioning and correction where
necessary
Paired Reading – how does it
work?
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It works pedagologically as the child:
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Gains extra practice in reading
Receives feedback on their performance
Experiences modelling of correct reading by their
partner
Receive positive reinforcement increasing their self
confidence
Experience reading in a motivating way gaining
attention form a key adult
These factors lead to reading fluency and
competency as well as relationship building
Evidence base for Paired
Reading
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A number of studies have found paired
reading improves literacy (Topping and
Lindsay, 1992. Brooks, 2007)
Menmuir (1994) studied the intervention with
CLA however the data collected was
subjective and just focussed on foster carer
view, not reading ability so we wanted to
improve on this
Participants
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The work in Hampshire has run for 5
years – 2008-2013.
This work has been replicated in
Sweden (7 municipalities) results have
shown to improve language
(expressive) and general cognitive
ability and motivation for learning.
Materials and evaluation/study
design
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Ratio gain – Ratio gain is calculated in order to
assess a child’s rate of progress across time. Ratio
gain is defined as the number of months progress
made in literacy, divided by the number of months on
an intervention. It therefore refers to the average
amount of progress made for each month that the
child has participated in the intervention. A ratio gain
in reading age of 1.40 indicates educationally
significant impact on literacy. A ratio gain of more
than 2.00 indicates ‘Extra good progress’ (Brooks,
2007)
Myself as a learner scale
Reading self concept scale
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Carers also reported increases in their child’s
confidence and interest in reading
Taking part also enabled them to share one-to-one
time with their child
Child enjoys looking at books together and discussing
the story and topics covered
Spending time with child seeing him enjoy books so
much
Carers also reported improvements linked to the
valuable one-to-one time spent with the child
“Spending quality time
one-to-one and getting
to know more about
her reading ability”
Feedback from carers
We have thoroughly
enjoyed participating in the
Paired Reading
programme. I feel it has
been very beneficial to
[child’s] confidence and
enjoyment of books
It has given us time
together enjoying what we
both like and [child] has
got a lot more confident
with his reading
A huge positive was being able to watch and help [child’s]
enjoyment as confidence with the books grew. He now selects
books that he would have not had the confidence to attempt
previously. The one-to-one time that the Paired Reading
scheme required has definitely been very rewarding.
The only difficulty we experienced was within the first
couple of sessions that [child] was to engage and
participate willingly. However, when he realised that he
had a choice and that each book was exciting and
different and that there was no negativity within the
sessions he then participated very willingly.
Knowing together we
have helped improve
his reading and his
confidence.
Although [child] still struggles with the
text, his confidence with books has
soared. He is no longer afraid or
embarrassed to try and therefore finding
a new enjoyment and respect of books.
Results
Impact on literacy
 Repeated 5 years in a row:
 Significant improvements in reading age
 A ratio gain of between 2 & 3
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This meets both Brooks’ (2007) and the DfES’ (2003)
criteria for effective literacy intervention
Suggest that these interventions offer a useful way of
enhancing the literacy of looked after children
 Poor academic performance of these children is
not inevitable – can be improved with targeted
support
Results
Impact on other areas
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Qualitative comments suggest that the results extended beyond
literacy per se
Confidence
One-to-one time/relationships
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Attachment and the building of good relationships are linked to
success in all areas in life, not just educational achievement.
This programme is not just about literacy
Improvements in reading self-concept
Motivation for learning
Final points
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LAC come from backgrounds of abuse and neglect
LAC have experienced turbulence in their home and
school placements
LAC often lack consistent adults support in their
education
All these above points have affected their educational
achievement
A small short-term intervention like paired reading
can have such an impact on literacy and
improvements in the bonds and attachment to their
carers – which is linked to success in many areas of
life, not just education
Final points
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The past trauma and lack of placement
stability can be alleviated with carer support
The programme also improved the links
between carers, teachers and social workers
Social workers attended joint training with
teachers and foster carers
Teachers liaised with carers on a weekly basis
using the monitoring sheets
This raises the profile of looked after children
in schools
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This programme encourages the key adults in
the child’s life to communicate
It reinforces the need to encourage foster
carers and social workers to value education
This work also is so valuable as
improvements in reading is associated with
other positive outcomes such as overall
learning, self-confidence, motivation and
improved relationships with carers
Questions
Paired Reading Intervention
Practical exercise
Review of
Resources/Activities