Greg Brooks

Dual‐sector further and higher education: policies, organisations and students in transition 1

Colleges and universities that provide both further and higher education are a key component of government policies to expand participation in English undergraduate education. The opportunities for access and progression made available by these organisations are regarded as central. At the same time, the division of further and higher education into sectors has implications for how ‘dual‐sector’ education is conceived and developed. Drawing on early evidence from policy interviews and fieldwork studies in four case study institutions, the influence of this division on national policy formation, organisational change and the student experience is discussed.

Is an intervention using computer software effective in literacy learning? A randomised controlled trial

Background: computer software is widely used to support literacy learning. There are few randomised trials to support its effectiveness. Therefore, there is an urgent need to rigorously evaluate computer software that supports literacy learning. Methods: we undertook a pragmatic randomised controlled trial among pupils aged 11–12 within a single state comprehensive school in the North of England. The pupils were randomised to receive 10 hours of literacy learning delivered via laptop computers or to act as controls. Both groups received normal literacy learning. A pre‐test and two post‐tests were given in spelling and literacy. The main pre‐defined outcome was improvements in spelling scores. Results: 155 pupils were randomly allocated, 77 to the ICT group and 78 to control. Four pupils left the school before post‐testing and 25 pupils did not have both pre‐ and post‐test data. Therefore, 63 and 67 pupils were included in the main analysis for the ICT and control groups respectively. After adjusting for pre‐test scores there was a slight increase in spelling scores, associated with the ICT intervention, but this was not statistically significant (0.954, 95% confidence interval (CI) – 1.83 to 3.74, p = 0.50). For reading scores there was a statistically significant decrease associated with the ICT intervention (−2.33, 95% CI −0.96 to −3.71, p = 0.001). Conclusions: we found no evidence of a statistically significant benefit on spelling outcomes using a computer program for literacy learning. For reading there seemed to be a reduction in reading scores associated with the use of the program. All new literacy software needs to be tested in a rigorous trial before it is used routinely in schools.

A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials evaluating interventions in adult literacy and numeracy

This paper reports a systematic review of the trial literature in the field of adult literacy and numeracy. The review was undertaken to investigate the effectiveness of teaching strategies and pedagogies designed to increase adult literacy and numeracy. The objectives were to search for and locate, synthesise and quality appraise all the randomised controlled trials aiming to evaluate interventions in adult literacy and/or numeracy, published between 1980 and 2002. Fifty-nine papers were included in the descriptive map. Twelve papers were included that contained nine randomised controlled trials. All of the trials included in the review were of high quality in the sense that they had adopted an appropriate study design for assessing effectiveness. However, within that study design many of the studies had methodological problems, for example: small sample size and lack of justification of sample size calculation; unclear method of random allocation; high attrition rate and lack of ‘intention to teach’ analysis. There was evidence of publication bias. Pooling three studies that compared teaching against no teaching showed a strong, positive and statistically significant effect on outcome. Two other studies examined the use of computer-assisted instruction (CAI) on literacy among imprisoned adults. Pooling these two studies showed a modest but not statistically significant benefit. There is a dearth of rigorous RCTs in the field of adult literacy and numeracy. The evidence is suggestive of a benefit of adult literacy and numeracy interventions; however, because of the heterogeneity of studies, the precise role of any intervention is uncertain and this finding may be undermined by the presence of substantial publication bias. We recommend that a series of large, well-designed and well-conducted randomised trials should be undertaken in the field of adult literacy and numeracy.

The Birth to School Study: evidence on the effectiveness of PEEP, an early intervention for children at risk of educational under‐achievement

This article presents the findings of the Birth to School Study (BTSS) a longitudinal evaluation of the Peers Early Education Partnership (PEEP); a family‐focused intervention aimed at promoting early literacy, numeracy and self‐esteem in a community at risk of educational underachievement. The main aim of the study was to investigate the effects of PEEP on the children and families from the community it served. Embedded within this aim were dual objectives: to determine if the intervention had an effect within the community as a whole, and simultaneously to determine whether it had an effect on the sub‐group of families who participated in the PEEP weekly sessions. Outcomes in favour of the intervention were found for parents and for childrens progress in language and early literacy skills, both at community and sub‐group level. The study is located within a discussion of social exclusion, the potentially mediating influence of education and the accessibility of literacy skills to intervention and change.

Randomised controlled trial of incentives to improve attendance at adult literacy classes

Background: Incentives have been proposed as a method to improve attendance in adult literacy classes. In the UK, several areas have piloted the use of incentives to promote attendance at adult literacy classes. To date no rigorous evaluation of this policy has been undertaken. This paper describes (as far as we are aware) the only UK‐based randomised controlled trial to evaluate the use of financial incentives in order to promote attendance in classes for adult learners. Methods: We used a cluster‐randomised design. Twenty‐nine adult literacy classes were randomised in two groups using minimisation. Intervention group learners received £5 (US

The benefits of family literacy provision for parents in England

10) for each class attended. The main outcome was class attendance; the secondary outcome was literacy scores. Results: After allocation, one class was found to be ineligible for the study. In the 28 remaining classes there was a statistically significant reduction of about 1.5 sessions (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.28, 2.79; p = 0.019) attended by the intervention group compared with control, after adjusting for cluster size and baseline scores. The difference in reading scores between the intervention and control group, conditioned on baseline scores, was −2.38 (with controls scoring higher than the intervention group), but this difference was not statistically significant (95% CI −7.40 to 2.57, p = 0.33). Conclusion: Payments to attend adult literacy classes had an adverse effect on attendance. This trial needs urgent replication, ideally with a larger incentive, before this approach is widely used by policy makers.

The Boots Books for Babies Project: Impact on Library Registrations and Book Loans

This article is concerned with parents’ experiences and perceptions of being involved in a family literacy programme. The research, which was conducted from November 2007 to July 2009, involved interviewing 101 parents from 74 family literacy programmes in England around 12 weeks after they had completed their courses. The aim of these qualitative interviews was to identify any short- and medium-term benefits, and to assess the impact on their lives. Previous evaluations of FL have mainly focused on children’s literacy outcomes, and the article argues that as insiders and consumers of family literacy programmes, parents have the potential to make vital contributions to policy and practice, including the design of future successful programmes. The article shows that there is a whole series of benefits for parents, their children, family and schools. Among these, parents learn to support their children’s learning; they place greater value on education and learning and gain a deeper understanding of school systems; they become more interested in developing their own literacy skills; they form social and supportive networks, which are maintained as their children move through the school; and the programmes give parents opportunities for progression to further education and training.

What Works for Slow Readers

The Boots Books for Babies project was a partnership between The Boots Company, Nottingham City Council, Nottinghamshire County Council and Nottinghamshire Health Visitors.The project’s stated aims were to deliver book packs to the parents or carers of babies attending hearing checks at local health centres, via the health visitor, usually at around nine months old, in order to increase awareness among parents and carers of the importance of sharing books with babies, and to increase the registration of babies with local libraries and use of the library service. Over the period of the roll-out of the project (1998–2000), in libraries associated with the project, the total number of babies under 2 years old registering as library members rose by 54%. Baby registrations for a comparison group of 7 libraries showed an increase in baby registrations in a similar period of 6%, concentrated in the first 4 months of the year. Over the last 9 months of the year, the number of baby registrations in non-project libraries was lower than in 1998. Health visitors, other health care workers and library staff were very supportive of the project’s goals and willingly gave extra time to support the project. Many respondents spontaneously shared the view that the project’s work should be continued and sustained, and it has since attracted supplementary funding to continue this work.

Boosting the Reading Levels and Attitudes of Young People who have Offended: A Review of the Evidence and the Lessons Learnt from an Evaluation of TextNow

Greg Brooks outlines the results of a significant piece of research undertaken by the National Foundation for Educational Research on schemes for promoting skills among ‘slow readers’. The findings will provide little comfort for the ‘phonological awareness only’ school of thought. He confirms the view most teachers would support that phonological skills should be embedded within broader approaches. Elsewhere, he questions IT techniques, unless carefully supervised. Tellingly, he concludes that none of the schemes tackled school improvement, a prerequisite for their success in the first instance.

Phonics: reading policy and the evidence of effectiveness from a systematic ‘tertiary’ review

This article draws together the existing evidence which indicates that young offenders coming to the attention of the criminal justice system are very much below national reading levels. It then reviews the effectiveness of initiatives designed to improve the literacy skills of this group. The article then presents the results of an evaluation of TextNow, by analysing data on 230 young people who were known to have offended and participated in the programme. Both reading levels and reading attitudes improved. The article concludes by drawing the lessons learnt from the programme; regarding the length of the programme, its content and mode of delivery, and the importance of rewarding participation and progress.