Raising Early Achievement in Literacy: The REAL Project
Researchers from the University's School of Education have developed a pioneering new programme to improve literacy levels among pre-school children. Having shown, through a longitudinal study (1994–2006) that the methods used in the REAL (Raising Early Achievement in Literacy) Project could benefit children's early literacy development, the researchers are now rolling out their programme to schools and children's centres in two UK local authority areas.
Official government statistics show that one in five 11-year-olds leaving primary school is unable to read to the minimum standard for that age group. To provide young children with a good beginning in literacy and thus strengthen their chances of success in school, Professors Peter Hannon and Cathy Nutbrown developed a programme which gave early childhood educators a way of thinking about the role of parents in children's early literacy development. Their major study, still the largest randomised control study in preschool education in the UK, ran for 18 months and focussed on children in areas of Sheffield where literacy levels were low.
The team set out to develop a programme to encourage and enable parents of children aged between 3 and 5 years to support the early literacy development of their children. Through home visits by teachers, provision of literacy resources, postal communication with families, and special events the programme teachers worked with parents to use every day situations to promote literacy with their children.
Children in 21 schools took part in the project and all the families who were approached were keen to take part, which Professor Nutbrown ascribes to the belief that parents want to learn more about how to help their young children. Professor Nutbrown also emphasised the partnership elements of the project: "The REAL Project was very much a partnership between the University, Schools in the city, families, and teachers. A feature which I think made a huge difference was the long-term nature of the project which meant that teachers and parents had time to develop real working relationships and work together in partnerships which supported the children."
The study employed a unique framework developed by the team known as 'ORIM', as Professor Nutbrown explains: "Before children go to school they learn so much from their family. Importantly, our project focuses on parents doing four things: providing opportunities to engage in literacy; showing recognition of their young children's literacy achievements; making time to interact with their children over literacy; and being a model themselves of literacy users (letting children see them reading and writing)". The project focussed on key strands of literacy: using books, early writing, environmental print, and oral language.
The literacy levels of children in the programme and in a control group were tested at the beginning and end of the study. The team found improvements in the literacy of children in the programme, though the extent varied. Of particular interest was that children whose mothers had the lowest school achievement (no educational qualifications of any kind) benefited most. "We found that children who are sometimes classed as the most vulnerable educationally seemed to benefit most. Importantly, the families who took part said that they greatly enjoyed the process, as did the teachers."
The National Children's Bureau, impressed by these findings, approached Professor Nutbrown to roll out the programme in two urban areas of the UK. Their initiative, 'Making it REAL: Raising Early Achievement in Literacy', has secured Big Lottery funding to enable 16 teachers and practitioners to develop and deliver the programme over three years with some 320 families.
Professor Nutbrown again: "The key lesson is that parents can do a great deal to help their children in the early years as they begin to develop as readers and writers. Another lesson is that, contrary to what much of the literature suggests, fathers in our study were involved in sharing literacy with their children. We also found that teachers and parents both enjoyed the opportunity to work in partnership and share their knowledge. By breaking down some of the formal barriers between home and school, we were able to foster a spirit of working together for the benefit of the children".
For further information please contact Professor Cathy Nutbrown at:
email : c.e.nutbrown@sheffield.ac.uk
Suggested links:
More information on Professor Cathy Nutbrown
More information on Professor Peter Hannon
More information about the National Children's Bureau initiative (opens in new window)