Leading Reading Catch-Up: Lessons Learned (so far)
Reflections on the challenges of getting reading catch-up working well
Leading reading catch-up can be daunting. At times, the scale of the challenge can seem insurmountable. I have felt this many times.
One of the hardest parts is decision making. The evidence base is complex and, at times, ambiguous. The more I learn about how children learn to read, and why some struggle so significantly, the more I realise how much there still is to understand. I often find myself knee deep in a quagmire, trying to work out what the research truly tells us and what will genuinely help students who arrive at secondary school already far behind to catch up.
From grappling with that complexity, a small number of lessons have emerged that are shaping my thinking, and helping me make better decisions:
Build masses and masses of knowledge. One of the lessons for me has been just how much knowledge is required to lead reading catch-up well. As I have learned more about how the mind learns to read, why reading is so incredibly complex, and what the evidence tells us about effective teaching – both for new, emerging readers in primary school, and for struggling readers for whom additional support is required – I’ve realised how essential this knowledge is when trying to discern which reading catch-up programmes are effective. And there are a lot out there to choose from! For example, before discovering the insight in ‘Understanding and Teaching Reading Comprehension’ that a motivated reader may encounter around 900,000 more words per year than an average reader, meaning they receive almost ten times the volume of reading practice, I didn’t hold clearly enough in my mind the insight that the quantity of reading practice within a catch-up programme really matters. Not only do the number of hours of reading teaching each week matter, but the quantity of practice each student gets within each lesson matters hugely. Without that insight at the forefront of my mind, I might not choose a programme with the necessary rigour.
Be clear on the essential prerequisites and uncompromising when it truly matters. There are many difficult tensions to navigate when it comes to establishing a reading strategy, as I’ve explored here. But, as Paul Bambrick Santoyo states, overdetermination is key. Shortcuts simply compromise the effectiveness of the strategy and slow down the progress of students who desperately need urgent, rapid action. I have learned that, if a reading programme specifies essential prerequisites, then these really do need to be treated as such. If the reading programme requires one hour of reading lessons per day, then this needs to be put in place, even with the inevitable timetabling challenges that come with it. If the programme states that class sizes need to be a maximum of 20 in order for the teacher to be truly responsive to the students in front of them, then this constraint needs to be honoured. If it’s vital that highly motivated and committed teachers, who are open to coaching and feedback, are teaching the programme, then this principle needs to guide who is selected – not who ends up being free as a result of gaps in the timetable after other lessons are taken care of. Being clear on all of this up-front helps avoid later misunderstandings and increases the likelihood that the programme will deliver as intended. Where these prerequisites have been compromised, I’ve seen students’ progress suffer. Fidelity matters… a lot.
Prioritise. Try not to take on too much. When faced with hundreds of children in a secondary school behind in their reading age, the scale can feel overwhelming. I’ve found that some of the hardest decisions sit in the tension between doing a smaller number of things exceptionally well and the fear of leaving some students unsupported. Where do we start? Who do we prioritise first: all students who are behind, knowing that we are their only chance, and that they cannot access the curriculum without this support? Year 7 because they have the best chance of catching up fully? Year 11 because they have the least time left? Over time, I’ve learned that the answer lies in sequencing support. When introducing a new, highly intensive reading programme that demands significant training, coaching, and ongoing support, starting with a smaller scale pilot allows the programme to be implemented with the depth and rigour it requires, while creating the chance for leaders the chance to build internal expertise before scaling up. While this gold-standard programme is being piloted and strengthened for some, using a scalable option, such as a computer based programme that many students can access simultaneously, helps ensure that no student is left unsupported.
Build lots and lots of trust and confidence…and never stop! As explored here, leaders face difficult choices when deciding where and how reading fits into the curriculum. Every time one obstacle is navigated, another appears. It’s relentless! I’ve learned that it’s vital to build shared confidence in the strategy so that, when tough decisions emerge, there is rock-solid, unshakable belief in the importance of reading. I’ve learned that confidence is built by reviewing impact in lots of different ways: not only through periodic reading age retesting, but through in-programme progress data and through staff, student and parent comments. When a student says, “I wish I could do this all week, every week!”, for example, it becomes very hard to dismiss the impact on student confidence and motivation, even if that impact has not yet been captured through reading age progress measures. Bringing this evidence together, alongside what reading researchers tell us about the short and long-term consequences of being unable to read, has helped me keep narrating why reading matters.
Follow up with rigour and tenacity. Be relentless! I’ve learned that implementation does not fall into place once the programme is set up. I’ve fallen into the trap of thinking, “OK, the programme is in place. Super! I’ll let them crack on and look forward to seeing how the students progress.” I’ve since learned that daily support and follow-up is essential if we’re to increase the likelihood of our programmes’ success. We need continual CPD, coaching, in-programme data review and problem-solving conversations. Just setting up and setting teachers and students off is not sufficient. A microscopic level of attention to detail is required, along with relentless determination to keep bulldozing obstacles as they appear (which they almost certainly will). Without this, standards start to slip, gaps emerge and widen, and programmes start to unravel.
I am under no illusion that we have this sorted. The scale of the challenge remains vast. But it has become increasingly clear to me just how much the leadership of reading matters, and how it demands sustained and deliberate effort in building knowledge and trust, making clear and disciplined decisions, prioritising well and following up relentlessly if we are to give ourselves the best chance of providing life-changing support for the students who need us most.
To help reading leads, I am sharing a free resource: an example of a Progress Spotlight.