Longitudinal Study in Australia – Factors Affecting Students’ Progress in Reading: Key Findings from a Longitudinal Study

Background
Rowe, an Australian researcher, studied the progress made in reading by children from school entry to Grade 6 in Victoria, Australia. The sample included 5,092 students and 256 classes in 92 schools. The researcher’s intent was not specifically to study Reading Recovery, but information on Reading Recovery’s effectiveness emerged as an outcome. The longitudinal design involved repeated measures nested within classes and schools and repeated measures on schools that were changing over time. Rowe used several measures to gather student information: Reading Achievement, Primary Reading Survey Test, Test of Reading Comprehension, English Profile, and Reading Bands.

Findings
Rowe found that Reading Recovery children benefited notably from participation in the intervention. Reading Recovery appeared to be meeting its intended purpose for those children involved. By Grades 5 and 6, Reading Recovery students were distributed across the same score range as the general school population, but with fewer low scores. Rowe’s analysis provided evidence that Reading Recovery had removed the tail-end of the achievement distribution.

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