Why Our Children Can't Read

Lost for Words | Watch on 4oD | Have Your Say

Children aged 5 years old who are poor readers and show a poor understanding of language are more likely to experience disadvantage than children who are more literate by age 10. As adults they are more likely to have been unemploymed, to earn less, have fewer qualifications and other aspects of poor social well-being.

New research from the Institute of Education and Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh for Channel 4's Dispatches which used data from the 1970 British Cohort Study shows that positive intervention during primary school can make children better readers and significantly improve their life chances.

Professor John Bynner at the Institute of Education told us: "I think one message that I always give from this kind of work is that it's never too late to intervene, it's never too early and the earlier the better. To break the cycle of deprivation, then it is a matter for families fundamentally. You start where it begins in the early years of life to provide the maximum support for parents so they can help their children...having the preparation for acquiring the basic skills."

For children who had a really poor grasp of language at age 5 - approximately 15% of all children - improvements in their reading ability by age 10 are associated with better life chances after they have left school when compared to persistent poor readers who show no improvement in their reading by age 10.

Interventions leading to improved reading ability by age 10 should be targeted at measures to increase parental education and parental support for education - but also aiming to increase resources within the primary school environment, such as the introduction of individual tutoring and remedial reading training, as well as improvements in the overall socio-economic mix of the school.

For those who improved their reading by age 10:

• Only 4% of boys repeatedly truant, compared to 11% who remained persistent poor readers at 10.
  
  
• 51% left school at age 16, compared to 81% who remained persistent poor readers at 10.
  
  
• By age 34, only 13% had no qualifications, compared to 35% of those whose reading remained poor at 10.
  
  
• 13% of men had symptoms associated with depression, compared to 26% of poor readers at 10.
  
  
• 17% of women had 3+ children, compared to 30% of persistent poor readers at 10.
  
  
• Average earnings at age 34 for men was £356 per week compared to £317 for persistent poor readers.

The good news is that of those children who demonstrated poor reading at age 5 the majority (61%) developed into competent readers by age 10. Thus, focused interventions could go a long way in improving the life chances of the most disadvantaged children.

Notes

The research used data from the 1970 British Cohort Study and was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council.

For more information on the 1970 British Cohort Study, go to www.cls.ioe.ac.uk

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