ISRCTN - ISRCTN46140578: Evaluation of Perry Beeches Academys one-to-one coaching initiative improving reading ability in Year 7 pupils with low reading ability

Plain English Summary

Background and study aims
Perry Beeches Academy have devised a one-to-one literacy coaching initiative in their school and have found it to be successful. The intervention is based on work observed in charter schools in Boston, USA. The system uses recent graduates employed by the school. Participants receive five sessions each fortnight. This is being tried in schools in order to see whether the programme can improve the reading and writing abilities of Year 7 students who currently have low reading and/or writing abilities. Should this research discover that the programme is successful, then it is hoped that the scheme will be offered to other pupils within the school, as well as hopefully being rolled out to other schools in the future.

Who can participate?
Year 7 students with suitably poor reading/writing/English skills can participate in this study.

What does the study involve?
Participants will sit a reading and writing ability test in September 2013, before being randomly allocated to either receive the one-to-one intervention, or to carry on with their normal school curriculum. In July 2014, the students will sit another test to find out whether the programme has improved reading/writing levels above and beyond the improvement gained by the standard curriculum.

What are the possible benefits and risks of participating?
The main benefit to taking part is the chance for pupils to be involved in a new scheme that intends to improve their writing and reading abilities. There are few disadvantages and risks. The reading and writing assessments do take a little time to complete but we will ensure that they are completed with minimal disruption to participants school work. The assessments may feel challenging and some children may feel a little self-conscious about completing them (for example, if their reading is not as good as they would like it to be). However, all results will remain confidential to the research team, and test administrators try to put the participants at their ease throughout.

Where is the study run from?
This study is run in four secondary schools in the UK two in Birmingham, one in Leeds and one in Hove.

When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for?
The study began in January 2013, with the final report due in November 2014.

Who is funding the study?
It is being funded by the Education Endowment Foundation, UK.

Who is the main contact?
Dr Ben Styles
b.styles@nfer.ac.uk

Trial website

Contact information

Type

Scientific

Primary contact

Dr Ben Styles

ORCID ID

Contact details

National Foundation for Educational Research
The Mere
Upton Park
Slough
SL1 2DQ
United Kingdom
+44 (0)1753 637386
b.styles@nfer.ac.uk

Additional identifiers

EudraCT number

ClinicalTrials.gov number

Protocol/serial number

N/A

Study information

Scientific title

Randomised trial of Perry Beeches Academys one-to-one literacy coaching intervention for 11- to 12-year-olds considered to be vulnerable Level 4 English achievers

Acronym

PB

Study hypothesis

The primary research question is: what is the impact of the one-to-one coaching intervention on attainment in reading and writing?
The secondary research question is: are improvements in attainment moderated by having English as an additional language (EAL) or ethnicity? Such interactions may not be causal.

Ethics approval

The pattern of headteacher consent followed by parental opt-out consent was approved by Sarah on behalf of the Code of Practice Committee on 23rd Jan 2013

Study design

Randomised trial with baseline and follow-up reading/writing test

Primary study design

Interventional

Secondary study design

Randomised controlled trial

Trial setting

Other

Trial type

Quality of life

Patient information sheet

Parental consent letters not available in web format; please use the contact details below to request copies

Condition

Struggling readers/low literacy levels

Intervention

The trial will include two experimental groups:
The 384 children will be randomly assigned to one of two groups:
Group 1. One-to-one coaching intervention (academic year 2013-14)
Group 2. Wait-list control (these will receive the intervention in the academic year 2014-15)
Children in group 1 will begin the programme in Sept. 2013; the autumn term of Year 7. Pre-testing will occur before pupils are randomised to avoid knowledge of the intervention affecting the pre-test results. After pre-testing, pupils will be randomised into the two groups within each school.
Baseline testing will occur in September 2013 with follow-up in July 2014.

Intervention type

Other

Phase

Not Applicable

Drug names

Primary outcome measure

The paper Short Form of the Progress in English Test (PiE; GL Assessment) will be used to measure reading and writing ability at baseline. The paper Long Form version of PiE will be used to measure reading and writing ability at follow-up. This latter version also contains open response comprehension questions and writing tasks. All pupils will be tested using PiE at the beginning and end of the intervention, regardless of which study arm they have been allocated to. Baseline testing for this project will occur in September 2013, at the beginning of the new school year. The intervention will continue until the post-test in July 2014.

Secondary outcome measures

No secondary outcome measures

Overall trial start date

01/01/2013

Overall trial end date

30/11/2014

Reason abandoned (if study stopped)

Eligibility

Participant inclusion criteria

Year 7 pupils that are below National Curriculum level 4c in English and/or below level 4c in reading or writing at the end of Key Stage 2.

Participant type

Patient

Age group

Child

Gender

Both

Target number of participants

384

Participant exclusion criteria

1. Year 7 pupils with National Curriculum level 4c or above in Engish, reading and writing at the end of Key Stage 2
2. Parental opt-out

Recruitment start date

01/01/2013

Recruitment end date

30/11/2014

Locations

Countries of recruitment

United Kingdom

Trial participating centre

National Foundation for Educational Research
Slough
SL1 2DQ
United Kingdom

Sponsor information

Organisation

Education Endowment Foundation (UK)

Sponsor type

Charity

Website

http://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/

Funders

Funder type