Plain English Summary
Background and study aims
Success for All is a training and support package for primary schools that aims to help them to teach their pupils to read well. It was initially developed in the USA, where it is used by around 1,000 schools. It provides training in both approaches to teaching, such as cooperative learning and synthetic phonics, and school management. Data analysis is frequently undertaken to measure pupils’ progress, and pupils are grouped (and regularly re-grouped) into classes based on their reading ability, not their age. Teachers are provided with structured daily lesson plans and teaching materials. Additional catch-up support, such as computer-assisted learning, is provided to pupils struggling to learn to read. While there is a substantial body of existing evidence of the effectiveness of Success for All both in the US and the UK, it has only been evaluated through one large scale study in the US. There is therefore a need for the conduct of a high-quality study to strengthen the evidence behind the programme and its implementation in the UK context.
Who can participate?
Year 7 pupils (11-12 year olds) in a state secondary school in England.
What does the study involve?
Schools are randomly allocated to either deliver the Success For All approach or continue as normal for two school years. The success of the programme is assessed though literacy tests administered with all pupils at the end of Reception and Year 1.
What are the possible benefits and risks of participating?
Anticipated benefits of taking part are improvements in literacy. There are no anticipated risks of participating.
Where is the study run from?
Queen's University Belfast (UK)
When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for?
January 2013 to December 2016
Who is funding the study?
Education Endowment Foundation (UK)
Who is the main contact?
Dr Andy Biggart
a.biggart@qub.ac.uk
Trial website
https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/evaluation/projects/success-for-all/
Contact information
Type
Scientific
Primary contact
Dr Andy Biggart
ORCID ID
Contact details
School of Education
Queen's University Belfast
69-71 University Street
Belfast
BT7 1HL
United Kingdom
+44 (0)289 097 5946
a.biggart@qub.ac.uk
Additional identifiers
EudraCT number
ClinicalTrials.gov number
Protocol/serial number
1
Study information
Scientific title
Cluster randomised controlled trial evaluation of Success For All
Acronym
Study hypothesis
What is the impact of Success For All on reading outcomes for participating pupils?
Ethics approval
1. School of Education Research Ethics Committee, Queen's University Belfast, March 2014
2. Ethics Committee of the Department of Education, University of York, 04/06/2013
Study design
Cluster randomised controlled trial
Primary study design
Interventional
Secondary study design
Cluster randomised trial
Trial setting
Schools
Trial type
Other
Patient information sheet
Not available in web format, please use the contact details below to request a patient information sheet
Condition
Attainment in literacy
Intervention
Schools are randomly assigned to either deliver the Success For All approach (intervention), or continue as normal (control) for two school years.
Success for All is a training and support package for primary schools that aims to help them to teach their pupils to read well. It was initially developed in the USA. It provides training in both approaches to teaching, such as cooperative learning and synthetic phonics, and school management.
The success of the programme will be assessed though literacy tests administered with all pupils at the end of Reception and Year 1.
Intervention type
Behavioural
Phase
Drug names
Primary outcome measure
Reading - measured using the following subscales from the Woodcock Reading Mastery Test:
1. Letter Identification (measured at end of Reception Year)
2. Word Identification (measured at end of Reception Year)
3. Word Attack (measured at end of Reception Year)
4. Word Identification (measured at end of Year 1)
5. Word Attack (measured at end of Year 1)
6. Passage Comprehension (End of Year 1)
Secondary outcome measures
Key Stage 1 Phonics Check (End of Year 1)
Overall trial start date
01/01/2013
Overall trial end date
31/12/2016
Reason abandoned (if study stopped)
Eligibility
Participant inclusion criteria
Reception class pupils in participating state primary schools
Participant type
Other
Age group
Child
Gender
Both
Target number of participants
1250 pupils in Reception class in 50 primary schools (approx 25 pupils per cluster)
Participant exclusion criteria
Not a Reception class pupil in a participating school
Recruitment start date
01/03/2013
Recruitment end date
30/06/2014
Locations
Countries of recruitment
United Kingdom
Trial participating centre
Queen's University Belfast
School of Education
69-71 University Street
Belfast
BT7 1HL
United Kingdom
Funders
Funder type
Charity
Funder name
Education Endowment Foundation (UK)
Alternative name(s)
Funding Body Type
Funding Body Subtype
Location
Results and Publications
Publication and dissemination plan
The final report will be openly available on the funders website (educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/evaluation/projects/success-for-all/) in early 2017
Intention to publish date
31/03/2017
Participant level data
Stored in repository
Basic results (scientific)
Publication list