Evaluation of the Plymouth Parent Partnership: SPOKES programme

ISRCTN	ISRCTN13234022
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN13234022
Protocol serial number	N/A
Sponsor	Education Endowment Foundation (UK)
Funder	Education Endowment Foundation (UK)

Submission date: 02/07/2015
Registration date: 21/07/2015
Last edited: 18/12/2017

Recruitment status: No longer recruiting
Overall study status: Completed
Condition category: Other

Prospectively registered

Protocol

Statistical analysis plan

Results

Individual participant data

Plain English summary of protocol

Background and study aims
The aim of the study is to assess how well the Supporting Parents on Kids Education (SPOKES) programme works. SPOKES is a twelve week group intervention that helps parents to develop skills to support their child’s reading. SPOKES has previously been evaluated, focusing on children’s behaviour with some success. There is also evidence that parental behaviours have a large impact on children’s school attainment. This is the first study to look specifically at reading outcomes of SPOKES, although child and parenting behaviours will also be measured.

Who can participate?
Study participants are year 1 children identified as ‘struggling readers’. A struggling reader is defined as having early difficulties in their literacy learning using the previous year’s teacher-completed Early Years Foundation Profile 5+. Parents will be recruited through their child’s school and it is estimated that 720 parents will be recruited through 45 schools.

What does the study involve?
Children will be randomly allocated to one of two groups: either the intervention group or the control group. Where possible, children will be allocated to one group or the other within the school. This is because, being within the same schools, the children will be receiving the same education beyond the SPOKES programme, and children within schools tend to share more similar characteristics than children from different schools.
Parents of the intervention children will receive the SPOKES programme over one term and parents of the control children will receive books returned in their children’s book bags over a ten-week period.
The children (control and intervention) will have their vocabulary assessed in school prior to the programme commencing and their literacy (letter identification, word reading and phonetic awareness) after the end of the programme. At this point programme parents will also complete a questionnaire on parenting behaviours and teachers will complete a questionnaire on child behaviour.

What are the possible benefits and risks of participating?
There are no anticipated risks associated with the intervention given that the programme has been trialed previously. We anticipate primary benefits being an improvement in reading skills.

Where is the study run from?
The programme is based in Plymouth (UK). The study will be in schools in the Plymouth area.

When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for?
June 2012 to August 2015

Who is funding the study?
Education Endowment Foundation (UK)

Who is the main contact?
Dr Louise Tracey

Contact information

Dr Louise Tracey
Scientific

Institute for Effective Education
Berrick Saul Building
University of York
York
YO10 5DD
United Kingdom

ORCID ID	0000-0002-8304-613X

Study information

Primary study design	Interventional
Study design	A two-armed randomised controlled trial, to include 45 schools, with struggling readers randomly allocated to control or intervention within schools.
Secondary study design	Randomised controlled trial
Study type	Participant information sheet
Scientific title	Evaluation of the Plymouth Parent Partnership: Supporting Parents on Kids Education in School (SPOKES) programme – a pupil-level randomised controlled trial
Study acronym	PPP: SPOKES
Study objectives	The aim of the evaluation is to independently assess whether the SPOKES programme, delivered to parents of Year 1 struggling readers leads to improvements in children's reading levels.
Ethics approval(s)	The Education Ethics Committee, University of York, 07/01/2013
Health condition(s) or problem(s) studied	Literacy education
Intervention	Children allocated to intervention or control on a school basis. Parents of intervention children to receive the SPOKES programme. Parents of control children to receive a bag of children's books.
Intervention type	Other
Primary outcome measure(s)	Primary outcomes are related to literacy achievements. 1. Pre-test, the British Picture Vocabulary Scale II (BPVS) (Dunn, Dunn & NfERNelson, 1997), an individually-administered, norm-referenced test of receptive vocabulary for Standard English. 2. Post-tests: Woodcock Reading Mastery Tests – Revised/ Normative Update (WRMT-R/ NU) (Woodcock, 1998) containing individually administered tests of reading. Sub-tests used will measure letter awareness, word recognitions and phonological awareness. To be administered at end of programme and for selected cohorts a six-month follow-up (cohorts 1-5) and a twelve month follow-up (cohorts 1 & 2). 3. Year 1 phonics screening check, a compulsory check carried out in schools in the summer term to assess Year 1 pupils’ phonics decoding skills. To be collected through the National Pupil Database during Summer 2015.
Key secondary outcome measure(s)	1. Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) with impact supplement (Goodman, 1997). This is a behavioural screening questionnaire to measure children’s emotional wellbeing. 2. Parenting Young Children (PARYC) (McEachern et al., 2012), a parenting questionnaire using the subscales supporting positive behavior; proactive and positive parenting were used. Both secondary outcome measures to be collected at immediate post-test, 6 month follow-up (Cohorts 1-5) and 12 month follow-up (Cohorts 1 & 2).
Completion date	31/08/2015

Eligibility

Participant type(s)	Other
Age group	Adult
Sex	All
Target sample size at registration	720
Key inclusion criteria	1. Parents of Year 1 children who have been identified as having early difficulties in their literacy learning using the previous year’s teacher-completed Early Years Foundation Profile 5+ 2. Parents have agreed to (and are able to) participate in the programme if they are selected.
Key exclusion criteria	1. Parents who had already attended the programme or been previously included in the trial 2. Parents whose children match the eligibility criteria but whose parents do not wish to participate
Date of first enrolment	30/06/2012
Date of final enrolment	01/09/2014

Locations

Countries of recruitment

United Kingdom
England

Study participating centre

Institute for Effective Education

Berrick Saul Building
University of York
York
York
YO10 5DD
United Kingdom

Results and Publications

Individual participant data (IPD) Intention to share	No
IPD sharing plan summary	Not expected to be made available
IPD sharing plan

Study outputs

Output type	Details	Date created	Date added	Peer reviewed?	Patient-facing?
Funder report results	results			No	No
Participant information sheet	Participant information sheet	11/11/2025	11/11/2025	No	Yes

Editorial Notes

18/12/2017: publication reference added.