A selection of our literacy work

Reading Together^® Programme

Reading Together® is a gold standard, research-based workshop programme which helps parents/whānau to provide effective support for their children's reading. Learn More

NZRA Conference Paper: Teacher-Parent Partnership to Support Children's Reading Development

This paper was written by Jeanne Biddulph and presented to the New Zealand Reading Association Annual Conference, Christchurch, May 1993. The paper explores reasons for the reading difficulties which some children experience, outlines a programme which helps parents to support their children's reading, summarises ways in which the programme has been extended and analyses factors that contribute to the success of the programme. Issues relating to cultural difference are also considered. SOURCE: A PDF of this Paper is available here.

NZARE Conference Paper: Assisting parents to help their children with reading at home

This paper was written by Jeanne Biddulph and Dr Bryan Tuck and presented to the New Zealand Association for Research in Education Annual Conference, Wellington, December 1983. The paper reports on the effectiveness of a group programme designed to assist parents of children with reading difficulties to help their children with reading at home. The paper outlines the training programme, describes the experimental research design of the study (the samples, quantitative and qualitative instruments used) and reports on the results. Statistical analysis of the data revealed that three months after the workshops began, when measured against the comparison group, the 'target' group of 24 children made significantly greater gains in reading attainment. In follow-up testing 12 months later the 'target' children maintained significant gains. Learn More

MA Research Report: A group programme to train parents of children with reading difficulties to tutor their children at home

The purpose of the study was to develop a parent-tutoring programme in reading that would enable parents to work independently as reading tutors of their own children; would enable 9 to 10-year-old low-progress readers to increase their reading achievement significantly; and would have the potential to be implemented by teachers and other interested professionals. The report details the theoretical basis of the study, the method used (including the samples, instruments, statistical analyses, processes of the programme and the training programme for the parents). Results from attainment testing, parent questionnaires, parent interviews, child interviews, case studies and participant observation are presented and discussed. The research results indicated that children whose parents attended the workshops made significant gains in reading attainment compared with the children in the control group, and that during the period of the study the treatment children made better than average progress in reading. Also, the treatment group children developed more positive attitudes toward reading and began to read more independently and regularly. The parents of these children reported that they enjoyed participating in the training programme, and gained satisfaction from tutoring their children and from the improved family relationships which also resulted from the programme. Learn More

Guided Reading: Grounded in Theoretical Understandings

Guided Reading: Grounded in Theoretical Understandings was written by Jeanne for Learning Media Ltd, Wellington, when Learning Media was developing Steps to Guided Reading: A Professional Development Course for Grades 3-5. The course has been implemented widely in the US, and Learning Media has also published Jeanne's article in The Guided Reading Approach: Theory and Research. SOURCE: A PDF of this Article is available here.