A three‐year longitudinal study of children's reading behaviours: what has been learned?

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Summary Children's reading attainments, attitudes to reading and reading habits are central educational concerns. A three‐year longitudinal study compares the progress on these variables of 324 children, initially aged ten years, attending four middle schools in one English local education authority (Bradford). The city is characterized by declining traditional industries, high unemployment and many related socio‐economic disadvantages. Two schools (deemed experimental) each received approximately 4,500 books in addition to their normal stock and capitation allowance for books. The two matched control schools received no such additional supply of books. Although important changes in reading attainments were found, no simple differential gain consequent on the extra supply of books was identified in relation to either reading attainments or attitudes to reading. The data obtained concerning the number and variety of books read by the children in the four schools over the three years of the research represent a unique record of the development of children's reading habits. It also provides important insights into the development of the reading habits of pupils attending the four schools involved in the research. Case studies of avid and infrequent readers, together with analyses of the policies and practices of the four schools concerning the use of books and the teaching of reading, were carried out. Against this background, the implications of the study for future research in this field and also for the more effective use of books in schools are considered. From the research design perspective, the value of using a range of methodologies in such studies is advocated. From the viewpoint of the classroom teacher wishing to improve the range and quality of children's involvement with books, eight key strategies derived from the thematic analysis of the data are described. In particular, the potential of the Reading Record Forms used in the study is underlined. The technique is one with considerable promise and wide applicability. The key roles of the headteacher and staff in determining the school's policy and practices concerning the use of books is emphasized.