Evaluation of the initial effects and implementation of Success For All in England

David Hopkins, Mick Youngman, Alma Harris, Judith Wordsworth

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9 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Success For All is a comprehensive programme for restructuring primary schools where students are ‘at risk’ of not developing functional literacy by the end of Key Stage 1 (age 7 years). The programme was developed at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, USA, and uses research-based approaches to curriculum, instruction, assessment and classroom management, with one-to-one tutoring being provided for those students falling behind in their reading. This paper reports on the initial implementation (September 1997 – March 1998) of the Success For All (SFA) reading/school improvement programme in a family of inner city primary schools in Nottingham, England. The purpose of the research was to provide empirical evidence on the process of implementation of SFA in England, and to assess how such an innovative programme could contribute to the British government’s National Literacy Strategy (DfEE, 1998). The main findings suggest that as a result of initial involvement in the SFA programme, students appear to have made as much progress in one term in reading as they would normally have been expected to make in one year, their motivation, behaviour, attitude to and skills in learning have also increased. Furthermore, teachers claim to have learned a great deal from SFA, particularly about the effective teaching of reading, co-operative teaching strategies and their own professional development. United Kingdom Reading Association 1999.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)257-270
Number of pages14
JournalJournal of Research in Reading
Volume22
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Oct 1999
Externally publishedYes

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