New Zealand Ministry of Education Documents

Research Study at St Joseph’s School Otahuhu

In 2007, the Ministry of Education funded a research study1 into the effectiveness of Reading Together. The in-depth study (led by Dr Bryan Tuck) investigated the ongoing implementation (since 2005) of Reading Together at St Joseph’s Primary School, Otahuhu, Auckland. The research revealed:

» statistically significant gains in students’ levels of reading comprehension,

» positive and constructive changes in parents’ relationships with their children, and

» positive shifts in children’s independent reading and relationships between teachers and parents.


The report of the St Joseph’s Otahuhu research study is available for download below (and is also available on Education Counts). Information about the implementation of Reading Together at St Joseph’s is also contained in the article Reading Together: St Joseph's Otahuhu2 (available for download below). Written by Liz Horgan (Principal), Cathy Franich (DP) and Marian Wards (AP), this article describes the successful implementation of Reading Together at St Joseph's and provides feedback from workshop participants. Further information about the implementation of Reading Together at St Joseph's is contained in Home-School Partnership: Reading Together3.

Reading Together: Key features and related research findings

In 2009, a document summarising research evidence relating to Reading Together (1982-2009) was prepared by The Biddulph Group at the request of Group Māori, Ministry of Education National Office, as part of Whānau Engaged in Learning initiatives within Ka Hikitia. The document is available for download below.

Ministry of Education's Leadership Best Evidence Synthesis

In 2009, the Ministry of Education's Best Evidence Synthesis School Leadership and Student Outcomes: Identifying What Works and Why4 reported that:

Reading Together has proven to be a cost-effective intervention to support parents in assisting their children with reading. [p 162]

Further excerpts from the Best Evidence Synthesis follow.

Findings of a meta-analysis of research on the educational impact of making connections between schools, families/whānau, and communities [Figure 24, p 144]:

MOE Leadership BES Figure 24

 Parent intervention (overall effect size = .63)

... One cost-effective New Zealand intervention was developed out of a randomised controlled trial with longitudinal follow-up. An evaluation was commissioned to inform this BES about the ways in which a school leadership team used this intervention to dramatically lift reading achievement in a low-decile school. The intervention involved a smart tool designed to help school leaders support parents to assist their children with reading (see Case 5). [p 146]

A senior management team creates educational connections between school and home

This case explores how one school developed educational connections with its families in a way that had a payoff in terms of impact on student outcomes. ... The case involves the implementation by a senior management team (SMT) of a parent tutoring programme known as Reading Together. Through this programme, schools work with parents to help them develop tutoring skills that have been demonstrated to improve reading comprehension and foster positive parent-child-teacher relationships. The SMT became interested in the programme because it was research-based, the evidence indicated substantially improved outcomes for students, and its demands on resources seemed reasonable in light of the potential gains. [Case 5, pp 236-241]

Note: The Reading Together™ programme is also cited in Chapter 7 (pp 162-164) and Chapter 8 (p 188) of the Best Evidence Synthesis.

Documents

References

1 Tuck, B., Horgan, L., Franich, C. & Wards, M. (2007). School leadership in a school-home partnership: Reading Together at St Joseph’s School Otahuhu. Research and paper completed with the financial support of the Iterative Best Evidence Synthesis Programme and the Pasifika Schooling Improvement Division of the Ministry of Education, Wellington, New Zealand.
2 Horgan, L., Franich, C. & Wards, M. (2007). Reading Together: St Joseph's Otahuhu. Reading Forum NZ, Vol 22, No 1, 35-40.
3 Horgan, L. (2008, Oct). Home-School Partnership: Reading Together. Broadsheet of Good Practice in Integrated Schools, Vol 26, 4.
4 Robinson, V., Hohepa, M., and Lloyd, C. (2009). School Leadership and Student Outcomes: Identifying What Works and Why Best Evidence Synthesis. Wellington: Ministry of Education.