High challenge, low threat
Well hello there, and welcome to update #076!
Hello colleague
There can be a tendency to make things too easy for some of our pupils in the mistaken belief that they can’t cope. With the right support, they can.
For example, the Faster Read research from the University of Sussex, found that after 12 weeks, ‘poorer’ readers made 16 months progress in their reading scores. Pupils with higher starting points made an impressive 8.5 months progress.Â
What struck me was the response from some of the pupils when they were asked about why they thought they had done so well: they said that they didn’t need to understand every word, because they could stop and talk about it if needed.Â
They were also keen to find out what happened next! That is because their curiosity had been sparked, and we know that this is a great driver for learning.
This is classic high challenge, low theat.
The other interesting thing was that these ‘poorer’ readers said that they didn’t normally get the chance to do this demanding work, and they relished the chance to do so. So, what is the diet for a lot of our pupils with low starting points? Well, it’s often a diet of phonics, decoding, SPAG and levelled readers. All of which are necessary, but not sufficient.
If we want to improve outcomes for all our pupils, but particularly for those who need it most, there’s a great opportunity to do this by offering them challenging material along with their peers, in an atmosphere of high challenge, accompanied by low threat.
For an example of how one secondary school tried the Faster Read in their context, and with similarly impressive results, you can watch Rob Grover and Richie Slack from the Nene Park Academy talk about how they trialled it in their school and why they decided to roll it out.
And for primary, Gayle Fletcher and Lauren Haines talk about their results from giving the Faster Read a go. They also talk about how they chose the texts and how they included the trial in the timetable.
If you’d like to catch up with my recent reading webinar, you can click the button below.
Until next time
Mary