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NATIONAL YEAR OF READING WILL INSTIL A PASSION FOR READING IN CHILDREN OF ALL AGES - ED BALLS
28 November 2007

PIRLS shows that English children are reading less outside of school and that brighter children’s performance has dropped since 2001

Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, Ed Balls, called today for all parents to get their children to read more at home as they grow up, and announced £5m for libraries to give free books to local nurseries - as an international study of children’s reading showed that England’s ten year olds are reading fewer novels and stories outside of school than in 2001.

PIRLS (Progress in International Reading Literacy Study) 2006, and the PIRLS report for England, ‘Readers and reading: the national report from England’, by the independent National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) were both published today.

PIRLS highlights:

• that the amount of reading overall outside school has fallen;

• that 37 per cent of our ten year olds play computer games for more than three hours a day. This has increased since 2001 and is one of the highest proportions internationally;

• the link between high use of computer games and lower attainment in PIRLS; and

• that children in England read for pleasure less often than their peers in other countries. There is a strong link between the amount of reading for pleasure and their achievement in PIRLS tests.

The PIRLS report for England shows that while our score is still well above the international average, it has fallen since 2001. It says “it is lower achievement among the better readers that has contributed most to the overall fall rather than the small increase in the proportion of weaker readers”.

Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, Ed Balls, said:

“Today’s PIRLS reports tell the same story as we’re hearing in our consultation on the Children’s Plan. Parents are worried about striking the right balance between play, reading, TV and computer games at home.

“This study shows that our highest achieving children are reading less, with children’s busy days leaving less time for books at home. As parents we have to get the balance right and as a society we have to send the right messages about the value of reading to our children.

“We have brought in phonics across the primary curriculum, and introduced one-to-one tuition and small group schemes like Every Child a Reader for children who need extra help with literacy at school. But PIRLS shows that it’s our more confident readers who need more encouragement from parents to read in their free time; it’s outside school and in children’s attitudes where we have seen more changes since 2001.”

PIRLS shows a significant increase since 2001 in English ten year olds who had the ‘least positive’ attitudes to reading and says that “the proportion of children who reported that they very seldom read stories or novels outside school increased significantly between 2001 and 2006 in England.”

Ed Balls added:

“Today’s ten year olds have more choice than in 2001 about how they spend their free time; most of them have their own TVs and mobiles, and 37 per cent of our ten year olds are playing computer games for three hours or more a day – more than in most countries in the study.

“That’s why I’m calling today for everyone’s help to get our children reading more and to kick-start a new national debate about the value of reading. We all need to help our children of all ages to see that reading can bring fun to their lives, feed their imagination, and develop their curiosity about the world.

“Next year’s National Year of Reading is a great opportunity to get reading back on families’ agenda and provide help and encouragement for parents and children alike.”

The scale score for England in PIRLS 2006 was 539. This compares to a scale score of 565 for the Russian Federation, the highest achieving country, and 302, the scale score of South Africa, the lowest achieving country.

In the three countries that topped the PIRLS performance table in 2001 – England, Sweden and the Netherlands - overall scores have dropped significantly because their more able readers performed less well in 2006. The Department has asked NFER to carry out further research on this point.

The report also says:

• “Sweden and the Netherlands also demonstrated a similar pattern” (i.e. lower achievement among the better readers contributed most to these countries’ overall fall in score).

• “(The data) suggests that it is lower achievement among the better readers that has contributed most to the overall fall rather than the small increase in the proportion of weaker readers”.

• “On average, children in England reported less frequent reading for pleasure outside school than children in many other countries: just a third of children reported reading for fun on a daily basis.”

Ed Balls added:

“Reading needs to be as much a part of kids’ routines as brushing their teeth and having a bath. Families need to keep reading together as children move towards secondary school, encouraging them to move on to longer books with chapters. There are plenty of easy ways to do this - reading Harry Potter aloud around the family, listening to your eight-year old read for ten minutes a day before bed, playing word games in the car or doing a crossword together. Reading together and talking about stories gives children confidence in their abilities, so that they will see reading as fun and choose to do it in their free time.

“We are already reaching out to families, with free books for babies, young children and 11-year-olds. As part of next year’s National Year of Reading, we will do more for the 8 per cent of children who have no books at home, and for those families who find reading a challenge. Reading doesn’t have to be expensive. With well-stocked school and public libraries, and free newspapers through the door, there are plenty of resources available.

“Above all, we need all our children to be reading because they love it - not because their parents or teachers force them to, or because politicians like me say it’s important. There is a direct link between how much children enjoy reading and how well they can read, and these reports show that children’s attitudes have changed since 2001. This is a problem that we all need to address.

“We will provide leadership, support and funding, but it’s parents – both of the brightest children and the most reluctant readers – who can really make a difference to the way our nation’s children feel about reading.”

Building on schemes which already exist to encourage reading, such as Booked Up (which provides free books for Year 7 pupils) and Boys into Books, Ed Balls also announced today that under a new scheme, Book Ahead, public libraries will be given up to half a million free books to make up book boxes for local nurseries, as part of a £5 million drive to get more under 5s - especially boys - into reading early.

Book Ahead means that public libraries will be able to choose free books from a brand new list drawn up by the School Library Association. Libraries will prepare special book boxes to loan out to local nurseries. The boxes will be full of bright new picture books, classics, stories to read aloud and tips for parents to help their young children become familiar with books.

On Book Ahead he added:

“Our programme of free books for secondary schools has been a huge success. That’s why we have decided to extend this. We must get young children into reading as early as possible – particularly boys and their dads.

“Early exposure to books affects early learning. A child from a deprived home has heard just 13 million words by the age of four, compared to 45 million in a more affluent home. What starts as a problem with vocabulary rapidly turns into a problem with reading, writing and comprehension, leading to poor exam results.

“Book Ahead will kick off the National Year of Reading. It’s just one part of our drive to change the reading culture in this country for the long term.”

Kathy Lemaire, Chief Executive of the School Library Association, said:

"We know that the earlier children learn to enjoy books the better their literacy skills are likely to be throughout their lives. We’re keen to get information about excellent and enjoyable new books to all those places where babies and young children are likely to be able to enjoy them and we’re delighted that this booklist, Riveting Reads: Book Ahead, will contribute to early years professionals’ knowledge of such books and ways of sharing them with babies and young children."

,

Editor's Notes
This press notice relates to 'England'
• Copies of the full England report are available to download at:www.nfer.ac.uk/PIRLS

• Copies of the international report from IEA are available at http://www.iea.nl/pirls2006.html#c97

• For media enquiries please call DCSF press office on 020 7925 5261 / 020 7925 6789

• As a result of an increased number and different mix of countries participating in PIRLS 2006, a country’s ranking may be lower despite there being no statistically significant difference in their scale scores in the two studies.

• England’s fall in the mean (average) scale score is from 553 in 2001 to 539 in 2006. Sweden, the Netherlands and Bulgaria, the other top-four countries in 2001, also saw falls in 2006.

The Department funds many schemes to encourage reading in school and out. These include:

• 50,000 free books were sent out this year to more than 2,500 secondary schools as part of Boys into Books – an initiative with the School Library Association to encourage more teenage boys to read for pleasure. The top choice was Jeremy Clarkson’s I Know You Got Soul; other popular titles were The Boys’ Book: How To Be Best At Everything by Dominique Enright and Guy MacDonald, Anthony Horowitz’s supernatural thriller Nightrise and Tom Becker’s Darkside.

• Booked Up is providing free books to all Year 7 pupils in England this autumn, aiming to encourage enthusiasm about reading for pleasure. Every 11 year old will be able to choose their own free book from a list sent to their school.

• Booktime is providing a book pack to every Reception Year pupil in England in autumn 2007 to promote the pleasure of reading and encourage parents and carers of children in Reception classes to read aloud with their children.

• Bookstart provides book packs to all babies, toddlers, and three year olds in England. The scheme encourages parents to share books, story telling and rhymes with their babies and toddlers.

• The National Reading Campaign promotes reading for pleasure throughout the whole community. Reading Connects which supports schools in developing a reading culture; Reading Champions which uses the motivational power of male reading role models to inspire other boys and men to read more; and the Family Reading Campaign encourages reading in the home.

• National Curriculum tests show clear improvements in reading since 1997, measured on a consistent basis and independently validated, using a wider range of questions which test at different ages and in different ways from PIRLS questionnaires.


KEY FINDINGS FROM THE REPORT

The PIRLS report for England says that:

On England’s performance:

• “The scale score for England in PIRLS 2006 was 539. This compares to a scale score of 565 for the Russian Federation, the highest achieving country, and 302, the scale score of South Africa, the lowest achieving country.”

• “Pupils in England achieved significantly above the international mean (average) in PIRLS 2006.”

• “The performance of the three highest attaining countries in 2001, Sweden, the Netherlands and England, was significantly lower in 2006.”

• “As a result of an increase in the number of countries participating in PIRLS 2006, a country’s ranking may be considerably lower despite no significant difference in their scale scores in the two studies.”

On the reasons why England’s average scale score has dropped:

• “There is not only a smaller proportion of pupils reaching the highest (Advanced) benchmark (a significant fall from 20 per cent to 15 per cent), but there are significantly smaller proportions of pupils in the middle of the distribution reaching the High and Intermediate International Benchmarks.”

• “(The data) suggests that it is lower achievement among the better readers that has contributed most to the overall fall rather than the small increase in the proportion of weaker readers”.

• “Sweden and the Netherlands also demonstrated a similar pattern” (i.e. lower achievement among the better readers contributed most to these countries’ overall fall in score).

On children’s attitudes to reading and how this affects attainment:

• “Attitudes to reading of 10-year-old children in England are poor, and have declined slightly since 2001. Girls are generally more positive than boys.”

• “In England and most other countries, there is a positive association between attitude to reading and reading attainment.”

• “Children in England had less positive attitudes to reading than children in most other countries and that their attitudes were somewhat poorer than in 2001.”

• “Of particular concern is the 15 per cent of children in the sample for England who had the least positive attitudes, a significant increase from 2001. This is one of the highest proportions in all the 2006 participating countries.”

• “Pupils with the most positive attitudes to reading were more likely to do well on the PIRLS reading assessments.”

On reading for pleasure and reading outside school:

• “There appears to be a tendency for the amount of reading overall (outside school) to be declining.”

• “Children in England tended to report reading for pleasure less frequently than their peers in many other countries. There is a strong association between the amount of reading for pleasure children reported and their reading achievement.”

• “There has been a significant fall in the proportion of children in England reading stories and novels on a daily basis. The proportion of children who reported that they very seldom read stories or novels outside school increased significantly between 2001 and 2006 in England.”

• “On average, children in England reported less frequent reading for pleasure outside school than children in many other countries: just a third of children reported reading for fun on a daily basis.”

• “England has the greatest difference between the mean attainment of the children who read for pleasure on a daily basis (mean scale score 575) and those who read on a weekly basis (mean scale score 537), a difference of 38 points.”

• “On average, girls in England read stories and novels more frequently than boys.”

On gender:

• “The difference between boys’ and girls’ performance in England was, at 19 scale points, slightly greater than the international average (17 points).”

• “There is a large and highly significant difference in the proportions of boys and girls in England who claimed to read stories or novels every day. This includes 41 per cent of girls but just 23 per cent of boys.”

• “A quarter of boys said they never read stories or novels out of school, compared to 10 per cent of girls. Boys in the sample from England had significantly less positive attitudes to reading than girls.”

• “In responding to the statement ‘I enjoy reading’, 83 per cent of girls agreed either ‘a lot’ or ‘a little’ whereas just 67 per cent of boys were in agreement…in response to the statement ‘Reading is boring’, 73 per cent of girls disagreed, compared to 59 per cent of boys.”

• “Girls in England reported reading aloud and listening to someone read at home more frequently than boys.”

• “Girls were more likely to undertake reading activities inside and outside school than boys, and to gain greater enjoyment from reading and have higher confidence. Conversely, boys were more likely to report reading comic books, newspapers and magazines, to read on the computer and to watch television.”

On activities that compete with reading for pleasure in children’s free time:

• “The amount of time spent playing computer and video games has increased and is amongst the highest internationally. 37 per cent of children in England who reported playing computer or video games for more than three hours a day constitute one of the highest proportions among the participating countries.”

• “Spending this amount of time playing computer and video games was associated with lower attainment on the PIRLS assessment, in England and most other countries.”

• “9–10 year-olds were considerably more likely to use computers for playing games than for reading on the internet and…spending three or more hours doing either was associated with lower reading attainment”

• “The amount of television viewing reported by 10-year-olds in England was largely unchanged from 2001 to 2006.”

On children’s home environment and possessions:

• “Access at home to a computer, a desk or table to study at, books of their own and a daily newspaper were all strongly associated with higher achievement in PIRLS.”

• (Compared to 2001) “a lower proportion reported having a desk or table to work at (75 per cent compared with 89 per cent);” This was “just below the international average of 80 per cent and considerably lower than in most other northern and western European countries”.

• “About the same proportion of children in England did not possess any books of their own (eight per cent) as did not have a computer at home (seven per cent).”

• (Compared to 2001) “a slightly lower proportion reported having (any) books of their own at home (92 per cent compared with 96 per cent)”

• (Compared to 2001) “a slightly higher proportion of children reported having a computer at home (93 per cent in 2006 compared with 85 per cent); a slightly lower proportion reported…having a daily newspaper (66 per cent compared with 78 per cent).”

• “Almost two-thirds of children in PIRLS in England reported having their own mobile phone: this was negatively associated with achievement on the PIRLS tests. Possession of their own television (72 per cent of children from England) was also negatively associated with achievement.”

Contact Details
Public Enquiries 0870 000 2288, info@dcsf.gsi.gov.uk

Press Notice 2007/0224

 
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