One in five pupils enter secondary school with below expected reading skills

One in five children enter secondary school with their reading or vocabulary skills two years or more behind expected levels, according to the Reading and Vocabulary project.

Weaknesses in reading proficiency, vocabulary or comprehension each require different types of support, but tests typically used in school fail to differentiate between them.

The researchers say that increased monitoring and more targeted support for reading and vocabulary are needed in upper primary and secondary schools.

They also call for better continuity between primary and secondary school basic skills curricula to help students make a successful transition.

The Reading and Vocabulary project tracked 598 children from age 10-13, testing their reading skills at five points during their transition from primary to secondary school and over the following summer holidays. The study involved children from 16 primary schools and 53 secondary schools in Birmingham, just over half of whom were girls.

The team looked at whether the summer between primary and secondary schools was any different to other summers in terms of children’s development in reading and vocabulary.

Secondary school teachers often report that children’s attainment in their first year is below what would be expected from their national curriculum test (SATs) results in year 6. This has led to the theory of a slump in attainment during the transition from primary to secondary school.

In fact, the Reading and Vocabulary project found that children’s development followed a similar pattern in all summers. Children continued to learn everyday vocabulary at the same rate all year round (words like adjustable, citrus, foundation), but their learning of specialist vocabulary linked to the curriculum slowed down each summer, compared to during the school year (words like hibernate, periscope, translucent).

Study lead, Dr Laura Shapiro, reader in the School of Psychology at Aston University, said: “Our results show that the issue is not a slump in attainment, but a jump in expectations. In secondary school, students need to learn a wide range of vocabulary, across different subject areas taught by specialist teachers.

"If students don’t have the reading proficiency to learn in this new environment, then that presents a barrier to accessing the secondary curriculum. Closer coordination between primary and secondary schools, such as a basic skills curriculum that continues through the transition, could help to mitigate this.”