Since 2005/06, 101,000 children have taken part in the Reading Recovery programme, resulting in a potential benefit of up to £1.2 billion to the UK economy.
The Impact of Reading Recovery ten years after intervention
Every Child a Reader was a flagship project for the KPMG Foundation that targeted some of the most disadvantaged children in the UK.
It began as a three year (2005-2008), £10 million pilot project. It aimed to show that the literacy difficulties affecting many children, particularly the most disadvantaged, could be addressed through a targeted Reading Recovery intervention. The project, led by the KPMG Foundation, was funded through a powerful collaboration of charitable trusts and the government. Supporters included the Department for Children, Schools and Families, Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, The Indigo Trust, JJ Charitable Trust, Man Group plc Charitable Trust, Mercers Company and SHINE.
Key Results
To view the KPMG Foundation's summary of the impact of the programme, click here.
To measure the true impact of the project, Professor Jane Hurry and Dr Lisa Fridkin of UCL Institute of Education tracked the progress of a sample of the children involved. This comprehensive study, The impact of Reading Recovery ten years after intervention, analyses the impact of the Reading Recovery intervention.
The study followed 239 children involved in the original 2006 evaluation. In the initial study, children who received Reading Recovery were compared with matched children who attended similar schools where Reading Recovery was not offered. The research found that the children’s academic achievements in school Years 9 and 11 (age 14 and 16) were significantly improved as a result of the intervention. Key findings include:
The economic benefits of Reading Recovery
Pro Bono Economics was commissioned by the KPMG Foundation to carry out an economic analysis of the costs and benefits of the Reading Recovery programme, drawing on the ten-year findings.
Assuming that the positive effects in the follow up study apply to all 101,000 children supported by Reading Recovery during the evaluation period, the potential benefits of Reading Recovery support to UK society are calculated to be £980-1,200 million.
Key findings include:
Further resources
Assessing the impact of the Reading Recovery Programme – An economic analysis can be found here.
To find out futher information about Reading Recovery please click here.
For further information on Pro Bono Economics please click here.
To read the full press release, please click here.