Literacy for life: evaluating the National Literacy Trust’s bespoke programme for schools

ABSTRACT

This paper presents an evaluation of “Literacy for Life” (LfL) – a whole-school literacy programme, implemented in five secondary schools in England. The aims of LfL were to improve literacy attainment and to promote positive attitudes to reading and writing. However, when compared to other schools, there is little or no evidence that being in a LfL school, had any differential benefit for pupils’ attainment. In LfL schools, the gap for disadvantaged pupils and those with SEN grew in the early years of the intervention. There is also no evidence from repeated surveys that pupils’ attitudes to and enjoyment of reading showed any improvement. As such, LfL did not achieve its intended objectives. This matters because, despite limited evidence in its favour, schools continue to use it and programmes similar to it. We argue that programmes such as LfL, which are implemented on a whole-school level, need to be based upon evidence-informed approaches.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Literacy Trust.

Notes on contributors

Rebecca Morris

Rebecca Morris is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Education Studies at the University of Warwick. Her research interests include education and social policy, teaching and teacher education, literacy, and widening participation. 

Beng Huat See

Beng Huat See is Professor of Education Research at Durham University. She is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and the Wolfson Research Institute for Health and Wellbeing. Her research expertise is in the synthesis of research evidence and evaluations of education programmes and government policies.

Stephen Gorard

Stephen Gorard is is Professor of Education and Public Policy, and Fellow of the Wolfson Research Institute at Durham University, and Honorary Professorial Fellow at the University of Birmingham. His work concerns the robust evaluation of education as a lifelong process, focused on issues of equity and effectiveness.

Nadia Siddiqui

Nadia Siddiqui is an Associate Professor in the School of Education at Durham University. She researches issues relating to education, poverty and inequalities both in the UK and internationally.