Effective Reading Programmes in the Junior School: How some schools produce high literacy levels at Year 3

Thirteen schools that produced high mean literacy scores, relative to their decile levels, in a nationwide survey were visited and studied to identify practices that might account for their students’ strong showing. Principals and teachers of Years 1 and 2 described their reading and language programmes and attempted to identify the key factors in their students’ success. These factors are discussed and a profile of a typical effective junior-class reading teacher is outlined.