News
The findings of a randomised controlled trial of Business in the Community’s literacy intervention programme Time to Read will be launched today (Wednesday 26 January 2011) at the Ulster Museum, Belfast. The trial, undertaken by the Centre for Effective Education, and funded by Business in the Community with the support of Atlantic Philanthropies, involved 512 P5 children (8-9 year olds) selected from 50 primary schools across Northern Ireland
Time to Read involves an adult employee from a local business spending one hour per week reading with two primary school children on a one-to-one basis with the aim of improving children’s reading skills.
Professor Paul Connolly, Director of the Centre for Effective Education said: “This trial is one of the largest evaluations of its type undertaken internationally and the results provide clear evidence that Time to Read is having a positive effective.
“Our evaluation demonstrates that Time to Read is effective in improving particular reading outcomes for children, namely in relation to the foundational reading skills of decoding, reading rate and reading fluency. The effects it is achieving in these areas are comparable to other international literacy programmes that using volunteer mentors.”
“The impact of this programme since its launch in 1999 is significant,” explains Paul Rooney, Chair of Business in the Community. “Our member companies and businesses across Northern Ireland who have participated in Time to Read have supported over 4,600 children.
“In this year alone Business in the Community has involved over 500 volunteers in 120 schools at a cost of some £600k to Northern Ireland business, representing a huge investment by employers and an immense saving for government, particularly in these tough economic times.
“Since the early days of Time to Read we’ve been aware of the impact of the programme on participating children. Now, through support from The Atlantic Philanthropies and the subsequent involvement of the Centre for Effective Education at Queen’s University, the results of this research prove that the Time to Read model is a clear reflection of the extensive positive contribution businesses can make in improving the outcomes for young people.”
If you would like to find out more about Time to Read, please contact Graeme McKimm, Education Manager, Business in the Community, by e-mail at graeme.mckimm@bitcni.org.uk or call (028) 9046 0606. For more information on Business in the Community, visit our website www.bitcni.org.uk
The full evaluation report is available to download from the Centre for Effective Education’s website at: www.qub.ac.uk/cee (see Publications page). For more information on the evaluation please contact Dr Sarah Miller.