Sooner, Faster, Better Reading for All

Sutton Trust research showed that disadvantaged children were 11.5 months behind advantaged peers in reading by the end of their first year of primary education, and never caught up. By the time these students were completing their GCSE examinations, they were 20 months behind. This book provides a 7-point plan to change this, so that all children, including those with dyslexia, can become readers by the end of Year 1 and critical readers in secondary school. The changes proposed are cost-free, in terms of both money and teachers' time. This book is for educators and their students, early years teachers, English teachers and Special Education Co-ordinators (SENCos) in primary and secondary schools, and in Further Education as well as reading researchers and policy makers. Altogether, the 7-point plan proposed in this book will improve reading fluency, comprehension, and subject attainments across the curriculum, including mathematics.

Diane Montgomery is Professor Emerita of Education at Middlesex University, London, where she was formerly Dean of the Faculty of Education and Performing Arts. She is a qualified and experienced teacher, teacher educator and chartered psychologist. She has authored 45 books, many journal articles, and several chapters in books. She is an acknowledged world expert on giftedness, dual and multiple exceptionality (DME) and underachievement. In 2019, she was awarded the 'Above and Beyond' Lifetime Achievement Award for her contribution to this field. Her associated research on reading and dyslexia, which was primarily concerned with improving teaching and learning, was the subject of her PhD. From 1993 until 2010, she wrote and tutored three distance-learning MA programmes for Middlesex University in special educational needs, specific learning difficulties, and gifted education. She has led the independent Learning Difficulties Research Project since 1981.