Chatterbooks showed no statistically significant effect on reading ability among Year 7 pupils below Level 4, with a slightly negative point estimate¶
Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · causalr3·q3·i0negligible
Currency · newest study 2014 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person
Subclaims¶
Reading the evidence codes
q is the design tier, i the impact, n the sample, and the kind with its r
the rigour judged within that kind: what each code means.
This claim: no standardized effect is recorded in observations/ for it yet, so no benchmark reading is possible.
q3 i0 Chatterbooks had no statistically significant effect on reading ability at second follow-up (Hedges' g = -0.14, 95% CI -0.31 to 0.03), so the effect is indistinguishable from zero. → Styles 2014
Evidence¶
Styles 2014¶
Styles, B., Clarkson, R., & Fowler, K. (2014). Chatterbooks: Evaluation Report and Executive Summary. Education Endowment Foundation. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED581155
q3 · i0 · causal · r3
Three-arm pupil-randomised controlled trial in 12 secondary schools; 577 Year 7 pupils randomised to Chatterbooks, Chatterbooks Plus or waitlist control. The primary outcome was the GL Assessment NGRT composite reading score; the Chatterbooks vs control effect size was "-0.14" with a confidence interval passing through zero, based on 159 analysed pupils.
"The headline findings suggest that Chatterbooks and Chatterbooks Plus had a slightly negative impact on reading ability with effect sizes of -0.14 and -0.01 respectively. However, they are not statistically significant, suggesting that the difference in outcomes between the control and intervention group occurred by chance."
Discussion¶
Learner Variables¶
- Reading and Language — outcome: instruction changes it
Related Claims¶
- Chatterbooks Plus showed no statistically significant effect on reading ability, with an effect size indistinguishable from zero — related
- Neither intervention showed a statistically significant effect for free-school-meal pupils — related
- Secondary outcomes (sentence completion and passage comprehension subscales) showed no significant effects for either intervention — related
- The Quest programme showed no statistically significant effect on Year 7 reading comprehension, with a small negative point estimate (Hedges g = -0.04) — related
- Neither NGRT secondary outcome (sentence completion or passage comprehension) showed a statistically significant effect of Rhythm for Reading — related
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