32 boys gain 15 months in reading age after 12-week no-pressure book club
A trial from October 2024 to February 2025 tested a new kind of book club with no expectation to read. The focus was on conversation and book talk in a relaxed setting. One school measured reading ages for 32 boys before and after using STAR Reading Assessment data. Their reading ages grew by an average of one year and three months. That compares with five months for their year group overall. The study involved 17 school libraries across the UK, from the Shetlands to Torquay, and more than 400 children. Of those who took part, 84 percent said it was worthwhile and 60 percent reported being more interested in books and reading afterward.
The approach more than doubled typical reading progress for one group of struggling readers. A free toolkit now allows other schools to try the same method.
Source: New Social Reading Spaces Toolkit (sla.org.uk).
Written by the HappyGood desk from the primary source linked above and checked against it. Every story links its source. Corrections: [email protected].
More from the archive
- Bringing back the American chestnut: four approaches to a forest giant's return October 14, 2026
- 5 search and rescue teams, RCMP find stranded person in canyon above Penticton October 14, 2026
- Mackenzie Macdonald, 16, heads to the Youth Olympics for Australia in taekwondo October 13, 2026
- Parksville festival volunteers help deliver record $89,270 donation October 12, 2026
- Police fetch antivenom as three Blue Mountains rescues unfold in a day October 12, 2026