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“Dear colleagues,

Our main aim is to understand which combination of cognitive and language skills help children to succeed with reading.  The study is being run by Dr Fiona Kyle, Dr Kate Rowley, Dr Katie Mason, Prof Ros Herman and Prof Nikki Botting at DCAL, University College London and City, University of London.

We are conducting a ground-breaking longitudinal study following 100 deaf and 200 hearing children from 8-9 years through to 10-11 years. We will assess them on a range of tasks measuring reading ability, language (BSL and English) and cognitive skills. The research team see children in schools and administer these tests over three or four short sessions each lasting 20-30 minutes. We will then re-asses them again in 12 months and 24 months time. All assessments are very child-friendly and children have enjoyed completing them in our past studies. We will share the test results and the overall findings with the parents/schools. We would be happy to come and present the findings to your team/parents/teachers/school governors at an inset day or similar.

Reading outcomes vary widely, and it is important to understand which language and cognitive factors enable children to become successful readers. We’re focusing on reading comprehension in Key Stage 2. The reason for this is that some children do really well with reading in the early stages and then their progress levels off.  But other children continue to make good progress and become successful readers. We want to understand which combination of skills help children to succeed with reading.

We hope to hear from you soon! Many thank and best wishes,

Dr Fiona Kyle, Dr Kate Rowley, Prof Ros Herman and Dr Katie Mason”