Monitoring Reading Standards in Year 6: a 7‐year cross‐sectional study

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Abstract
This article assesses the value of looking closely at reading scores of cohorts of children in order to pinpoint where, within the groups, attainment is rising, falling or static. This article analyses the reading standards of seven cohorts of Year 6 children from five randomly selected primary schools within one local education authority (LEA) (n = 1293). The results of this cross‐sectional study of a sample of Year 6 children are presented. Examination of the means of the standardised comprehension scores for each cohort reveals a significant fall in attainment between Cohorts 1 (1989) and 6 (1994) and between Cohorts 1 and 7 (1995). This drop was not due to a general fall in standards. The cause was the result of a growth of the percentage of children who scored less than 85 at the lower end and to the decrease in the percentage of children who scored more than 115 at the top end. This paper re‐emphasises the need to look critically at reading standards data if best use is to be made of educational resources in the attempt to raise the nation's reading standards.