Whole-class approaches for addressing reading underachievement in disadvantaged communities: A comparative study of questioning versus uninterrupted reading

STEVE MURRAY, SEXEY’S SCHOOL, BRUTON, UK JON JAMES, UNIVERSITY OF BRISTOL, UK Introduction In the UK, even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, a quarter of students were shown to have reading ages of 12 years or below, something that adversely affects academic outcomes across the subject spectrum (GL Assessment, 2020). One method of improving reading ability, enhancing comprehension and closing achievement gaps involves teachers reading texts aloud to a class. This approach has been shown to model pronunciation, fluency and prosody, while boosting engagement, curiosity and imagination (Cremin et al., 2022). More specifically, the use of teacher questioning during whole-class reading has been shown as an important strategy for aiding reading comprehension (Willingham, 2006). There is also emerging evidence to suggest that sustained reading of challenging novels to students, rather than interspersing reading with prolonged writing activities, may boost reading ages (Westbrook et al.,