Executive Summary

Key Findings

• RT:Lits provided support for 4,126 students in 2007. Slightly less than half (44%) of these students received direct regular tutoring, either on an individual basis (29%), in small-groups (12%) or both individually and in small-groups (2%). The remaining 56 percent received indirect in-class support.
• Although RT:Lits predominantly assisted students with reading literacy, a reasonable proportion received assistance with written literacy (especially for directly supported students) and a small number received support for oral language. Students who received individual (direct) tuition were more likely to receive assistance in multiple areas of literacy than students who received indirect in-class support and small-group (direct) tuition.
• Two out of three students receiving RT:Lit support during 2007 were boys. Over half (57%) were NZ European, one-third (35%) were Māori, 7 percent were Pasifika and 3 percent were Asian. The majority of students who received direct support were aged between 7 and 10 years, whereas students who received indirect support were spread more evenly across the 5 to 12 years age range.
• Two out of three students assisted by RT:Lits in 2007 had completed their programme of support by the end of the year. A further one-quarter (24%) of directly supported students and one-third (30%) of indirectly supported students required further assistance from an RT:Lit in 2008. A small proportion of students received an incomplete programme (13% for directly supported students, of which 5% were referred on for further specialist assistance, and 5% for indirectly supported students).
• For both directly and indirectly supported students, girls were more likely than boys to have completed their period of support in 2007. Boys were more likely than girls to have their support continued in 2008.
• As a proportion of students who received direct support, NZ European, Māori and Pasifika students were more likely to have completed their programme of support than Asian students (although care must be taken when interpreting this result due to the low number of Asian students). Additionally, non-ESOL students and those with no prior literacy assistance were more likely to have completed their programme of support than ESOL students and those who had prior experience with Reading Recovery or other literacy programmes.
• For students who received indirect support, Asian, Pasifika and Māori students were more likely to have completed their programme of support than NZ European students (who were more likely to be continued through to 2008). Also for those who received indirect support, a drop in the proportion of students who completed their period of support was observed across the mid-range ages (7 to 9 years). This was coupled with a rise in the proportion who were continued through to 2008.
• There was evidence of a shift in age-based reading levels for students who completed regular (direct) tutoring. On entry, two-thirds (67%) of these students were reading at levels below 7 years (age-based reading levels). Upon exit however, less than one-third (29%) were reading at these levels.