ABSTRACT
In 1980, Hewison and Tizard published a paper in which they identified a very important factor in children's reading attainment. Atherley noted that poorer readers were largely wasting their time when they were supposed to be doing silent reading. When 'Shared Reading' was announced by the teacher, within two minutes the children had changed places into pairs - even choosing partners did not prove difficult - and only constructive activity ensued. Keith Topping, working as an educational psychologist in Kirklees, developed the Paired Learning Project in the Huddersfield area of Yorkshire in the early eighties. Swann, finding that some 25% of pupils starting at a comprehensive school were virtually non-readers, set up a system of shared reading in which year 7 pupils were tutored by year 10 pupils, a cross-age scheme. Some interesting peer-tutoring projects have been set up in the Birmingham area.
