READING ALOUD AND EQUITY

Introduction: Is it possible to act on the predictive power, with respect to school success, of initial skills to restore equity in classrooms? The national project Leggimi ancora (by Giunti, University of Perugia and LaAV) aimed at experimenting with reading aloud by teacher as a daily and intensive practice at school. The purpose was to promote the empowerment of cognitive and emotional domains and to reduce learning imbalances. Methods: The sample consisted of students from primary schools in Turin, Modena and Lecce. In each school, experimental classes were involved that followed a defined protocol for up to 100 consecutive days of reading aloud. Experimental classes were compared to control classes that only carried out ex ante and ex post measurements, continuing with the traditional teaching activity. Both groups were subjected to standardised, individually administered instruments (CAS; WISC IV) in order to investigate cognitive, language and reading comprehension skills. Statistical analysis was conducted with MANOVA. Results: The results of the experimental classes, compared to the control ones, were significantly different, showing an increase in general cognitive functioning and linguistic and verbal comprehension skills. Conclusions and discussion: The analysis of the data made it possible to highlight the numerous benefits of systematic reading aloud in the classroom by a teacher, prompting reflection on a possible rethink of traditional teaching.