Research shows that having access to engaging reading materials, at the right level, in the right language, both in school and at home, is critical to literacy development, particularly for emergent and early grade readers, but also for more experienced readers as well (1).

The definition of quality will vary depending on the level of the readers you are working with, however broadly, we define quality reading materials as:
-At the right level
-Visually appealing
-Age-appropriate
-Interesting / relevant
-Accessible (particularly to those with sensory disabilities)

Additionally, quality texts often include elements that are not typical of spoken text such as: implied/abstract ideas, layers of meaning, diagrams, tables and images that contain key ideas, a wide range of sentence structures include some complex structures, some complex grammar (such as tense changes, etc), references a diversity of organisational structures (reflecting text types and mixed texts), less common vocabulary (especially where the meaning is supported in context)

It's also important to note that target age group and reading level are not the same when it comes to reading materials. For example, adult readers who are at a beginning level generally will not want to read the same materials as young readers.  Thus, both reading level and age are important to consider.

Pedagogy has been shown to have a significant effect on literacy outcomes. Generally reading instruction should provide a range of practices to accomodate different student needs, explicit instructions around comprehension, and be grounded in established research and best practices in literacy.  Less interactive methods (such as rote instruction, teacher-led recitation) may be prevalent in resource-constrained environments and schools with large class sizes, due to the logistical constraints of deploying more interactive and activity-based methods. While these methods may have some use, deploying a wider range of instructional methods has been shown to be effective.

Teachers are an important gateway to literacy, for both children and adults, and the deployment of effective strategies for teaching literacy has been shown to be among the most impactful educational interventions with regards to literacy development.  As such, teacher coaching and training is an important component of program performance.

An assessment of the appropriateness of the language used in the program is necessary for measuring program performance. For the majority of students in multilingual contexts, the amount of time required to learn the language of instruction (which may be their third or fourth language) is often greatly underestimated.