The Magic of 15 Minutes
- heegertutoring
- Jun 3
- 2 min read
Many schools use an innovative online test called STAR Reading with students up to Year 9. Comprising of 40 questions and taken twice a term, it is a quiz in which students are assessed on their levels of literacy including vocabulary, structure and key ideas. It is standardised, so if the kids find the questions too easy they get more difficult, and vice versa if they are struggling. The outcome is a clear and colourful measurement of where they are with their reading comprehension, containing actionable data which prompts students to pick up a book if they want to score higher next time.
Renaissance, the organisation behind the award-winning test, are worth following on social media for their research, including their annual What Kids Are Reading report which outlines the books and authors that are engaging pupils of all ages. Their 2025 report highlights what we should all know: literacy growth has no hacks or shortcuts. The only way is reading. The good news is, with as little as just 15 minutes a day, tangible progress can be made.
The report says: We know that the days are long, but the hours that comprise them can seem surprisingly short. Even if we’re able to motivate our students to keep on reading, how much time per day must students read — must they practice this skill — for it to make a difference? We’ve mined the data to find the answer — and what we’ve found is remarkable. It’s less than an hour per day. It’s less than a half hour. Our data shows that with just 15 minutes of daily reading, students can make great strides in reading achievement.
Click below to download the 2025 report, and book a guided reading session with me for a deep literary dive into any curriculum novel, play, poem or short story.
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