Pamela Owen has worked as a primary teacher and as a secondary English teacher before moving into literacy research at the Centre for Formative Assessment Studies, School of Education, University of Manchester. Here she worked on the development of a literacy assessment scheme and then moved into the development of SAT English material for the STAIR Consortium. From 1991 she has been senior lecturer at St Martin’s College with responsibility for the design and delivery of reading and language courses in ITT and PGCE courses. She has run several courses on reading for serving teachers and was conference coordinator of the 1993 International Reading Conference held in Lancaster. Peter Pumfrey is Professor of Education and Head of the Centre for Educational Guidance and Special Needs at the University of Manchester. He is a qualified and experienced teacher having been employed in mainstream schools and Remedial Education Services for fourteen years prior to training and working as an LEA educational psychologist.