tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/reading-instruction-14768/articlesReading instruction – The Conversation2024-02-12T19:04:31Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2228462024-02-12T19:04:31Z2024-02-12T19:04:31ZChanges are coming to Ontario’s kindergarten program — what parents and caregivers need to know<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574435/original/file-20240208-24-5pusnq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=14%2C592%2C4927%2C2697&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">'Back to basics' language used by the government distracts from the importance of continuously updating and revising curriculum. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Allison Shelley/The Verbatim Agency for EDUimages)</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce recently announced Ontario’s full-day kindergarten program is undergoing an <a href="https://www.cp24.com/news/ontario-announces-overhaul-of-kindergarten-curriculum-1.6738400">“overhaul” which will help “to create more systemic approaches to reading instruction and the introduction, in a very basic way, of mathematical skills and numeracy skills</a>.”</p>
<p>What do these proposed changes mean for educators, parents and children? </p>
<p>The proposed revisions must be considered and understood in the context of 1) <a href="https://www.dcp.edu.gov.on.ca/en/curriculum/kindergarten">the current full-day play-based kindergarten curriculum</a>, and 2) <a href="https://www.ohrc.on.ca/en/right-to-read-inquiry-report">recommendations and research that emerged from Ontario’s Right to Read report</a>, released in February 2022, stemming from an inquiry of the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC). </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.ohrc.on.ca/sites/default/files/Right%20to%20Read%20Executive%20Summary_OHRC%20English_0.pdf">Right to Read inquiry</a> revealed Ontario’s public education system was not using evidence-based approaches to teach children with reading disabilities (and others) how to read. The education minister also said curricular updates are in keeping with <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/right-to-read-inquiry-report-literacy-ontario-1.6378408">the Right to Read report’s recommendations</a>.</p>
<p>While the province says kindergarten updates will be <a href="https://news.ontario.ca/en/release/1004097/ontario-unveils-a-back-to-basics-kindergarten-curriculum">combined with “hands-on and play-based learning</a>” there are concerns that play-based aspects of the curriculum — also grounded in <a href="https://theconversation.com/full-day-kindergarten-the-best-of-what-we-imagined-is-happening-in-classrooms-112602">evidence-based approaches to child development</a> — could be impacted by curricular revisions.</p>
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<img alt="A child seen holding a book." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574439/original/file-20240208-18-9w9ojl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574439/original/file-20240208-18-9w9ojl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574439/original/file-20240208-18-9w9ojl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574439/original/file-20240208-18-9w9ojl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574439/original/file-20240208-18-9w9ojl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574439/original/file-20240208-18-9w9ojl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574439/original/file-20240208-18-9w9ojl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Curricular updates are in keeping with the Ontario Human Rights Commission’s Right to Read report recommendations.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Piqsels)</span></span>
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<h2>Teaching reading isn’t basic</h2>
<p>The “back to basics” language used in the province’s kindergarten announcement is intentionally and strategically tied to Premier Doug Ford’s promise in his <a href="https://ontariopc.ca/">election campaign</a> and is a slogan that Ford (and his team) have <a href="https://www.thestar.com/politics/provincial/premier-doug-ford-says-education-is-going-back-to-the-basics/article_50d11e2c-871b-5818-9c8d-c4aa33b6bc47.html">continued to use since becoming premier</a>. </p>
<p>It is not surprising that this political strategy is being used to market updates to the kindergarten program. </p>
<p>However, this language distracts from the importance of continuously updating and revising curriculum across the kindergarten to Grade 12 education sector. </p>
<p>It’s also important to note that the phrase “basics” is contradictory to what we know about the science of reading: teaching reading is anything but basic and <a href="https://www.aft.org/ae/summer2020/moats">involves understanding reading psychology and development, understanding language structure, applying evidence-based practices and using validated and reliable assessments to inform teaching</a>. </p>
<h2>Ontario’s full-day play-based kindergarten</h2>
<p>The current kindergarten curriculum has been in effect following a 2010 public policy shift. <a href="https://childcarecanada.org/resources/issue-files/resources/issue-files/resources/issue-files/resources/issue-files/resources">Based on recommendations from Ontario’s special advisor on early learning</a>, <a href="https://www.hdsb.ca/Documents/FDK-Parent-Fact-Sheet.pdf">in 2010 Ontario</a> began phasing in full-day play-based kindergarten for all four- and five-year old children. </p>
<p>This shift was also informed by <a href="https://www.oise.utoronto.ca/home/sites/default/files/2023-10/6-2014_-_ontario_s_full-day_kindergarten_a_bold_public_policy_initiative.pdf">interviews, focus groups and published scientific research on early learning</a>.</p>
<p>Essential to the <a href="https://www.ontario.ca/document/kindergarten-program-2016">revised kindergarten program</a> was the play-based structure of the full-day program. So was the delivery of the model by a <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-team-approach-makes-full-day-kindergarten-a-success-113339">teaching team</a> of an Ontario certified teacher and a registered early childhood educator. </p>
<p>Decisions to revise the earlier half-day kindergarten program acknowledged and leveraged research on the <a href="https://theconversation.com/kindergarten-scrapbooks-arent-just-your-childs-keepsake-theyre-central-to-learning-117066">value of play</a> and its role in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/rev3.3097">supporting academic, social and emotional development</a>. </p>
<p>It is important to note that <a href="https://files.ontario.ca/books/edu_the_kindergarten_program_english_aoda_web_oct7.pdf">misconceptions exist about play-based learning</a>, including the belief that play-based learning means letting children do whatever they want. Evidence-based play-based learning <a href="https://files.ontario.ca/books/edu_the_kindergarten_program_english_aoda_web_oct7.pdf">“…involves educators being deliberate and purposeful in creating play-based learning environments</a>.” </p>
<p>Furthermore, play is a basic human right of all children as recognized in the <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/convention-rights-child">United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child</a>. The revised play-based model in Ontario had (and continues to have) both empirical and philosophical grounds.</p>
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<img alt="An educator seen at a table with children with musical instruments." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574443/original/file-20240208-22-4mox38.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574443/original/file-20240208-22-4mox38.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574443/original/file-20240208-22-4mox38.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574443/original/file-20240208-22-4mox38.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574443/original/file-20240208-22-4mox38.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574443/original/file-20240208-22-4mox38.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574443/original/file-20240208-22-4mox38.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Educators are involved in the purposeful creation of play-based learning environments.‘</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
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<h2>The OHRC Right to Read report</h2>
<p>Changes to the above model are now being made in response to recommendations from the Right to Read inquiry. </p>
<p>The inquiry’s report includes 157 recommendations directly tied to addressing systemic issues affecting children’s right to read. These <a href="https://www.ohrc.on.ca/en/right-to-read-inquiry-report/appendix-1-list-recommendations">involve changes to curriculum, instruction and interventions and screening and assessments</a> related to reading. The recommendations for curriculum and instruction focus on the need for evidence-based direct and explicit instruction. </p>
<p>These recommendations were made based on the <a href="https://www.ohrc.on.ca/en/right-to-read-inquiry-report/executive-summary">most up-to-date research on reading, lived experiences of students, families and educators and informed by expertise in the area of human rights</a>. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/reading-disabilities-are-a-human-rights-issue-saskatchewan-joins-calls-to-address-barriers-214129">Reading disabilities are a human rights issue — Saskatchewan joins calls to address barriers</a>
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<p>The Right to Read report states: “Implementing the OHRC’s recommendations will ensure more equitable opportunities and outcomes for students in Ontario’s public education system.”</p>
<p>In keeping with prior revisions to the Ontario Kindergarten program, current plans to update kindergarten curriculum are being made based on empirical and philosophical grounds.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Video from the Right to Read inquiry.</span></figcaption>
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<h2>Not an either/or conversation</h2>
<p>As revisions to Ontario’s kindergarten curriculum unfold, stakeholders need to ensure the best scientific research in both play-based learning and early reading are leveraged to ensure the success of all young children. </p>
<p>The beauty is that play-based learning is not an all-or-nothing approach. Drawing on the benefits of playful learning and using these strategies in combination with evidence-based direct instructional practices in kindergarten will be essential to successfully integrating proposed revisions. </p>
<p>There are many educators in Ontario who already offer meaningful play-based learning opportunities and direct and systematic instruction in their classrooms. </p>
<p>This is evidenced in research published in 2016 <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/10409289.2016.1220771">by early childhood researchers Angela Pyle and Erica Danniels</a> and also in follow-up research by Pyle and colleagues in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-017-0852-Z">2018</a> which focused on how play and literacy interface in full-day kindergarten classrooms. </p>
<p>My current research in kindergarten classrooms, to be published later this year, examines how educators use a range of approaches (including teacher-directed play) to support children’s literacy and self-regulation outcomes. This research has, to date, also documented kindergarten educators using systematic instruction in combination with play-based learning.</p>
<h2>Educators need development, resources</h2>
<p>What’s needed is to ensure kindergarten educators are being provided with training and professional development to effectively lead classrooms utilizing both play-based learning and systematic instruction in reading, writing and math. This task is anything from basic — but is 100 per cent possible and necessary. </p>
<p>As curricular revisions are made, we must ask: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>Who are the stakeholders that are being invited to make the revisions to the curriculum? </p></li>
<li><p>Who is missing from the conversations? </p></li>
<li><p>What research is being used? </p></li>
<li><p>What type of training will be provided to educators? </p></li>
<li><p>Will this training include a focus on what it means to teach in evidence-based ways — and how to do so? </p></li>
<li><p>Will policymakers consider class size and sufficient resourcing for teachers so all students have the classroom supports required to ensure these changes will have real impact?</p></li>
</ul>
<p>In updating a curriculum, we cannot merely add additional content for educators to cover each day. </p>
<p>Instead, we need to consider what these changes mean and how we can best support educators in successfully supporting children’s learning — through both play-based learning and direct instruction.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/222846/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kristy Timmons received funding from Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. She is an Associate Professor of Early Childhood Education at Queen's University, an Ontario Certified Teacher, and a Registered Early Childhood Educator. </span></em></p>We need to ensure the best scientific research in play-based learning and early reading is leveraged, and teachers receive supports to meet children’s developmental and academic needs.Kristy Timmons, Associate Professor, Early Childhood Education, Queen's University, OntarioLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2145462023-10-05T12:33:30Z2023-10-05T12:33:30ZMillions of US children have mediocre reading skills, but engaged parents and a committed school curriculum can help<p><em>Reading ability among U.S. students <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator/cnb/reading-performance">remained low in 2022</a>, with 37% of fourth graders and 30% of eighth graders scoring below the basic proficiency levels for reading set by the <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/annualreports/overview">National Assessment of Educational Progress</a>.</em> </p>
<p><em>Although the COVID-19 school shutdowns are responsible for <a href="https://apnews.com/article/reading-third-grade-phonics-bd9a14dd348d88c2b11e2dce38829a8e">some of the learning loss</a>, the numbers weren’t particular good <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator/cnb/reading-performance">prior to the pandemic</a>, either – reading scores for U.S. students have been low for decades.</em> </p>
<p><em>SciLine interviewed <a href="https://ehe.osu.edu/directory?id=piasta.1">Dr. Shayne Piasta</a>, a professor of reading and literacy at The Ohio State University and a faculty associate at the <a href="https://crane.osu.edu/">Crane Center for Early Childhood Research and Policy</a>. Piasta discussed the various methods of reading instruction and how to get kids to love it.</em> </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Dr. Shayne Piasta discusses ways to help schoolchildren learn to read.</span></figcaption>
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<p><em>Below are some highlights from the discussion. Answers have been edited for brevity and clarity.</em></p>
<p><strong>What is meant by the ‘science of reading’? And what are the misconceptions?</strong></p>
<p><strong>Shayne Piasta:</strong> The <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=cnkJ6VvDr2M">science of reading</a> refers to the accumulated knowledge base we have from scientific research about the reading process, its components, how reading skills develop and how we can best support those who are learning to read. </p>
<p>One of the misconceptions I see is that the science of reading is equated with <a href="https://www.readingrockets.org/topics/phonics-and-decoding/articles/phonics-instruction">phonics instruction</a>. </p>
<p>But the science of reading is a knowledge base, not a specific approach. Phonics instruction is a specific approach, whereby one is explicitly and intentionally teaching children all of those important links between letters and sounds, both at an individual letter level – like learning the alphabet – and at higher skill levels, such as learning about some complex spelling conventions that we have in the English language. </p>
<p>Although phonics instruction is a necessary component in learning to read, phonics instruction alone, without attending to other key reading components, such as language, comprehension, and concept and background knowledge, is insufficient. </p>
<p><strong>What critical components are needed for a reading curriculum to be successful?</strong></p>
<p><strong>Shayne Piasta:</strong> First and foremost, I would expect a reading program <a href="https://irrc.education.uiowa.edu/blog/2023/03/scope-and-sequence-what-it-and-how-do-educators-use-it-guide-instruction">to have a scope and sequence</a>, meaning there is predetermined content of what’s going to be covered. And then that it’s in a particular order, often building from more simple skills or concepts to more complex ones. </p>
<p>This might apply to phonics instruction, where we’re going from simple letter sound correspondences and building up to more complex associations between letters, spelling patterns and how words are pronounced. </p>
<p>Any successful reading program <a href="https://www.readingrockets.org/classroom/scope-and-sequence">should have a scope and sequence</a>. It should definitely have it for the phonics component, but it should have it for other components as well. </p>
<p><strong>What role does background knowledge play in learning to read?</strong></p>
<p><strong>Shayne Piasta:</strong> We’re learning more and more about how critical concept knowledge and background knowledge are for successful reading. </p>
<p>To understand the meaning being conveyed by text, which is the ultimate goal, children use the information they already know to make sense of text. A famous example involves a study in which children read a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.80.1.16">written passage about baseball</a>. Children who knew a lot about baseball best understood the passage, regardless of reading ability. </p>
<p>This highlights the role of concept and background knowledge as foundations for understanding text meaning, and thus, reading comprehension. </p>
<p>Any reading curriculum should have opportunities for children to build those skills – to learn about our world, to make connections with the world, to make connections across different sources and types of information. This is particularly important given the diversity of classrooms. Educators cannot assume that children share certain knowledge or backgrounds.</p>
<p>Teachers need to provide opportunities to discuss and learn about concepts that children will read about. This includes topics like baseball as well as academic concepts like photosynthesis. And then they bring that conceptual and background knowledge with them when they’re going to read a new piece about a certain topic so they can actually make sense of it. </p>
<p>Again, it’s not phonics only. It’s phonics and these opportunities to support knowledge building as well as language skills. </p>
<p><strong>Are any approaches especially effective for children from marginalized backgrounds?</strong></p>
<p><strong>Shayne Piasta:</strong> There are many evidence-based practices for building language for both children who speak English only and those who are English learners. This includes exposing children to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1044/2015_AJSLP-14-0105">more complex grammar during conversations</a> and <a href="https://www.texasldcenter.org/teachers-corner/five-research-based-ways-to-teach-vocabulary">using routines</a> to improve awareness of new vocabulary words. </p>
<p>The science of reading applies to all learners. Most practices that we would recommend are going to be helpful for students from a range of different backgrounds. That being said, it’s important to be able to identify the strengths and the <a href="https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/video-differentiating-instruction-its-not-as-hard-as-you-think/2018/09">learning needs of individual children</a>. </p>
<p><strong>How can parents support kids who are learning to read?</strong></p>
<p><strong>Shayne Piasta:</strong> For parents, I would recommend focusing on <a href="https://www.nwea.org/blog/2022/parent-strategies-for-improving-their-childs-reading-and-writing/">creating positive literacy environments at home</a>. That is, having children see you reading, having children see you writing, and being clear about how literacy plays a role in your everyday life – not just having storybook time together or reading together, but doing activities like making grocery lists together. </p>
<p>Or maybe you could point out, “Hey, I’m reading these instructions so I can put together this piece of Ikea furniture.” So you’re really highlighting all of the important roles that literacy plays in daily life. In doing so, you can help children build <a href="https://www.scholastic.com/parents/books-and-reading/raise-a-reader-blog/make-reading-fun-these-3-easy-tips.html">positive connections with those reading opportunities</a> so that it’s fun, engaging and something they want to do.</p>
<p><em>Watch the <a href="https://www.sciline.org/social-sciences/science-of-reading/">full interview</a> to hear more.</em></p>
<p><em><a href="https://www.sciline.org/">SciLine</a> is a free service based at the nonprofit American Association for the Advancement of Science that helps journalists include scientific evidence and experts in their news stories.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/214546/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The author's work has been funded by the Institute of Education Sciences, National Institutes of Health, and Spencer Foundation. </span></em></p>Low levels of literacy cost the US more than $2 trillion every year.Shayne Piasta, Professor of Reading and Literacy, The Ohio State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1309862020-02-23T13:13:51Z2020-02-23T13:13:51ZReading struggles? Don’t wait to advocate for your child<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/315750/original/file-20200217-10980-olyteg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=14%2C877%2C3902%2C2390&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Lack of access to quality reading instruction and early diagnoses and intervention of reading disorders can have significant, long-lasting effects.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Reading is an important predictor of future academic performance in all subjects and through all levels of school. The World Literacy Organization notes that weak reading skills <a href="https://www.voced.edu.au/content/ngv:63953">predict lower income levels as an adult, increased health care costs, decreased productivity and increased involvement with the criminal justice system</a>. </p>
<p>Approximately <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/pch/11.9.573">42 per cent of Canadians have literacy skills below those “typically required for high school completion,” or what literacy researchers call level three literacy</a>. At this level, someone’s reading and comprehension skills are advanced enough to <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/89-555-x/2013001/t/tbl1.1-eng.htm">follow multi-step directions and interpret and evaluate texts</a>.</p>
<p>Researchers estimate that <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2016-58418-005">three to five per cent of Canadians have a learning disability that could negatively affect reading</a>, and 80 per cent of those <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579408000631">with a learning disability have a reading disability</a>.</p>
<p>Lack of access to quality reading instruction and early diagnoses and intervention of reading disorders can have significant, long-lasting effects, as Colleen Smereka, a Canadian invisible disability and literacy advocate, describes in the documentary <em>Searching for Words: A Woman’s Fight to Learn</em>. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">‘Searching for Words: A Woman’s Fight to Learn.’</span></figcaption>
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<p>It is much more difficult to remediate reading difficulties in older students than in young ones, a fact that highlights <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-5826.2011.00347.x">the importance of early intervention</a>.</p>
<h2>Reading and mental health</h2>
<p>In my practice as a school psychologist, I have seen evidence of the research finding that academic performance and mental health can have a two-way relationship. Students who do not develop strong reading skills are at greater risk for <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0022219409359939">developing symptoms of anxiety</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1097/01.chi.0000242241.77302.f4">depression</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1097/01.chi.0000242241.77302.f4">behaviour problems</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/00222194060390060301">thoughts of suicide</a>. </p>
<p>Longitudinal research has provided evidence that there is not just a relationship between reading difficulty and depression in boys but that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022534527021">poor reading skills actually predict later symptoms of depression</a>. Students who report <a href="https://literacytrust.org.uk/research-services/research-reports/mental-wellbeing-reading-and-writing/">low levels of well-being also say that they are below-average readers</a>.</p>
<p>Even when poor reading does not lead to mental health diagnoses, it can <a href="https://thinkingreadingwritings.wordpress.com/2019/04/22/can-reading-problems-affect-mental-health/">increase students’ feelings of shame, failure and exclude them from access to knowledge through print</a>. </p>
<p>Most of us avoid tasks that we are not good at, especially if we cannot find support to improve. But children are regularly required to read for all academic areas, and to gain knowledge in other areas of life. We cannot expect children to read if we don’t help them learn to read.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/316001/original/file-20200218-10991-ziczpu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/316001/original/file-20200218-10991-ziczpu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/316001/original/file-20200218-10991-ziczpu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/316001/original/file-20200218-10991-ziczpu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/316001/original/file-20200218-10991-ziczpu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/316001/original/file-20200218-10991-ziczpu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/316001/original/file-20200218-10991-ziczpu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Systemic, direct instruction for teaching reading is most effective.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Reading instruction and early intervention</h2>
<p>Twenty years ago, a group of U.S. researchers <a href="https://books.google.ca/books?hl=en&lr=&id=b0WdAAAAMAAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA1&dq=national+reading+panel&ots=RbeDktS16q&sig=8Zoa11oCqwG6J6CaTX5d-f5qrcE#v=onepage&q=national%20reading%20panel&f=false">tasked with reviewing over 100,000 studies on reading by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development</a> summarized decades of research about how to best teach children how to read. </p>
<p>Recent research <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1529100618772271">continues to support their findings</a> that the best results in teaching children to read are found through systemic, direct instruction and intervention <a href="http://reading.uoregon.edu/big_ideas/">focusing on five areas</a>: </p>
<ol>
<li><p><strong>phonemic awareness</strong> (knowing that words are made up of sounds: cat = /c/ /a/ /t/);</p></li>
<li><p><strong>decoding</strong> (connecting letters with sounds to sound out words);</p></li>
<li><p><strong>fluency</strong> (reading quickly, accurately and with expression);</p></li>
<li><p><strong>vocabulary</strong> (knowing what lots of words mean);</p></li>
<li><p>and <strong>comprehension</strong> (understanding both simple direct information and less direct inferences of text). </p></li>
</ol>
<p>Unfortunately, students do not always receive such systemic instruction. For example, the Ontario Human Rights Commission is currently investigating whether students who have reading difficulties <a href="http://www.ohrc.on.ca/en/right-read-public-inquiry-on-reading-disabilities">experience human rights violations as a result of schools not screening and providing early interventions</a>. </p>
<p>In Canada, <a href="http://www.cmec.ca/Publications/Lists/Publications/Attachments/201/key-factors-literacy-school-aged.pdf">no province has specific requirements for training or necessary competencies necessary for teachers to be prepared to teach reading</a>, and many elementary school teachers report feeling inadequately prepared to teach reading and even less prepared to support children who struggle. </p>
<p>A 2019 survey by the International Literacy Association of 1,443 literacy experts (including teachers) from 65 countries showed that <a href="https://www.literacyworldwide.org/docs/default-source/resource-documents/whatshotreport_2020_final.pdf">60 per cent don’t think teacher training programs are “equipping educators with the skills they need for effective reading instruction.</a>”</p>
<h2>If your child is struggling with reading</h2>
<p><a href="http://reading.uoregon.edu/big_ideas/">Here are some supports</a> you can provide: </p>
<p><strong>Play with words:</strong> Teaching children to rhyme and to pull apart the sounds of words and add new sounds develops phonemic awareness, which is foundational to developing decoding skills.</p>
<p><strong>Read to your children and with your children:</strong> This helps children associate reading with positive feelings of spending time with caring adults.</p>
<p><strong>Spend time reading yourself:</strong> Set an example that reading is valuable and enjoyable.</p>
<p><strong>Talk with your children:</strong> Talking with your children about the world around them, science and literature helps them to develop strong vocabulary skills.</p>
<p><strong>Play word games with your children:</strong> There are free <a href="https://pbskids.org/">online word games</a> that can support reading development, but it is much better to engage in these with your children rather than have your children use them alone.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/315758/original/file-20200217-10980-rl1rbd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/315758/original/file-20200217-10980-rl1rbd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/315758/original/file-20200217-10980-rl1rbd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/315758/original/file-20200217-10980-rl1rbd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/315758/original/file-20200217-10980-rl1rbd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/315758/original/file-20200217-10980-rl1rbd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/315758/original/file-20200217-10980-rl1rbd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Teaching children to rhyme and to pull apart the sounds of words helps build reading skills.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>If your child still struggles</h2>
<p>Sometimes children <a href="https://www.dyslexiacanada.org/">struggle to learn to read</a> <a href="https://www.ldac-acta.ca/">even when they have good supports in place</a>. For example, children in dual language programs or children whose schooling is not in their first language often have a normal delay in reading.</p>
<p>If your child appears to struggle to progress through their age-appropriate school curriculum, first <a href="https://www.readingrockets.org/article/early-signs-reading-difficulty">consider if you notice common areas that suggest reading difficulty</a>:</p>
<p><strong>Early language difficulty:</strong> A large number of children with language delays also have difficulty learning to read.</p>
<p><strong>Difficulty with phonological awareness:</strong> Difficulty with rhyming, hearing the syllables in words, pulling apart the sounds in letters and putting sounds together to make a word suggest that your child may have difficulty learning to read. </p>
<p><strong>Difficulty with decoding:</strong> If your children have difficulty sounding out words or learning the connection between letters and their sounds in grade one, then they may be at risk for learning to read.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/new-research-suggests-three-profiles-of-communication-delays-in-early-childhood-115769">New research suggests three profiles of communication delays in early childhood</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>If you think your child has difficulty with several of theses areas, discuss your concerns with your child’s teacher. If you have continued concerns, consider:</p>
<p><strong>Assessment:</strong> You can seek out an assessment through your school board or a private provider. Many university training clinics and some non-profit organizations offer lower-cost assessments.</p>
<p><strong>Intervention:</strong> Look for reading interventions provided by your school or seek out private tutoring. </p>
<p><strong>Advocate:</strong> Do not wait until your child is failing and falling behind to advocate for intervention and/or assessment. Early intervention has very high success rates for supporting reading development, but it is much more difficult to improve reading skills in older students.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/130986/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gabrielle Wilcox does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Early intervention with reading challenges has very high success rates for supporting reading development, but it is much more difficult to improve reading skills in older students.Gabrielle Wilcox, Associate Professor, Werklund School of Education, University of CalgaryLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/886462017-12-06T04:40:45Z2017-12-06T04:40:45ZInternational study shows many Australian children are still struggling with reading<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/197760/original/file-20171205-22982-1s7m2am.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5760%2C3837&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Despite improvements in the national average score, the 2016 PIRLS report confirms many Australian children continue to be left behind.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/children-reading-books-library-450542329">wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The results of an international study into the reading skills of Year 4 students offer reason for optimism for Australian children.</p>
<p>The latest <a href="https://www.acer.org/pirls">Progress in International Reading Literacy Study</a> (PIRLS) shows that, on average, reading achievement among the Australian children surveyed improved significantly between 2011 and 2016. This is excellent news. </p>
<p>However, there is still cause for concern about Australia’s literacy standards, with the PIRLS study showing that a substantial minority of Year 4 children continue to struggle with reading. </p>
<h2>The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study</h2>
<p>The study has been running internationally every five years since 2001. In 2016, it encompassed 50 countries. Australia has participated twice – in <a href="https://www.acer.org/timss/australian-results-timss-pirls-2011-dec-2012">2011</a> and <a href="https://research.acer.edu.au/pirls/1/">2016</a>. </p>
<p>In 2016, 6,341 Year 4 students from 286 Australian primary schools took part.</p>
<p>The study focuses on two reading abilities – reading for literary experience, and reading to acquire and use information. Students were given texts to read and then asked to answer multiple choice and short answer questions. Example questions include:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>How does the author show you what the red hen is like?</p>
<p>According to the article, what is one way people have made the sea more dangerous for turtles?</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Signs of improvement</h2>
<p>The results show Australia’s national average performance improved significantly between 2011 and 2016.</p>
<p>With the exception of the Australian Capital Territory, all the states and territories showed an improvement. The improvement was statistically significant in Western Australia, Queensland and Victoria.</p>
<hr>
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<hr>
<p>The increase in the average scores in many states is due to better performance by students at the top end of the scale. This is a wonderful outcome for those students.</p>
<p>While the 2016 PIRLS results run counter to the trends in the most recent <a href="https://research.acer.edu.au/ozpisa/22/">PISA</a> and <a href="https://research.acer.edu.au/timss_2015/2/">TIMSS</a> international assessments, the improvement isn’t entirely unexpected. Recent years of <a href="https://www.nap.edu.au/results-and-reports">NAPLAN results</a> have <a href="http://reports.acara.edu.au/NAP">shown an improvement</a> in average reading scores for Year 3 students. </p>
<p>It’s difficult to draw any firm conclusions about the reason for this improvement. But it’s fair to say there has been a <a href="https://www.nap.edu.au/naplan/reading">strong focus</a> on early reading since NAPLAN was introduced in 2008, putting a spotlight on progress in this vital area of education.</p>
<p>Indeed, the PIRLS results provide a very useful external validation of the reliability of the NAPLAN results, as they report similar trends in reading over similar periods.</p>
<h2>The sting in the (long) tail</h2>
<p>The improvement in average scores is certainly heartening. But the PIRLS data also show that when it comes to reading, many Australian children are still being left behind.</p>
<p>In 2016, 6% of Australian children did not meet the minimum (low) international benchmark for Year 4 reading. This is only a very small improvement from the 2011 figure of 7%.</p>
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<hr>
<p>Some 19% of Australian children in Year 4 did not achieve the intermediate benchmark. To reach this benchmark, children needed to be able to: </p>
<ul>
<li>make straightforward inferences about things that weren’t explicitly stated in the text</li>
<li>work out the order of events in the text, and/or </li>
<li>find and repeat explicitly stated actions, events, and feelings in the text.</li>
</ul>
<p>PIRLS describes this benchmark as a “challenging but reasonable expectation”.</p>
<p>In 2011, 24% of Australian children in Year 4 did not achieve this benchmark. So the figure of 19% in 2016 is an improvement. But it’s a poor outcome compared to other countries, including England, Canada, and the United States.</p>
<p>Despite some improvements, Australia still has the second-largest proportion of children below the international intermediate benchmark for reading among English-speaking countries. </p>
<hr>
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<h2>Early identification of low progress readers</h2>
<p>Research shows that children who struggle with reading in their early school years are <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26323201">unlikely to ever catch up</a>. These children need to be identified and supported much earlier.</p>
<p>This year, an <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/national-year-1-literacy-and-numeracy-check">expert advisory panel</a> to the Australian government (which I chaired) reviewed early years reading assessments used around Australia. We found a deficit in the assessment of phonics skills in particular.</p>
<p>Phonics is the ability to translate the letters on a page into their respective sounds. It’s a skill that children (and adults) need so they can <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-phonics-and-why-is-it-important-70522">read and learn unfamiliar words</a>. Without the ability to read and learn unfamiliar words, children have little hope of reading for meaning. </p>
<p>Based on the outcome of the review, the panel recommended (<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-australia-should-trial-the-new-phonics-screening-check-69717">as have other experts</a>) a trial and possible subsequent adoption of the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/phonics-screening-check-2017-materials">Year 1 Phonics Check</a> that has been statutory in English primary schools since 2012.</p>
<p>In this context, it’s worth noting that England’s results in PIRLS 2016 – the first group to take the Year 1 Phonics Check – are the <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/12/04/official-uks-phonics-revolution-has-dramatically-improved-school/">best they have ever been</a>.</p>
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<hr>
<p>The Phonics Check is a quick (five-minute) and <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1467-9817.12029/abstract">effective</a> reading check. It’s <a href="http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/new-national-test-for-grade-1-students-to-test-phonics-and-numeracy-skills/news-story/40393c70917290ce1a0af2179a99b2e4">neither stressful for children nor onerous for teachers</a>, and provides immediate information to teachers about this fundamental aspect of literacy development. </p>
<p>The expert panel acknowledged that phonics is one of <a href="https://www.cis.org.au/app/uploads/2016/07/rr11.pdf">five essential components</a>, alongside: </p>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.fivefromfive.org.au/phonemic-awareness/">phonemic awareness</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.fivefromfive.org.au/fluency/">fluency</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.fivefromfive.org.au/vocabulary/">vocabulary</a>, and </li>
<li><a href="http://www.fivefromfive.org.au/comprehension/">comprehension</a>. </li>
</ul>
<p>But of those five components, there is <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.3109/17549507.2015.1112837">good reason</a> to believe that phonics isn’t being taught effectively or assessed consistently in many schools. For the children most at-risk of reading failure – including those from socioeconomically or language impoverished homes, and children with learning difficulties – the consequences are <a href="https://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=4&ved=0ahUKEwjC2_G8tvTXAhVEhbwKHU39BOQQFgg4MAM&url=https%3A%2F%2Fresearch.acer.edu.au%2Fcgi%2Fviewcontent.cgi%3Ffilename%3D2%26article%3D1004%26context%3Dtll_misc%26type%3Dadditional&usg=AOvVaw0tgERYP-guTNXFATjo47ab">devastating</a>. </p>
<h2>Literacy on the agenda</h2>
<p>This Friday, Australia’s federal, state and territory education ministers will come together for the year’s final <a href="http://www.scseec.edu.au/">Education Council</a> meeting. Their agenda will include the need for a national Year 1 literacy and numeracy check. </p>
<p>The PIRLS statistics will be thoroughly dissected and debated. But it’s important to remember these statistics represent real children. </p>
<p>What does it mean to be unable to read? One mother of a Year 6 child poignantly described it as “not being able read the jokes in Christmas crackers around the table at Christmas lunch”.</p>
<p>This should not be the case for a child who has spent seven years at school. A literacy check in Year 1 could prevent many Australian children from falling through the cracks, and facing a lifetime of disadvantage.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/88646/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dr Jennifer Buckingham is Senior Research Fellow and Director, FIVE from FIVE reading project, The Centre for Independent Studies
Board Member, Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL)
Council Member, Learning Difficulties Australia (LDA)
Associate Investigator, Centre for Excellence in Cognition and Its Disorders, Macquarie University.
Previously: Chair of Expert Advisory Group to the Australian Government on a National Year 1 Literacy and Numeracy Check
</span></em></p>The results of an international study into reading skills offer reason for optimism for Australian students. But tragically, too many children are still being left behind.Jennifer Buckingham, Senior Research Fellow, The Centre for Independent Studies; Associate Investigator, ARC Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders, Macquarie UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/411992015-05-27T04:22:08Z2015-05-27T04:22:08ZWe standardise training for pilots and doctors. We must do the same for teachers<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82367/original/image-20150520-11428-7jdarj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Literacy levels in South Africa are low, so training educators who can teach reading is more vital than ever.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">From www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Teacher preparation programmes at many of South Africa’s universities are failing to produce graduates with the right skills to tackle the country’s literacy challenges.</p>
<p>Many South African children simply <a href="http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/sa-s-shocking-literacy-stats-1.1595411#.VVs4b_mqqko">can’t read</a> at their grade level. This means the country must produce world class reading literacy teachers more urgently than ever before. A great teacher of reading can be the first line of defence against a child’s future reading difficulties.</p>
<p>But educators can’t teach what they don’t know. A fourth-year Bachelor of Education student recently told me: “I had to present a lesson on diagraphs and consonant blends … when I realised that I was having a difficult time recalling exactly what a consonant blend was myself.”</p>
<p>There is a chasm between the research knowledge base about reading literacy development and teachers’ classroom practices. Teacher preparation programmes at universities are partly to blame for this divide. Many of these programmes have failed to adequately prepare their candidates to teach reading. </p>
<p>South Africa’s Department of Basic Education <a href="http://www.education.gov.za/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=wjYeFLi8NC0%3D&tabid=454&mid=401">reveals</a> in its national reading strategy document that many teachers have an underdeveloped understanding of how to teach literacy, reading and writing. Others don’t know how to teach reading at all, while some know only one method of teaching reading that doesn’t cater to every learners’ needs.</p>
<h2>Shortfalls in training</h2>
<p>Some universities have badly underestimated the demands of competent literacy instruction and the training that’s required. Teacher preparation in reading literacy instruction is often too brief, too shallow or depends too much on ideas that aren’t supported by research. For instance, too few courses focus specifically on the <a href="http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/mar04/vol61/num06/The-Science-of-Reading-Research.aspx">science of reading</a>. Understanding this science equips educators to teach reading literacy better.</p>
<p>This flies in the face of the stringent training and preparation that is required for other professionals. Pilots, engineers, optometrists and medical doctors must learn concepts, facts and skills to a prescribed level. They conduct their practice under supervision and must pass rigorous entry exams that are standardised across the profession. </p>
<p>There are no such rules or standards to ensure that teachers who instruct children in reading have mastered the relevant knowledge base and acquired the necessary skills. Even within universities that prepare hundreds of teachers every year, there may be no curricular specifications or standards. What a teacher candidate learns depends on their lecturer for a particular module. The lecturer will teach what he or she knows and believes. This means that preparation for teaching reading is often more <a href="http://jet.org.za/publications/bulletins/bulletin-february-2015">grounded in ideology</a> than evidence.</p>
<p>The academic freedom that lecturers often invoke certainly has a place in teacher education. But professional preparation programmes have a responsibility to teach a defined body of knowledge, skills and abilities that are based on the best research available in the field. </p>
<h2>Standardisation is crucial</h2>
<p>The Department of Basic Education has <a href="http://www.education.gov.za/Newsroom/OpinionPieces/tabid/609/ctl/Details/mid/1909/ItemID/3128/Default.aspx">identified</a> teacher quality as an area that needs attention. Its <a href="http://www.education.gov.za/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=tAJLh4fl3z8%3D&tabid=358&mid=2316">policy</a> on the minimum requirements for teacher education defines standards at a generic level for all teacher education qualifications. But what is needed now are far more specific standards that relate to the areas of expertise in which teachers need to specialise - like reading literacy. </p>
<p>There is successful international precedent for this. In the United States, standards for reading professionals have been <a href="http://www.reading.org/General/CurrentResearch/Standards/ProfessionalStandards2010.aspx">successfully developed</a> and implemented.</p>
<p>South African teacher preparation institutions differ in their preparation methodologies, teaching approaches and organisational purposes. They should, however, ascribe to a common set of professional reading literacy standards for the benefit of the students they serve. Compliance with these standards would assure the public that individuals who teach in South Africa’s diverse schools are equipped to implement scientifically based and clinically proven reading practices.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/41199/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Carisma Nel receives funding from European Union Sector Policy Support Programme - Strengthening Foundation Phase Teacher Education.</span></em></p>There is a chasm between the research knowledge base about reading literacy and teachers’ classroom practices. Standardisation could be a big part of the solution.Carisma Nel, Research Professor, Faculty of Education Sciences, North-West UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/369462015-02-05T19:38:21Z2015-02-05T19:38:21ZThe way we teach most children to read sets them up to fail<p>A new batch of Australian five-year-olds has just started school, eager to learn to read and write. Unfortunately for them, English has one of the most difficult spelling systems of any language, thanks to the way it developed.</p>
<h2>A patchwork of many languages</h2>
<p>Words from Germanic Anglo-Saxon (woman, Wednesday) and Old Norse (thrust, give) were mixed with words from the church’s Latin (annual, bishop), and Norman French (beef, war). Pronunciation changed dramatically in England between 1350 and 1700 (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Vowel_Shift">The Great Vowel Shift</a>), and scribes paid by the character added letters to words.</p>
<p>Science, technology and The Enlightenment added words, often based on Latin or Greek (anthropology, phone, school), wars and globalisation added even more, like “verandah” from Hindi, “tomato” from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nahuatl">Nahuatl</a> (Aztec) via Spanish, and “yakka” from Yagara (an Australian Indigenous language). Words are also continually being invented and added to contemporary dictionaries. </p>
<p>Words from other languages typically carry their spelling patterns into English. So, for example, the spelling “ch” represents different sounds in words drawn from Germanic (cheap, rich, such), Greek (chemist, anchor, echo) and French (chef, brochure, parachute).</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/71007/original/image-20150204-25516-1cdcpny.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/71007/original/image-20150204-25516-1cdcpny.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/71007/original/image-20150204-25516-1cdcpny.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/71007/original/image-20150204-25516-1cdcpny.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/71007/original/image-20150204-25516-1cdcpny.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/71007/original/image-20150204-25516-1cdcpny.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/71007/original/image-20150204-25516-1cdcpny.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">English has 26 characters, but many more sounds.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Our originally Latin alphabet has only 26 letters for the 44 sounds in modern Australian English. To master our spelling system, children must grasp that words are made of sounds represented by letters, that sometimes we use two, three or four letters for a sound (f <strong>ee</strong> t, bri <strong>dge</strong>, c <strong>augh</strong> t), that most sounds have several spellings (H <strong>er</strong> f <strong>ir</strong> st n <strong>ur</strong> se w <strong>or</strong> ks <strong>ear</strong> ly), and that many spellings represent a few sounds (f <strong>oo</strong> d, l <strong>oo</strong> k, fl <strong>oo</strong> d, br <strong>oo</strong> ch).</p>
<h2>How should children be taught this complex code?</h2>
<p>In his <a href="http://books.google.com.au/books?hl=en&lr=&id=vSoUT6PXdoIC&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=hattie+visible+learning+for+teachers&ots=XISaYkzdMU&sig=IMYoI6orTcQo8VPgVKvuEYOe5oo#v=onepage&q=hattie%20visible%20learning%20for%20teachers&f=false">internationally acclaimed analysis</a> of the effectiveness of teaching methods, Professor John Hattie assigns “effect sizes” ranging from 1.44 (highly effective) to -0.34 (harmful). Effect sizes above 0.4 indicate methods worth serious attention.</p>
<p>There are two main schools of thought about how to teach children to read and write, one focused on meaning (whole language) and one focused on word structure (phonics). Hattie’s meta-analysis gives whole language an effect size of 0.06, and phonics an effect size of 0.54.</p>
<p>But which type of phonics works best? <a href="http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2005/02/20682/52383">The Clackmannanshire study</a> provides convincing evidence for synthetic phonics. This starts from just a few sounds and letters in short words, and systematically adds and practises more sounds, spellings and syllable types, until children can read well enough to independently tackle the “real books” adults have been reading them.</p>
<p>Clackmannanshire is a disadvantaged area of Scotland, but by the end of primary school the children using this program were three years ahead of the national average on word reading, 21 months ahead on spelling and five months ahead on reading comprehension.</p>
<p>In 2005, <a href="http://research.acer.edu.au/tll_misc/5/">Australia’s National Inquiry into Teaching Reading</a> recommended that young children should be provided with systematic, explicit and direct phonics instruction, and that teachers be equipped to provide this. Similar inquiries in the <a href="http://www.nichd.nih.gov/research/supported/Pages/nrp.aspx/publications/summary.htm">US</a> and <a href="http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20100526143644/http:/standards.dcsf.gov.uk/phonics/report.pdf">UK</a> agreed.</p>
<h2>Are children being taught this way?</h2>
<p>The short answer is no. The main reason is that few teachers are trained or equipped to teach synthetic phonics. They’re often taught at university by academics whose careers, publication records and reputations are based on whole-language teaching approaches, considered modern, progressive and child-centred. Phonics, conversely, is framed as old-fashioned, reactionary and teacher-centred, so is used less.</p>
<p>Children are typically encouraged to read “real books” containing long words and difficult spellings, and to guess unknown words from first letters and pictures. They try to write words that are too hard for them, and often the resulting spelling mistakes are put up on the wall for everyone to learn. They memorise lists of high-frequency words.</p>
<p>Phonics work in Australian classrooms typically focuses on initial letters and a few basic strategies, not sounds and their spellings in all word positions. There is little systematic instruction in word blending or segmenting (breaking words into parts, such as syllables), or in many of English’s 170 or so major spelling patterns. <a href="http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/english/curriculum/f-10?layout=1">Australian curriculum</a> requirements for English reinforce this mess-of-methods approach.</p>
<p>Many confused children learn to guess and memorise words rather than sounding them out. This seems to work at first, but by their third year of schooling lack of visual memory (disk full!) means they start to fail. The well-intended <a href="http://www.curriculumsupport.education.nsw.gov.au/earlyyears/reading_recovery/">Reading Recovery program</a>, about 80% whole language and 20% phonics, often <a href="https://www.ldaustralia.org/BULLETIN_NOV13-RR.pdf">fails to provide the boost</a> these learners need.</p>
<p>Children who can’t read much by age nine are in serious trouble. By then, teachers expect them to have finished learning to read and to start seriously reading to learn. Yet the 2011 <a href="http://www.acer.edu.au/timss/australian-results-timss-pirls-2011-dec-2012">Progress in International Reading Literacy Study</a> found that a quarter of Australian Year 4 students fell below international benchmarks in reading, with 7% scoring “very low”.</p>
<h2>Using evidence in education</h2>
<p>If large numbers of children were contracting a serious, preventable illness and you asked your doctor how to protect your child, you’d be rightly angry if the doctor didn’t understand the current medical research and thus recommended what s/he learnt at university, or had used before and preferred. You might contact the Medical Board to make a complaint or, if you had followed bad health advice, lodge a malpractice suit in the courts.</p>
<p>Evidence-based practice is deeply embedded in the culture of health professionals. Graduates are taught to read and understand the language of rigorous research and to turn to peer-reviewed academic journals and properly controlled experimental designs as the best sources of evidence. This doesn’t happen nearly enough in education.</p>
<p>Children’s opportunities are seriously compromised if they don’t learn to read and spell. <a href="http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/current%20series/tandi/421-440/tandi435.html">They are much more likely</a> to drop out of school early, be unemployed, suffer ill health and get on the wrong side of the law.</p>
<p>The vast majority of children will only learn to read and spell in the right developmental window when teachers are equipped with the best available methods, based on the best available evidence.</p>
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<p><strong><em>Alison Clarke co-authored this article. Alison is a speech pathologist at the Clifton Hill Child and Adolescent Therapy Group in Melbourne and is on Learning Difficulties Australia‘s Council. Disclosure Statement: Alison Clarke is a speech pathologist in private practice who also runs the website www.spelfabet.com.au</em></strong></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/36946/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Pamela Snow receives funding from the Australian Research Council (Linkage Scheme).</span></em></p>A new batch of Australian five-year-olds has just started school, eager to learn to read and write. Unfortunately for them, English has one of the most difficult spelling systems of any language, thanks…Pamela Snow, Associate Professor of Psychology, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.