Phonics test in SA shows big improvement in Year 1 reading
Kids in early primary school have posted vastly improved reading results and educators are crediting a new teaching method.
SA News
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The reading ability of Year 1 students in South Australia has improved dramatically in two years, according to a phonics test.
Statewide tests recorded 63 per cent of the nearly 14,000 students who took part met or exceeded the expected scores.
This was an 11 percentage point increase on last year and 20 percentage points higher than 2018 when the tests were introduced.
“We’ve been taking a systematic approach as a school and as a state,” said Clapham Primary School teacher David Tucker of using phonics in teaching students to read.
“It’s been making a big impact from the early years upwards.”
The phonics screening test involves teachers showing students 40 words and asking them to pronounce them.
Some of the words are real and some are pseudo-words which the students can break into syllables. Words in the test are increasingly complex, with getting 28 correct the benchmark of what is expected for a Year 1.
“Phonics is about the sound of the words which help us decode how we spell words, use words and understand words,” Mr Tucker said.
Using pseudo-words removed the possibility of students memorising a word rather than breaking it into constituent parts.
Education Minister John Gardner said the dramatic improvement in statewide results was welcome but there was more work to be done.
The screening enabled teachers to identify weaknesses in individual students’ abilities which could then be addressed.
“It helps identify those students who might appear as if they can read when they’re dealing with really simple text and pictures and guessable words,” he said.
“We want to know they can actually decode those words.
“When kids have learnt to read successfully and they’re getting the concepts, they’re happier and they do better in all of their schooling.”
Mr Gardner said SA was leading Australia in introducing phonics following a pilot initiated by former minister Susan Close.
Australian Education Union SA president Lara Golding said it was pleasing to see Mr Gardner recognising the efforts of teachers.
“But parents should be aware any test result should be considered in context,” she said.
“The best assessment is the informed judgment of a teacher.”
As well as the overall improvement, the proportion of students unable to decode any word fell to 2 per cent, from 4 per cent in 2018.
There were improvements among indigenous, disabled and disadvantaged students.
