Back-to-basics teaching is helping youngsters read

At long last. After decades of inquiries, empirical evidence gathered in Australia and overseas that was too often ignored, and protracted argument, much of it led by this newspaper, old fashioned teaching methods have begun to rescue the nation’s children from sub-literacy and a future of underachievement and struggle. New data reported on Monday from the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN), which tested more than a million students in years 3, 5, 7 and 9 earlier this year, found literacy results for primary school students – especially Indigenous and migrant students – has improved. That is primarily due to the reintroduction of teaching techniques such as phonics (sounding letters to make words) and explicit instruction (teachers explaining and demonstrating concepts then getting children to practise). Year 3 Indigenous children have achieved the biggest gains, with low literacy rates falling from 30 per cent in 2008 to 14 per cent this year. Students from non-English speaking families have also forged ahead, with year 3 failure rates falling from 6.6 to 2.8 per cent in 14 years. Such improvement in the building blocks of learning, starting in the early years of schooling, is vital if Australian education is to regain its long-lost high standing in science and other subjects in OECD testing. As literacy expert Jennifer Buckingham, who has advised the federal, NSW, Victorian and South Australian governments about explicit instruction and phonics to teach literacy, said, changes in classrooms over the past five years are showing results. Explicit instruction, based on cognitive science about how children learn, was effective for all students, especially those at risk of learning difficulties.

Identifying changes that are yielding better results demonstrates the value of NAPLAN testing, which is vehemently opposed by teachers unions. That attitude does their profession little credit. The improvements identified must be built on.

While the improvements in year 3 results are highly encouraging, the overall outcomes underline the challenges facing principals, teachers, parents and education authorities. The improvement in lower grades has not come a moment too soon. Perseverance with “look and guess’’ whole-language techniques for teaching early reading, unfortunately, has failed many year 9 students, especially boys. Whole-language or “word recognition’’ methods have been favoured by many educators, especially in university education faculties for more than a generation. The adverse impact on many students is clear. More than one in nine boys failed to meet the minimum reading standard for year 9 in this year’s testing – a substantial increase from 2018. In writing, more than one in five boys, 18.3 per cent, failed to reach the minimum standard. The fact at least a third of ­Indigenous teenagers are functionally illiterate is unacceptable. That, and other serious problems identified among year 9 students, demand effective, speedy intervention. Without it, the ability of many students to tackle further education and vocational training, and to progress in trades and careers, will be impeded, at the cost of their living standards. At a time when skills shortages are undermining growth, education failure is hurting the economy.

For those with first-hand experience of the education system, the growing gap in achievement ­between students from wealthy and poor families is concerning but no surprise. Educated parents, concerned about the lack of “basics’’ being taught, have supplemented classroom learning. It is disadvantaged students who suffer most if classroom teaching is below par. Rich or poor, families who read to children and foster a love of books and stories bestow a big advantage. With experts believing many boys are less motivated to read than girls, the choice of texts, at school and home, is vital.