Phonic boom in young student reading skills

The teaching of phonics has been hailed after the literacy skills of primary school students improved.

Teacher Jamie Morris in the library with students Brandon Smith and Lilly Myers, both 9, at Undurba State School. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen

Primary school student literacy has improved significantly following the introduction of a national curriculum that em­phasises the teaching of phonics, but almost one in five children still fail to meet the minimum reading standard for their age.

The situation is more dire for indigenous students, with 43 per cent falling below the benchmark set by an international test of reading. And boys continue to lag behind girls.

The latest Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), which measures the reading ability of more than 580,000 Year 4 students worldwide, reveals Australia has edged up the international rankings, from 27th of 45 participating countries in 2011 to 21st out of 50 last year.

While Australia continues to lag behind literacy leaders Russia, Singapore, Hong Kong and Ireland, it has overtaken Canada, Germany, Slovenia, Israel and New Zealand.

Eighty-one per cent of Australian students were at or above the intermediate benchmark — the agreed proficient standard for Australia — while 35 per cent were achieving the high benchmark. In 2011, 76 per cent of Australian students were classified as proficient readers, a disappointing result that prompted education experts to question teacher training standards and the quality of teaching in the classroom.

Experts said it was difficult to identify the precise reason behind the improved result but pointed to a renewed focus on early literacy and the use of phonics to teach reading as the national curriculum has been rolled out in the past few years.

The results are likely to add impetus to the federal government’s push for a phonics check in the first year of primary school. A meeting of state education ministers will hear a proposal on the plan on Friday.

 

The Australian Council for Educational Research, which published a report on the results coinciding with their international release overnight, welcomed the overall improvement, noting that it was consistent with NAPLAN reading results. But it was concerned by the “20 per cent of ... students reading at or below the low benchmark”, including 6 per cent who did not even reach the low benchmark.

“While the average reading score for Australia (544 points) was significantly higher than that of Kazakhstan, Portugal, Spain, and Flemish-speaking Belgium, each of these countries had significantly lower proportions of their students fail to reach the low benchmark than did Australia,” the ACER report noted.

ACER deputy CEO Sue Thomson said the results highlighted a particular groups of students for whom reading comprehension remained an area of great difficulty.

She said the number of Australian students classified as “poor readers”, meaning they had failed to achieve the low benchmark, was relatively unchanged since 2011. “In addition, significant achievement gaps by gender, indigenous status, socio-economic background and school location remain,” Dr Thomson said.

The study found 16 per cent of boys were poor readers, compared with 11 per cent of girls. Among students from an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander background, 18 per cent were poor readers, compared with 4 per cent of non-indigenous students. While Australia’s overall average score had recorded a 20-point, “statistically significant” increase, the average indigenous score rose slightly.

Education Minister Simon Birmingham said the result was encouraging but educators and policymakers had to stay focused on boosting student outcomes.

He said the government had taken a “root and branch” approach to lifting student outcomes by improving teaching quality and teacher-training standards, and ensuring the curriculum was decluttered and refocused on core skills.

Centre for Independent Studies senior research fellow Jennifer Buckingham, who chairs a government-appointed panel that has recommended phonics checks for all primary school starters, said the results represented a big improvement on average but the high number of lagging students were a serious concern.

Among the states, WA, Queensland, NT, Victoria and Tasmania all recorded more students at or above the intermediate benchmark than in 2011.

Undurba State School principal Kylie Smith described the Queensland school’s approach to teaching literacy as “relentless”. From grade prep, students receive explicit instruction in decoding strategies and comprehension, as well as phonics.