North Carolina has just signed into law a bill making it compulsory for schools there to use a phonics-based approach to reading instruction. The new law will mean that teachers must be trained in phonics and current reading research.
From Texas to Tasmania, there is a growing list of states in the US and Australia adopting approaches that will make it mandatory for schools to have a research-informed reading curriculum and provide appropriate CPD for all teachers; initial teacher education (ITE) programmes will also be required to teach the science of reading, with some student teachers even having to take an exam. With some 16 American states and counting, along with swathes of Australia such as New South Wales, South Australia and Tasmania (where the federal government has also made a voluntary phonics check available to all schools), it seems English-speaking countries are finally listening to science.
But what about the UK? Following the Rose review in 2006, England introduced a phonics screening check in 2012, with phonics being mandated as the sole method of reading instruction in 2014.
Phonics: How neuroscience suggests that phonics works best
Quick read: 13 things every teacher should know about phonics
England’s phonics screening check: Why it’s flawed
Long read: Ceasefire in the reading wars
Literacy: The Scottish primary that was ‘literacy school of the year’
From the archive: Clackmannanshire and phonics
Scotland is notably absent from these fresh commitments to phonics. This is particularly ironic, given that it was research from Clackmannanshire that is, in part, responsible for the resurgence in interest. The 2005 study by Johnston and Watson is internationally renowned and was the first to confirm the superiority of synthetic phonics over analytic phonics for teaching children to read and spell.
While it is true that most schools in Scotland use some form of phonics, the vast majority also use sight words (memorisation of whole words) and multi-cueing strategies, where children are taught to look at the pictures, read on or read back to guess what particular words might be. Most schools still use older-style banded or levelled reading books, as opposed to decodable readers, which children can read independently using their current phonic knowledge. This means that the type of reading instruction most commonly seen in Scotland is not aligned with the scientific evidence. Indeed, the mixed-methods practice embedded in our classrooms would actually be against the law in England.
While phonics is only one part of learning to read, student teachers in Scotland are not routinely equipped with the required knowledge to tailor the phonics element effectively to children’s needs. We know from Scottish government surveys that there are serious gaps in teachers’ literacy knowledge and specifically in beginning reading instruction.
If we train teachers in the science of reading, there is the potential to close gaps, teach dyslexic children to read and spell and increase access to the curriculum for all - as well as empowering teachers to become a truly research-informed profession.
We ignore other countries’ progress in the teaching of reading at our peril. And while it wouldn’t be popular, policy change could solve these systemic issues - and might even be our only hope - if we want to improve literacy outcomes for all children and young people. Otherwise, Scotland could find itself at the back of the international class when it comes to literacy education.
Anne Glennie is a literacy consultant, publisher and former primary teacher. She tweets @anneglennie
