No magic wand but improving children’s literacy isn’t rocket science

nick cowen, 15 August 2008

This morning on Radio 4’s Today, Barry Sheerman MP and the author Ian Rankin discussed the problem that one in five 14-year-old boys have reading ages below that expected of 11 year-olds. The discussion is well worth listening to but there are a few talking points worth tackling. The first is that, while the widening gap between girls and boys demonstrates there is a problem, we shouldn’t necessarily expect a school system to ensure boys perform as well as girls in reading tests. Other factors (such as natural aptitude, differing ages of development and social cues) might be playing a larger role. It is enough of a challenge to get everyone to a reasonable standard of literacy, besides having to compensate for disadvantages caused elsewhere. But on that point of literacy standards, it is worth underlining that there is a severe problem with reading in UK. It is not new but nor is it being tackled effectively.
Sheerman emphasised the need to teach reading systematically from an early age. We agree. Indeed, a systematic approach is more likely to be appreciated by boys who might prefer to tackle problems using procedural methods. We also have a more specific suggestion. As our report Ready to Read? discussed, there is an effective method for equalising outcomes between middle class children and those from lower income families: synthetic phonics, the strategy we use in our supplementary schools.