Phonics method helps close attainment gap, study finds
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Version 0 of 1. Teaching children how to read using synthetic phonics results in significant long-term benefits for disadvantaged pupils from poorer backgrounds and those who do not have English as their first language, according to research. The study by the Centre for Economic Performance (CEP) at the London School of Economics (LSE) is the first large-scale analysis of the effects of using the method, which teaches children to read by identifying and pronouncing sounds rather than individual letters. While the technique is markedly successful for children from deprived backgrounds or who have English as an additional language – groups who might be at risk of struggling with their reading – the research suggests there is no long-term benefit on average for other children. Researchers tracked the progress of more than 270,000 pupils in 150 local authorities that introduced the policy at different times. They found that children taught phonics had made better progress by the age of seven than those taught using other methods. But although those taught to read using other methods lagged behind at age seven, they had caught up by 11, suggesting that children who are not at a disadvantage will learn to read in any case. The policy therefore helps close the attainment gap, but does not supercharge average pupils’ reading. This latest study is different from earlier research as it looked at children’s progress at five, seven and 11, rather than just immediately after the completion of the phonics programme. “They find large average effects at the age of five and seven, but these had disappeared by age 11, probably because most children learned to read eventually, regardless of teaching method,” the researchers wrote. Nevertheless, they suggest that phonics is a powerful and cost-effective tool in raising national literacy levels as it is relatively inexpensive to train teachers in the method, compared with other initiatives to advance literacy such as cutting class sizes. The research published on Monday will be seen by the government as a vindication of the widespread introduction of synthetic or blended phonics in schools in England since 2010. Other research in the UK and abroad has also supported its effectiveness. However, the CEP researchers took the opportunity to tap into widespread concerns about the government’s plans for education, including taking powers away from councils and handing them to academy trusts. Prof Sandra McNally, director of the education and skills research programme at CEP and co-author of the report, said: “Local authorities were the drivers of this policy as it was rolled out nationally. When all schools become academies, it will not be possible to implement a policy in this way because the role of local authorities in education will either be greatly diminished or non-existent.” The Department for Education (DfE) said academies were subject to the same phonics screening check as all other state schools and academy teachers would be expected to use phonics in their literacy teaching, as in any other school. This year’s phonics screening check is due to take place in all primary schools in June. Pupils at the end of year one will be asked to read aloud 20 real words and 20 pseudo-words to the teacher, to check they have learned “phonic decoding” to an appropriate standard. Teachers and unions initially opposed the use of the check and, although more teachers have now embraced the method, there is still some scepticism. The children’s writer Michael Rosen has long argued that reading for pleasure is the most powerful motor for school achievement, rather than a single-minded focus on phonics. Challenging the latest research, he said: “I would want to know first and foremost how any reading test was carried out. If the sole method used was reading out loud, then we learn virtually nothing either way about the findings other than that phonics teaches phonics.” A DfE spokesperson said: “We welcome this report’s finding that phonics is not only boosting literacy standards among younger pupils, but also helping to close the attainment gap in primary school, supporting those children at most risk of falling behind. “Our latest phonics screening check on six-year-olds showed that 120,000 more children are on track to become excellent readers than in 2012, when the check was introduced – showing the impact this method can have.” |