Latest news with #phonics
Associated Press
27-05-2025
- General
- Associated Press
Judge dismisses lawsuit challenging 'balanced literacy' approach to teaching reading
BOSTON (AP) — A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by a group of Massachusetts parents who claimed their children were harmed by contested reading curricula designed by three prominent literacy experts. The parents, in their December lawsuit, accused Lucy Calkins, Irene Fountas, Gay Su Pinnell and their publishers of using deceptive marketing and questionable research to sell curricula which, instead of emphasizing proven phonics instruction, relied on strategies that they said left their children struggling to read. The lawsuit was filed as states around the country, in response to poor reading scores, have been reemphasizing phonics instruction while moving away from the defendants' 'balanced literacy' approaches that rely on practices such as cueing, which prompt students to use pictures and context to predict words. In dismissing the suit last week, a judge in Boston said that issuing a decision would require the court to assess the quality of the curricula. Judge Richard Stearns' order noted that the lawsuit acknowledged that the defendants cited research supporting their products, but he said finding the research inadequate, as the parents claimed, would mean delving into the experts' approach to instruction. 'The court rightly recognized that decisions about how best to teach reading should be made by educators,' Calkins, a faculty member at Columbia University's Teachers College whose curriculum is called Units of Study, said in a statement. 'I'm glad that the lawsuit has been dismissed so we can all turn our attention to the urgent work of teaching America's children to read.' Pinnell and Fountas, whose approach is known as 'Guided Reading,' did not immediately respond to emailed requests for comment. Attorneys for the parents also did not respond to an emailed request for comment.
The Guardian
18-05-2025
- General
- The Guardian
Sound it out: Victorian children improve reading ‘leaps and bounds' thanks to phonics
At Spring Parks Primary School, there's usually a steady proportion of prep students who lag far behind their peers in reading comprehension. But this year, every student has scored more than 80% in their tests. The answer, its principal Philip O'Reilly says, is phonics. Nine out of 10 government primary schools in Victoria are already using phonics to teach reading two years ahead of the approach being mandated in classrooms, new research shows. Synthetic phonics teaches children to read by helping them to identify the connection between phonemes (sounds) and letters (graphemes) by sounding them out. For instance, where children would once learn the word 'cat' by seeing it in a story with a picture or memorising it, they here instead sound out c-a-t – and blend it, into cat. Daily phonics is due to be mandated for children from prep to year 2 in all Victorian schools by the start of 2027 under the state's revised curriculum, with 25 minutes daily explicit teaching of phonics and phonemic awareness. The survey of schools, provided exclusively to Guardian Australia from the state's education department, found 93% were delivering daily synthetic phonics and there had been almost 16,000 downloads of the state's Phonics Plus resources since its publication this February. O'Reilly said prep students had improved in 'leaps and bounds' compared with where the same age cohort were placed last year. 'At first, my teachers thought the lesson plans were quite challenging, but once they actually started doing it … I'm amazed at how quickly we've seen growth,' he said. 'It seems very prescriptive, but it's great for the students, because there's so much repetition that they get into a routine. You could go into a classroom tomorrow and the kids would be able to tell you what you need to do next. 'And the kids are actually recognising the success themselves … It sounds really boring, but they love it.' Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email Phonics was introduced in 2012 in the UK and in recent years has seen widespread uptake in English-speaking countries, including Australia. But academics have been divided on its efficacy. A 2022 study by researchers at UCL's Institute of Education described the way primary school pupils were taught to read in England as 'uninformed and failing children', calling on the government to drop its narrow focus on phonics. Australia's Centre for Independent Studies, however, has been a strong backer of the method, calling for it to be prioritised in Australia as early as 2017, and research from the London School of Economics has found it is particularly effective for disadvantaged pupils and those who do not have English as their first language. In Victoria, a new year 1 phonics check, which takes about 10 minutes, is also being piloted at Victorian government primary schools this year, to become mandatory from 2026. About 80% of schools are choosing to deliver the test in term three – one year ahead of schedule. Anelise Porto, a foundation classroom teacher, said an average lesson involved targeted practice of select letters, which students sounded out before blending and segmenting the letters into words on their whiteboards. 'We 'write it, chin it and bin it',' she says. 'When they write something on their whiteboard, they put it on their chin for teachers to see, and then we can give immediate feedback. 'Assessment tasks happen every two weeks, and with that data, we've been able to see that it's working – we're seeing a huge amount of growth because we're testing so often.' Victoria is a late adopter of the check, which was first implemented by South Australia in 2018, followed by New South Wales in 2021, Western Australia in 2023 and Tasmania in 2024. The ACT's pilot will be further expanded this year. The education minister, Jason Clare, has also been a strong backer of phonics in the federal government's latest schools agreement, which ties funding to year 1 phonics and early numeracy checks. Australia consistently scores above the OECD average in reading literacy according to Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) results but has seen a gradual decline in the past decade, a warning signs that changes are needed. Victoria's deputy premier and education minister, Ben Carroll, said teachers and principals had shown 'nothing but support' for phonics in schools, which he hoped would lead to stronger reading outcomes. 'Despite providing a two-year transition period, schools are getting on board, and we're excited to see schools embracing change,' he said. O'Reilly says the regular checks have allowed teachers to quickly identify students who are struggling, or need to be extended. 'At my school, where students are predominantly Vietnamese, it's helpful to have that repetitive structure,' he says. 'Phonics gives everyone the same tools. It's a great equaliser.'
The Guardian
06-05-2025
- General
- The Guardian
Fostering a lifelong love of reading in children
You report that an increasing proportion of young parents say children's reading is 'more a subject to learn than a fun thing to do' (Most parents don't enjoy reading to their children, survey suggests, 30 April). This is hardly surprising, as the early reading strategy required by the Department for Education and Ofsted places an exclusive emphasis on learning phonics rules. Required reading schemes must focus on decoding words at the expense of context, a lively story or anything that looks a bit like fun. Next month, in primary schools, five- and six-year-olds will undertake the statutory 'phonics check', which asks them to decode single words and nonsense words according to the rules they have been taught. Those who do not meet the standard must repeat the test next year. Intensive drills will be the order of the day. No, it is not 'a fun thing to do'. It is claimed that standards in early reading are rising. In fact, scores on the phonics check are improving as schools teach to the test, but this is valueless if children do not enjoy reading. The ability to 'sound out words' is one skill to support reading, but there are many others, including whole-word recognition, appreciation of sentence structure and use of context. Children become fluent readers by being drawn into the enjoyment of books. The exclusive emphasis on synthetic phonics teaching was ramped up under the Cameron government and became progressively more strictly imposed through the years of Tory government. It is disappointing that the curriculum review set up by Labour under Prof Becky Francis does not recognise the need for change. Her interim report, published in March, recommended retaining the phonics check. Children deserve better. Ruth Allen Kinoulton, Nottinghamshire I am delighted that Julia Donaldson is working on another of her wonderful books (The Guardian view on the Gruffalo: a well-timed comeback, wart and all, 1 May). Her stories are a joy to read aloud and share with children because adults enjoy them too. There is nothing that will encourage young children to read more than sharing excitement and delight in a story with a grownup who clearly enjoys reading. As public libraries close nationwide and school libraries are sidelined, the joy of reading is lost and it simply becomes another subject in the curriculum. This leads to a lack of fluent literacy that affects children's ability to understand words and to evaluate what they see written in whatever format or media. Story time with teachers and librarians, cuddling up with a parent and a good book, time to read just for fun – these are some of the best things we can give children, so that reading for pleasure becomes a lifelong joy. Carol Elliott Morpeth, Northumberland Your article underlines the need for school libraries. The decline in the 'happy reading culture' that comes from being read to, and the growing perception of reading as schoolwork, is a challenge. We need to maximise access to reading for pleasure, and offer choice, encouragement and guidance. Every school needs a library, and someone responsible for curating and promoting a diverse and current collection, relevant to children's lives. This is particularly important where home circumstances limit opportunities. We owe it to children to be relentlessly positive about books and reading, and to press those in power for a library in every school. Henrietta Englefield London Have an opinion on anything you've read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.
