Kiwi kids are behind in reading
"We continue to rely on an approach to literacy instruction discredited by scientific research over 30 years ago."
Professor James Chapman
Children are being left behind right from the start by reading and writing teaching proven to fail, education experts say.
New Zealand has fallen to 33rd of 50 countries in international literacy rankings. The latest results, for 2016, show we fell eight places since the last Progress in International Reading and Literacy Study, in 2011.
Behind this ‘‘fall from grace’’ is a failure to give children basic skills for reading and writing when they start school, says Manawatu¯ -based literacy consultant Liz Kane. ‘‘Many of our teachers have not been taught basic phonemic awareness [the importance of sounding out words].
‘‘We’ve missed out decoding the words and gone straight to the meaning of words. They’ve taught kids really well to look at the pictures and try to work it out, or they miss out a word and try to work it out.’’
Kane said many children naturally worked out the patterns. For others, it could be a serious stumbling block.
The fact 27 per cent of 9- and 10-year-old Kiwis tested for the study were at low or ‘‘below low’’ literacy levels should be an immediate wake-up call, she said.
‘‘Across schools, even in Manawatu¯ , there’s nothing consistent in the teaching of spelling, even within schools.’’
Hokowhitu School deputy principal and new entrants’ teacher Helen Griffin said the Palmerston North school noticed ‘‘kids were missing out on some crucial information’’, and introduced a phonemics and phonics programme about a year ago. She had seen convincing leaps in progress for pupils struggling with literacy.
‘‘Those students that were struggling aren’t dumb. It just holds them up, even with interventions. They’ve got great general knowledge and other skills, but their brains just aren’t wired that way [with language].
‘‘They have difficulty reading, and therefore with progressing through the levels and getting thoughts down on paper. The older they get the more frustrating it is for them and they realise they aren’t achieving what other children are.’’
Reinforcing basic language patterns in listening, reading and writing provided a solid base to build on, she said.
Massey University literacy Professor James Chapman said that in 1970 New Zealand was at the top of international rankings for literacy. But in recent years many teachers had reported early literacy teaching practice was not working for lots of children.
‘‘New Zealand continues to have the largest spread of scores from good to poor readers among developed countries.
‘‘We continue to rely on an approach to literacy instruction discredited by scientific research over 30 years ago. The problem ... doesn’t lie with teachers, but with teaching. Explicit and systematic instruction in skills for identifying unfamiliar words is essential for many children.’’
Phonics was taught in nearly all schools, but teachers were frustrated by inadequate training.