2 Context
8. Since 1997, the teaching of reading in publicly
funded English schools has been guided by the National Literacy
Strategy (NLS), now part of the Primary National Strategy. The
NLS is non-statutory guidance, a 'Framework for Teaching' which
sets out objectives for children from Reception to Year 6, with
the aim of enabling pupils to become fully literate. It gives
guidance on the ways in which teaching should take place and acts
as a day-to-day reference document for classroom teachers.
9. The NLS began in 1997, when concerns about literacy
standards in primary schools (expressed, amongst others, by Ofsted
in its report The Teaching of Reading in 45 Inner London Primary
Schools)[3] led the
incoming Labour Government to introduce a strategy specifically
aimed at improving the teaching of essential literacy skills,
including reading. It was rolled out to all schools in England
in 1998, with the aim "to raise standards of literacy throughout
the primary age range, to support teachers to deliver the primary
programmes of study for reading and writing as set out in the
National Curriculum, and to make a significant contribution to
the development of speaking and listening".[4]
The NLS established a 'Framework for Teaching' including the Literacy
Hour, specific training for teachers in the delivery of the programme
and associated achievement targets, plus support from LEA literacy
consultants Originally, the scope of the NLS extended from the
Foundation Stage (age 3-5) to Key Stage 3 (age 11-14), but in
2003 the National Literacy Strategy was combined with the National
Numeracy Strategy to become the Primary National Strategy, a change
intended "to create a more coherent delivery structure and
organisational model, and to interact with schools more effectively
on whole-school teaching and learning issues".[5]
10. The NLS has apparently led to a significant rise
in reading standards. In 1997, 67% of 11 year olds achieved the
expected level for their age in reading, and 63% in English, in
National Curriculum Tests. The graph below shows the improvement
in reading attainment between 1997 and 2004, as measured by the
proportion of children achieving the expected level for their
age in Key Stage tests. In 2004, 83% of 11 year olds were reading
at the level expected of their age.
11. This picture of general improvement in the reading
ability of primary school age children is supported by an independent
evaluation of the NLS conducted by the Ontario Institute for Studies
in Education (OISE) at the University of Toronto. In 2003, OISE
published its final report, Watching and Learning 3, finding
that "The National Literacy and Numeracy Strategies are ambitious
large-scale reform initiatives that have been generally well implemented
and well supported by schools. Although the 2002 targets were
not reached, there have been indications of improved teaching
practice and pupil learning, as well as a substantial narrowing
of the gap between the most and least successful schools and LEAs".
It did find some weaknesses: "there is considerable disparity
across teachers in subject knowledge, pedagogical skill and the
understanding of NLS and NNS […] Although the Strategies
have made a good beginning in a relatively short period of time,
the intended changes in teaching and learning have not yet been
fully realised".[6]
12. The improvement in Key Stage test results has
been welcomed by many, but others contest the extent of any advance.
For example, Professor Peter Tymms, Director of the Curriculum,
Evaluation and Management (CEM) Centre at Durham University, has
recently challenged the validity of Key Stage 2 tests as an accurate
measure of performance.[7]
Professor Tymms, who operates alternative assessments for schools
and education authorities, said that Key Stage results were misleading
because teachers have learnt to 'teach to the test'. He presented
evidence to show that, whilst standards may have risen between
1995 and 2000, the improvements were smaller than the Key Stage
2 scores may imply. His comments were supported by the Statistics
Commission, which concluded that the "introduction of a new
'high stakes' test, such as the KS tests, can be expected to lead
to an initial rise in test scores, even if it does nothing to
raise standards […] The Commission believes that it has been
established that (a) the improvement in KS2 test scores between
1995 and 2000 substantially overstates the improvement in standards
in English primary schools over that period, but (b) there was
nevertheless some rise in standards".[8]
13. Evidence from recent international studies has
suggested that English children have a high reading ability on
average. The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study
(PIRLS) was a comparative study of the reading achievement of
ten year olds undertaken in 2001. Over 140,000 pupils in 35 countries
participated in it, including 3,156 English children in Year 5.
England ranked third in terms of reading achievement, with only
Sweden and the Netherlands higher. However, the study also indicated
that, although children in England have greater reading skills,
they are less likely to enjoy reading than children from other
countries and, importantly, that England has one of the largest
variations between its most and least able pupils.
14. It is necessary to treat individual comparative
studies with care, as it is difficult to be sure that they are
comparing like with like. Nevertheless the PIRLS results do seem
to corroborate the results of national tests which suggest that
although there has been some improvement, a proportion of children
(around 20%) do not achieve the level of reading expected of them
at age 11. This situation has been called the 'long tail of under
achievement'.[9] It would
seem that at present around one fifth of English children have
not fully benefited from any general improvement in reading standards.
15. The Government has agreed that more progress
needs to be made in raising children's reading ability.[10]
The NLS has been altered and adapted over the course of its existence
(these changes will be discussed in more detail later in this
report) and this looks likely to continue in future. The Qualifications
and Curriculum Authority (QCA) has recently announced a review
of the English Curriculum, under the banner 'English 21'. It intends
to consider the balance of teaching between "the place of
creativity and imagination and how to provide an inspiring curriculum
and how much emphasis there should be on the 'nuts and bolts'
of language".[11]
This review will encompass the teaching of English and reading
at primary school level. In addition, the Government has recently
announced significant changes to the testing regime at Key Stage
1. New assessment arrangements for 7 year olds will combine National
Curriculum tests with continuous teacher assessment.[12]
Together, these changes constitute an acknowledgement that there
is still room for improvement in the teaching of reading at primary
school.
3 The Teaching of Reading in 45 Inner London Primary
Schools, Ofsted, HMR 27/96/DS, 1 October 1996. Back
4
Ev 33, para 3. Back
5
Ev 34, para 6 Back
6
Watching and Learning 3 : Final Report of the External Evaluation
of England's National Literacy and Numeracy Strategies, Lorna
Earl, Nancy Watson, Ben Levin, Ken Leithwood, Michael Fullan and
Nancy Torrance with Doris Jantzi, Blair Mascall and Louis Volante,
OISE/UT, January 2003. Page 8. Back
7
Peter Tymms, 'Are standards rising in English primary schools?',
British Educational Research Journal, 30 (4), 2004. Back
8
Measuring Standards in English Primary Schools, Report
by the Statistics Commission on an article by Peter Tymms, The
Statistics Commission, November 2004. Back
9
See, for example, A Reading Revolution: How we can teach every
child to read, Preliminary Report of the Literacy Task Force,
chaired by Professor Michael Barber, 27th February 1997. Back
10
Q 181 Back
11
http://www.qca.org.uk/2586_12512.html Back
12
DfES Press Notice 2004/0156 Back
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