EducationReview · Unpacking the importance of phonics for early readers The teaching of phonics in the early years of reading has been a contested issue for decades now. While all teachers believe an understanding of the area provides a critical ...

It’s hard not to be alarmed by the state of reading in Australia. Since 2000, our students have dropped from 4th to 17th place in the PISA survey of global reading results, and foreboding reports on the national state of ...

After the release of December’s disappointing PISA results, student achievement, teacher quality, curriculum content and quality-assurance measures were destined to be on the table at the Alice Springs (Mparntwe) Education Declaration, which concluded on December 12. Here are some of ...

Is Australian children’s literacy in crisis? Among teachers, academics and politicians, the consensus is largely ‘yes’ – or we’re wobbling precariously on the edge. While primary years performance tends to be strong, something happens in the transition to high school; ...

Professor Pamela Snow is head of the La Trobe Rural Health School and will soon become Professor of Cognitive Psychology in the School of Education at La Trobe. In this podcast, Snow talks about how blended reading approaches, which are ...

The long-running “Reading Wars” have a new battlefront, with Education Minister Dan Tehan today announcing a taskforce to recommend an invigorated approach to teaching phonics to student teachers. "Our Government will fund the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership ...

It may nearly be a new school year, but the age old debate over how to teach literacy remains. Incendiarising it is linguist and literacy consultant, Lyn Stone. Her new book, Reading for Life: High quality literacy instruction for all, represents ...

A dispute between experts has emerged on whether Australian schools should adopt the same Year 1 phonics check currently being conducted in the UK. Phonics refers to the relationship between sounds people hear in spoken language and words seen in ...

While the federal government has endorsed a phonics check for Year 1 students, one researcher has warned that the check should not overextend its reach. Dr Jennifer Buckingham, an education researcher from the Centre of Independent Studies, recently completed a report ...

Ditching the teaching method may cost NSW schools accreditation. Universities in NSW must teach phonics to student teachers or risk losing accreditation, the state’s education minister has ordered. “Phonics is a key skill in the teaching of reading,” NSW education ...