Study, questioning government’s synthetic phonics evidence base, sets up questions for Ofsted

A detailed new academic study, which concludes that the government’s approach to the teaching of reading in England is “not sufficiently underpinned by research evidence” and is “failing children”, seems to raise fresh questions for the schools inspectorate, Ofsted.

The paper, by UCL Institute of Education researchers and based on a lengthy review of the existing international research base, comes out in favour of a “balanced” approach to the teaching of reading, with synthetic phonics taught alongside reading for meaning. https://bera-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/rev3.3314

If the paper is correct that this is the finding that the most robust research evidence on phonics teaching points towards, then there is a clear conflict with the rules which Ofsted has set for how schools and teacher education institutions are currently inspected.

The research also includes a host of other interesting findings, including fresh analysis suggesting that England is an “outlier” in its teaching of reading compared to other English language countries. And the researchers suggest that phonics could be taught for a far shorter period in English classrooms than is the case now, based on research from overseas.

The detail: England’s internationally-unusual emphasis on discrete, synthetic phonics

Although this aspect seems to have attracted little media attention so far, this paper’s analysis of how England’s approach to the teaching of reading differs from that seen in other English-speaking countries seems important.