Phonics - is there much evidence? ESSENTIAL READING!

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debbie
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Phonics - is there much evidence? ESSENTIAL READING!

Post by debbie »

Heatherf has very neatly presented a wealth of evidence via her 'Essa Quam Videri' blog which is very far-reaching. It really is compelling and gives the overview - and leads to specific information - as to why the teaching profession should be fully behind Systematic Synthetic Phonics teaching.

Quite frankly, all teachers need to 'get on with it' and do their utmost to hone their knowledge and skills to be the best SSP teacher they can be!

Very sadly, however, we have nowhere near universal SSP teaching in the English language - neither in England itself nor in other countries teaching the English language.

If you are sceptical about SSP teaching, or you have a colleague or colleagues who are dubious - perhaps still believing or providing the notorious 'mixed methods' which include the multi-cueing reading strategies - read here:


http://heatherfblog.wordpress.com/2014/ ... omment-127
There is a good reason why this research was greeted with great interest but not a fanfare. We’ve seen it all before. It is one more plank in the construction of what is already a vast body of converging evidence on the why SSP is a better approach than the methods used in most British classrooms. Personally, I don’t leap to implement the latest piece of educational research because individual studies are narrow and classrooms and the children in them are complex. However,

“that direct instruction in alphabetic coding facilitates early reading acquisition, is one of the most well established conclusions in all of behavioural science” (Stanovich, Progress in Understanding Reading p415.)

“In science it is rare that anything is proved in one defining study. Data is evaluated from dozens of experiments, each containing some flaws but providing part of the answer”
Last edited by debbie on Fri May 23, 2014 10:42 am, edited 1 time in total.
Debbie Hepplewhite
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debbie
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Post by debbie »

I am linking to another thread focused on information which shows that we do not have universal Systematic Synthetic Phonics teaching here in England despite what people may think.

The NFER report probes the views of Year One teachers and Literacy Coordinators in England regarding their phonics provision and the statutory Year One Phonics screening check:


http://phonicsinternational.com/forum/v ... .php?t=636
Debbie Hepplewhite
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debbie
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Post by debbie »

Here is the link to my article in SEN Magazine in which I raise questions about the state of play in England regarding early reading instruction and phonics:

Where next for phonics?

https://www.senmagazine.co.uk/articles/ ... or-phonics
Debbie Hepplewhite looks at the progress, practice and problems of synthetic phonics teaching in schools

Three different, but inter-related, reports on synthetic phonics were published in May 2014. All three reports are interesting and informative but, in some ways, they leave us with more questions than answers. They certainly raise serious questions regarding early literacy provision for children generally and for widely recognised vulnerable groups:

*do teachers embrace in full the systematic synthetic phonics teaching principles described in government guidance and in the core phonics programmes that they purport to follow?

*what does the widespread objection to the 40-word Year 1 phonics screening check actually reflect?

*what approach and programmes really serve children best, particularly those who are slower to learn or with special needs?
Debbie Hepplewhite
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