So, I was really pleased to see that the first two readers' comments were from Australian ladies who are working hard in Australia to promote the need for a national snapshot phonics check there! Well done Julie and Belinda!
Julie Mavlian
This check was trialled in South Australia and the response was overwhelmingly positive. Teachers thought it simple and easy to administer, and children thought it was fun and they enjoyed spending the 1to1 time with their teacher. If this check is demoralising students then we have to ask how is it being delivered?
Pseudowords have a place in assessment of phonological recoding skills, and they are in reliable testing tools such as DIBELS. As we learn to recode we use small non words to make real words, consider mag/ni/tude or sec/tus sem/pra (Harry Potter).
Let’s remind ourselves of what happens to students who don’t learn to read and spell well who aren’t identified early. The debilitating impact on self esteem, employment prospects and mental health are very real and last much longer than a quick 5 minute check. Let’s keep it all in per/spect/ive.
Belinda Dekker
Demoralising is when a child fails to learn to decode and suffers the emotional and social consequences of illiteracy. I wrote an article about my daughter’s experiences here.
https://dekkerdyslexia.wordpress.com/2018/03/...
And as someone who thinks a national snapshot check is invaluable for informing teachers, I chipped in too...
Debbie Hepplewhite
The negativity around the the phonics check illustrates the huge lack of professional knowledge and understanding of the teaching profession, and teacher-training profession, for reading instruction - and it certainly shows that there is no 'common' understanding. Ironically, many people in Australia are passionately advocating for a national phonics check there because literacy standards are notoriously low through flawed teacher training, flawed and weak reading instruction and, again, a lack of common understanding about the findings of a body of reseach and how best to teach reading. Teachers need to be supported by being fully aware of their teaching effectiveness in this essential aspect of reading instruction and to benefit from learning what the most effective teachers do to achieve their results. If any child is 'upset' by the phonics check - a few minutes one to one with their teacher to read a list of words, half of them with colourful little creatures - then I'm afraid that this is most likely down to the adults and their attitudes and actions towards it.
