Nevertheless, the latest PIRLS 2023 results indicate steadiness in England's results - whereas some other countries considered to be 'leading' (such as Finland) have shown a dip.
This would not be surprising in any country considering the covid-19 events these past three years.
England's teachers, and Minister Nick Gibb who has championed the need for 'systematic synthetic phonics' for many years, should be pleased with the steady literacy results from England's children.
See here for further information and responses to these results via the UK Reading Reform Foundation - the committee of which has championed the need for systematic synthetic phonics for foundational literacy since first founded in 1989:
https://rrf.org.uk/messageforum/viewtopic.php?t=6635
Elizabeth Nonweiler writes:
England came fourth out of the 43 countries that tested children of the same age in the Progress International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) - its best results ever, compared with other countries.
Could it be due to teaching systematic synthetic phonics gradually more effectively over years now? And partly - significantly - because of the RRF? I think it might be.
