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The Telegraph online:
Teaching phonics does not improve children's reading skills, landmark study shows

25 April 2016

Traditional teaching methods championed by Government do not improve children's reading skills, a landmark London School of Economics (LSE) study shows. Teaching children in a way in which words are broken down into their constituent parts, also known as phonics, does help those children from disadvantaged backgrounds and those who don't have English as their first language. However, the method has had 'no measurable effect on pupils reading scores at age 11', the LSE's Centre for Economic Performance (CEP) said. But the Government has defended phonics as a previous analysis of the results had shown that children taught using phonics are two years ahead of the national average.

This article was published by The Telegraph online on April 25, 2016
Link to article here

Related publications
"Teaching to Teach" Literacy, Stephen Machin, Sandra McNally and Martina Viarengo, Centre for Economic Performance Discussion Paper No.1425, April 2016

Related links
Stephen Machin webpage
Sandra McNally webpage
Education and Skills Programme webpage

Read more... The Telegraph online