Ministry presented with ‘first best solution’ to solving literacy underachievement

Friday 18 December, 2020. View PDF here.

Ministry presented with ‘first best solution’ to solving literacy underachievement

In early December, Lifting Literacy Aotearoa presented to Associate Deputy Secretary Pauline Cleaver and a group of Ministry of Education policy analysts and curriculum developers at the Ministry in Wellington, by invitation. We took with us Structured Literacy experts on our Steering Group, and passionate school leaders who described the successes and challenges of implementing Structured Literacy in their schools.

This was a significant opportunity to present the Science of Reading and begin both macro-and micro-discussions about the importance of ensuring no learner is left behind. We covered the full range of issues; from the experiences of individual children and their families, to the dangers of falling literacy levels and wider social implications for Aotearoa New Zealand. We also emphasised that Structured Literacy has a big part to play in closing the gap for Māori and Pasifika achievement.

We saw this invitation as a brilliant opportunity. Ministry of Education officials were engaged, asked questions, and we presented strongly. However, we have work still to do. It seems that the Ministry’s current direction – while increasingly inclusive of synthetic systematic phonics – is to enhance and complement existing interventions at tier 2 and 3 rather than adopting a large-scale change of direction across classroom practice (tier 1) and then align tier 2 and 3 interventions to that same approach.

Lifting Literacy Aotearoa’s position remains that Structured Literacy is not a bolt-on ‘ambulance at the bottom of the cliff’ intervention, but a fully integrated, curriculum-wide, foundational approach to teaching reading and spelling from the early years and throughout the schooling years. When done properly, Structured Literacy is demonstrably the most effective literacy approach that is inclusive of all learners. The wide ranging International and New Zealand research and the New Zealand school-based data we presented to the Ministry is evidence of this.

So where to from here?

We have written to the Ministry to reiterate our view that the first best solution to solving our literacy underachievement is to extend a Structured Literacy approach across the board and to comprehensively and equitably fund the professional learning and development (PLD) and implementation support. Effective implementation will also require more detail to be added to the NZ Curriculum which reflects the developmental progression of reading and writing, including foundational skills.

Those PLD providers that have been working with schools over the past 3-4 years are the experts on the ground. So our top priority is that the Ministry funded PLD mechanism is designed to capture the best that is out there for our schools and provides knowledge and skills for implementation up to Year 8: this is not just about the first couple of years of schooling.

Secondly, we also want to see the Ministry better support and utilise RTLits so that they in turn can support more schools in switching to a structured literacy approach.

Thirdly, we want to see the Ministry’s Effective Literacy Practices Guidelines be updated in line with a structured literacy approach. This guidance is the cornerstone for in-service teachers to base their practice on and it also sends a strong signal to Initial Teacher Education (ITE) providers on the content for their teacher qualifications.

While we were in Wellington and subsequently, we also met with a range of other stakeholders that share our concern about poor literacy achievement in New Zealand, including: The New Zealand Initiative; The Productivity Commission; New Zealand Principals’ Federation; Literacy Aotearoa; School of Education, Victoria University of Wellington; NZEI Te Riu Roa; and Mike Styles, Primary Industry Training Organisation and Dyslexia Advocate.

We will continue to engage with a variety of stakeholders across sectors and government to galvanise our collective voice in favour of advancing the equitable and rapid implementation of Structured Literacy across all NZ schools. If you are interested in being part of this collective voice, please get in touch. We are especially keen to engage with the business sector and civil society groups and other education sector stakeholders.

Further information

An edited copy of the presentation to the Ministry is available here. To view the speaker notes, click the cog setting and select ‘show speaker notes’.