ATL

Will phonics tests work?

The first synthetic phonics test rolls out this summer in England — but will it create more problems than it solves? Words by Andrew Robbins

With a pilot and a report safely under his belt, Nick Gibb, Minister of State for Schools, has committed the government to synthetic phonics testing for Year 1 in England this summer.

In the test, children are given a list of 20 real and 20 nonsense words, eg 'mip' or 'glimp', and asked to pronounce each one. The check assesses their ability to decode words by sound — the basis of the synthetic phonics system for the teaching of reading. One of the test's main aims is early identification of children struggling with reading, so they can be given extra help.

ATL acknowledges the role of synthetic phonics in schools, where it has become well established through programmes such as 'Letters and sounds', but also has serious concerns that the new test is not fit for purpose.
The government's own report into the pilot study of the test, carried out in 300 schools last year, revealed that more than half the participating schools did not think it had helped them identify struggling readers.

Others reported the tests took little account of the needs of pupils with speech difficulties, those whose first language was not English, or those with language difficulties.

The government says it has taken account of such concerns and will consider making some amendments to the check when it is introduced.

Feedback from a survey of ATL members in the pilot schools showed that the test sometimes misidentified good readers as struggling ones.

"The more able children made mistakes on the non-words," says Heather Day, a West Midlands-based literacy coordinator and advanced skills teacher for literacy.

"They were confident readers and no longer needed to break down words using phonics," she adds. "They use higher-order skills of context, inference and deduction, and know that what they read needs to make sense."

Another member from the pilot recalls: "We found that children of all abilities made errors. Only a few children achieved 100% accuracy."

Alison Sherratt, primary school teacher and junior vice president of ATL, highlights the difficulties sounding out can cause otherwise good readers. "Just think of 'remember' — that has three different 'e' sounds in one word alone," she points out.

Nansi Ellis, ATL's head of education policy and research, compares the test to "using a sledgehammer to crack a nut. It's bound to pick up some children who can't decode phonetically. But these are not necessarily poor readers. They are just children who can't do the test. In most cases, teachers will already know who their weaker readers are."

ATL is also concerned that the phonics test will help drive out other forms of teaching reading. "Synthetic phonics is an important part of teaching reading, but the government is saying that it should be the only way to do it," says Ms Ellis.

"The point of the check seems to be to ensure that every school will have to teach synthetic phonics. If you're not doing it, your children won't do well in the test, and that matters because Ofsted will use the results in its assessments.

"We're worried that greater emphasis on synthetic phonics will be at the expense of other things to do with reading — like enjoying stories or understanding what words actually mean."

She continues: "In future, it's possible that a lot of children will do well with synthetic phonics, but they won't get to the expected key stage 2 reading level 4, which is about understanding ideas and themes, and using inference and deduction. By focusing on phonics, we'll have removed the focus from these areas.

"If the government wants 99% of children to get to level 4, I don't think teaching synthetic phonics alone is going to get them there. It's not a magic bullet."

In its formal response to the Department for Education's test consultation, ATL drew attention to the formulaic, top-down approach represented by the check: "Many of the proposals for Year 1 phonics testing can be interpreted as a lack of trust in teachers' ability and professionalism, including the use of 'non-words', so that children cannot 'cheat' by knowing a lot of English words. Most importantly, the use and reporting of a national test overrides teacher assessment, eg in-school testing of pupil progress."

Ms Ellis says that teachers should trust their own judgement when it comes to what they know is best for their pupils.

"We would say: 'Keep teaching what you think is right for the children you teach. Don't be cowed by a government that thinks it knows better than you.'"