Written question asked by Nick Gibb (Conservative) on Tuesday, 22 March 2005, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 4 April 2005. It was answered by Derek Twigg (Labour) on Monday, 4 April 2005 on behalf of the Department for Education and Skills.

Dept for Education and Skills

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, if she will undertake a review of the National Literacy Strategy following the publication of the Clackmannanshire research into synthetic phonics teaching of reading.

Answer: Mr. Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will undertake a review of the National Literacy Strategy following the publication of the Clackmannanshire research into synthetic phonics teaching of reading. [223996] Derek Twigg: The National Literacy Strategy has constantly evolved since its introduction in 1998 in response to the latest research. This will continue to be the case. The Clackmannanshire study is a valuable piece of research which highlights the importance of having a well structured and direct programme of synthetic phonics teaching in schools. It lends further weight to the approach to teaching reading and spelling advocated by the National Literacy Strategy which has at its heart early and direct instruction in synthetic phonics, very similar to the teaching methods trialled in Clackmannanshire. While the pupils who took part in the Clackmannanshire study made significantly faster gains than pupils in the control group, their attainment in reading comprehension was broadly the same as that achieved by an average 11-year-old in an English school who would be taught using the National Literacy Strategy.

Secondary information