Jessica Del Rio, Kristy Jones | ACT government schools needs to change the way they teach reading

A new report by Equity Economics has found many children are not being taught to read in a way that aligns with scientific evidence. Despite more than 40 years of scientific research on the essential skills for reading instruction, the ACT government is yet to implement a best-practice curriculum, lagging behind states like NSW and South Australia. Governments have not provided enough guidance to teachers, leaving them to figure out for themselves what to teach, what order to teach it in, how to teach it and to what level.

There is a proven formula for improving literacy outcomes and we know it will work because it's being implemented in Canberra Catholic schools and other Australian jurisdictions with encouraging results.

In 2019, Canberra year 3 students in both Catholic and government schools were performing at about the same reading level in NAPLAN, with 42 per cent of Catholic schools and 54 per cent of government schools underperforming compared to similar students in the rest of the country. Since then, Catholic schools have invested in evidence-based reading practices, and in 2022, only 4 per cent of Catholic schools underperformed compared to 60 per cent of government schools.

To ensure students in public schools don't fall further behind, the ACT government needs to match the commitment made by other sectors and jurisdictions and invest in five key areas.

First, the ACT government can make a substantial investment in implementing the Australian curriculum. The curriculum was changed in 2022 to require all schools to stop teaching children to read by guessing words and to, instead, teach them to sound out words. Most parents would be shocked to know that this significant change has not been made.

Second, the ACT government can assist principals to access training and support to lead the cultural change required within schools to move from outdated but long-held literacy teaching practices. Teachers must also be provided with training and coaching in high-quality, research backed explicit and structured reading instruction.

Third, the ACT can mandate screening of all children in year 1 to identify students who require additional support in learning to read. After year 1, other age-normed screening tools should also be used to identify children who are struggling as they move through school.

Fourth, the ACT can fund small group tutoring and one-on-one support to students who are falling behind so that they can catch up with their classmates. This should not be left to parents to fund privately outside of school, especially when we are in a cost-of-living crisis.

Finally, Canberra-based universities will need to change their curriculum for pre-service teachers. At the moment pre-service teachers are being exposed to a range of reading strategies, some are informed by science, but others are wrongly informed by ideology.

Equity Economics estimates an initial ACT government investment of around $11 million is required to make these improvements, which will deliver $200 million in increased earnings for our kids. Not to mention other benefits to society and the ACT's economy.

The ability to read is fundamental to success in life. It contributes to whether a person will get a job, earn a good income, not to mention their physical and mental health. Children who struggle with reading are more likely to become tomorrow's lowest income, least skilled citizens. They're more likely to rely on government support and increase costs to our health system. It's not only bad for them, it's bad for our community.

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Unless the ACT government takes decisive steps to properly implement a literacy reform program in our schools, we are cementing educational failure into the next generation.

Forty per cent of First Nations year 9 students in the ACT are at or below the national minimum standard in reading for NAPLAN, as well as half of those kids whose parents didn't finish school. Inequity in ACT schools is entrenched. In a progressive city like ours, it is unacceptable that so many disadvantaged kids (as well as advantaged kids) kids are falling behind.

Success at school is fundamental in the battle against intergenerational disadvantage. Disparity in achievement is not due to an inherent difference in ability - with high quality schooling, all students are able to excel.

Canberra's social, civic, and economic strength is directly bound to the strength of our public school system. Unless the ACT government invests in reform, many children in Canberra simply won't reach their full potential.