Changing how literacy is taught: evidence on synthetic phonics

Stephen Machin, Sandra McNally and Martina Viarengo

LSE Research Online Documents on Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library

Abstract: A significant number of people have very low levels of literacy in many OECD countries. This paper studies a national change in policy and practice in England that refocused the teaching of reading around "synthetic phonics." This was a low-cost intervention that targeted the pedagogy of existing teachers. We evaluate the pilot and first phase of the national rollout. While strong initial effects tend to fade out on average, they persist for those with children with a higher initial propensity to struggle with reading. As a result, this program helped narrow the gap between disadvantaged pupils and other groups.

JEL-codes: I21 I28 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018-05-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ure
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

Published in American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 1, May, 2018, 10(2), pp. 217-241. ISSN: 1945-7731

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http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/88350/ Open access version. (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: Changing How Literacy Is Taught: Evidence on Synthetic Phonics (2018)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ehl:lserod:88350

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