Can The Debate Around Phonics Evolve Please?

"It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so.” ― Mark Twain

When you look back on previous generations it’s hard not to wonder what they were thinking. Who thought that not wearing a seat belt was a good idea, or that smoking cigarettes wouldn’t have health implications.

I’m sure generations will continue to look back and wonder, but what about in education?

I know throughout my career there are key moments when I’ve learnt something profound, and then I cringe thinking back to how I used to teach.

I’m hoping that one day we will look back on phonics instruction in the same manner.

You would have thought that given the level of hysteria pertaining to phonics over a long period of time, that there would be nothing new or nothing missed.

What if I told you that there was a glaring omission from the debate?

The arguments have typically centred around whether phonics should be taught or not. This isn’t up for debate. I’m yet to see a primary school that doesn’t teach phonics. Like all things, some schools teach phonics well, while others, not so much.

Lost in all the shouting, and talking passed each other, is the glaring omission. The notion that it’s ok to deliver the same phonics instruction to all students at the same time.

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My approach to teaching phonics changed in 2019 when I read the book ‘Letter Lessons and First Words; Phonics Foundations That Work’, by Heidi Anne Mesmer.

Since the National Reading Panel report in 2006 (as well as countless other research), it has been established that phonics instruction needs to be systematic (follow a scope and sequence), and be explicit (direct, precise and unambiguous).

My biggest take away from Mesmer’s book was that phonics instruction also needs to be assessment responsive, i.e teaching needs to be targeted at the developmental needs of each student.

It sounds so obvious now when I type this, but it was a definite light bulb moment at the time.

Unfortunately, system wide in education it is still accepted that all students receive the same instruction at the same time. Often through a program.

“Another challenge with teaching according to the script of a program is that programs are typically designed for whole-class instruction. These kinds of one-size-fits-all programs are not flexible or adaptive. Everyone gets the same thing, both students who are completely bored by too-simple content and students who are overwhelmed by content that is over their heads.” (Mesmer, Introduction xxii, 2019)

The key to being able to be assessment responsive is to have quality assessment that reflects the scope and sequence that you are following. Mesmer’s book does just this by providing a placement test that allows educators to find the point of need for each student.

In Victoria, there are several schools that have set about being assessment responsive with their phonics instruction with outstanding results. The schools that I’m highlighting have varying contexts: metropolitan, semi-rural, regional, varying degrees of advantage/disadvantage, mono-cultural, and culturally diverse with English as a second language for many students.

In the tables below the middle column highlights the scope & sequence (& assessment) the schools follow using Heidi Anne Mesmer’s Letter Lessons And First Words. The first column highlights where students entered school, and the final column shows the huge amount of growth each cohort has demonstrated in one school year.

Clarinda Primary School Foundation Cohort 2024

Start of the year	Phonics Data	End of the year
16	A1. Uppercase letters	0
7	A2. Lowercase letters	0
17	A3. Letter sounds	0
6	B1. Short vowels	5
1	B2. Consonant Digraphs	4
0	B3. Beginning Blends	6
0	B4. Final Blends and Digraphs	0
1	C1. Silent ‘e’	3
0	C2. Vowel Digraphs	13
0	C3. R-controlled	5
0	C4. Diphthongs	1
0	Finished	11

Cobram Primary School Foundation Cohort 2024

Start of the year	Phonics Data	End of the year
17	A1. Uppercase letters	0
0	A2. Lowercase letters	0
9	A3. Letter sounds	3
1	B1. Short vowels	3
0	B2. Consonant Digraphs	2
0	B3. Beginning Blends	3
0	B4. Final Blends and Digraphs	1
0	C1. Silent ‘e’	3
0	C2. Vowel Digraphs	4
0	C3. R-controlled	2
0	C4. Diphthongs	0
1	Finished	8

Guthrie Street Primary School Foundation Cohort 2024

Start of the year	Phonics Data	End of the year
45	A1. Uppercase letters	1
9	A2. Lowercase letters	3
8	A3. Letter sounds	4
1	B1. Short vowels	13
0	B2. Consonant Digraphs	7
0	B3. Beginning Blends	3
0	B4. Final Blends and Digraphs	2
0	C1. Silent ‘e’	5
0	C2. Vowel Digraphs	7
0	C3. R-controlled	7
0	C4. Diphthongs	1
1	Finished	9

Woori Yallock Primary School Foundation Cohort 2023

Start of the year	Phonics Data	End of the year
45	A1. Uppercase letters	0
11	A2. Lowercase letters	1
5	A3. Letter sounds	2
2	B1. Short vowels	9
0	B2. Consonant Digraphs	11
0	B3. Beginning Blends	9
0	B4. Final Blends and Digraphs	1
0	C1. Silent ‘e’	11
0	C2. Vowel Digraphs	5
0	C3. R-controlled	2
0	C4. Diphthongs	2
0	Finished	10

Woori Yallock Primary School Foundation Cohort 2024

Start of the year	Phonics Data	End of the year
45	A1. Uppercase letters	1
9	A2. Lowercase letters	0
5	A3. Letter sounds	0
0	B1. Short vowels	6
0	B2. Consonant Digraphs	10
0	B3. Beginning Blends	11
0	B4. Final Blends and Digraphs	4
0	C1. Silent ‘e’	9
0	C2. Vowel Digraphs	5
0	C3. R-controlled	2
0	C4. Diphthongs	0
0	Finished	10

According to the Victorian Curriculum 2.0, to be at level a Foundation student would have passed 80% or more of B1 on the scope and sequence at the end of their first year of schooling (eg. reading consonant-vowel-consonant words).

At the end of Year 1 students would have passed 80% or more of B4.

Finally, at the end of Year 2, students would be completely finished.

With the above benchmarks in mind, you can see that a very high percentage of students are at the required benchmark, or much higher. Several students across the schools have finished the assessment by the end of their first year of school.

In fact, two students actually passed the entire assessment on their first attempt in their first week or two of school!

The implications are clear. Imagine if the students in the tables above all received the same instruction, at the same time, indefinitely.

Unfortunately, that is what the vast majority of students are subjected to in junior classrooms, and sometimes into higher year levels.

There are a few more important points to note:

·       this assessment is purely assessing a student’s ability to decode words.

·       using the gradual release of responsibility, having high expectations and clear routines have been keys to success.

·       with such strong teacher practice and results, it makes it easier to identify students who need intervention, and it also means there are less students who require that extra support.

·       the schools have developed a range of hands-on activities that match the scope and sequence and have generously been shared across schools. The activities, in conjunction with explicit teaching, make for very engaged students.

The data presented highlights that it is impossible to meet the needs of any student with whole class phonics instruction. If the debate around phonics is going to continue, it needs to be focused on how we teach phonics, and specifically, the importance of being assessment responsive.

I’m under no illusion that as compelling as the data above is, that it likely won’t change many people’s beliefs.

Why? Cognitive dissonance.

People create ‘reasons’ why something can’t work, or won’t work, in an attempt to lessen their discomfort with the new information that challenges their strongly held beliefs.

In education, no beliefs are stronger than those around phonics!

We are likely all guilty of rationalising our beliefs about something in our lives, so that we can continue operating as we always have.

When we do this in education it is the students that suffer as a result.

Many more schools are following the assessment responsive path in 2025 with promising results. I hope we can look back in a generation, and being assessment responsive in phonics instruction has become the norm, and we cringe and think, why didn’t we do that earlier?