Scotland: May 2017 'Figures show drop in Scottish pupil literacy rates'

[Debbie_Hepplewhite]

Figures show drop in Scottish pupil literacy rates

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-s ... s-39856284

Is this surprising?

Scotland's 'Curriculum for Excellence' is voluminous and not helpful to busy teachers.

Some leading academics in Scotland work hard to undermine systematic synthetic phonics for all.

The findings of the world-renowned Clackmannanshire studies are disregarded by some in educational and political authority in Scotland.

Some people and organisations work hard to promote progressive, play-based discovery learning at the expense of explicit literacy teaching.

[Debbie_Hepplewhite]

Related threads - here's one on the 'Upstart' campaign:

http://www.iferi.org/iferi_forum/viewto ... ?f=3&t=728

[Debbie_Hepplewhite]

Here is a related thread on the 'Curriculum for Excellence':

http://www.iferi.org/iferi_forum/viewto ... ?f=2&t=769

[Debbie_Hepplewhite]

Here's a thread on the response of some academics in Scotland to the official promotion of systematic synthetic phonics in England and the different responses to the Clackmannanshire studies in England compared to Scotland:

https://phonicsinternational.com/forum/ ... .php?t=707

[Debbie_Hepplewhite]

Here is another piece stating that the root cause for problems in education in Scotland is the Curriculum for Excellence:

http://www.heraldscotland.com/opinion/1 ... ref=twtrec

The root problem in our education system is the Curriculum for Excellence

AS a recently retired secondary school teacher I found no great surprise in reading the contents of your front page article (“New teacher dropouts are fuelled by cuts and stress", The Herald, May 9. I am also underwhelmed by the news that school literacy rates have again taken a dip.

The root problem is obvious, as Bill Clinton might have said: “It's the curriculum, stupid”. All secondary teachers (I have no experience of primary teaching) are struggling under the weight of the badly thought out, disastrously introduced, woolly, vague and amorphous "Curriculum for Excellence" (CfE).

[Debbie_Hepplewhite]

University leaders hit back over teacher training claims

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/1529 ... ref=twtrec

If you see the thread two comments 'above' this post, you will know that at least some academics are undermining the need for systematic synthetic phonics in Scotland.

I wonder what the teacher-training looks like in the Scottish Universities for reading instruction?