The contrasting responses in different newspapers to the reporting of a new literacy study in England are quite extraordinary - illustrating that the devil is not only in the detail but in the reporting of the detail! I have already collated a few different media 'headings' via another forum but I've copied it here:
http://schoolsweek.co.uk/inexpensive-ph ... ign=buffer
Compare for example ....
An “inexpensive” trial policy improved all pupils’ literacy in the early years and had long-term effects on children who struggle with reading, a major new study has found.
....with the Times newspaper's headline:
“The phonics system used in all schools to teach children to read has no long-term benefits for the average child, a major study finds today. The universal benefit of the programme is called into question in a large-scale study, which tracked the progress of more than 270,000 pupils. It shows that, while phonics can help disadvantaged children or those without English as a first language, it makes no difference by age 11.”
And here is the actual study:
And here is the misleading headline and article written by Emma Plackett who skews or disregards the important issues around reading instruction and this latest study:
Is this more about self-promotion than the actual findings of the study?
Here is another report about the same study:
Synthetic phonics can improve reading skills, study claims
Using synthetic phonics to teach children how to read can have considerable long-term benefits for pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds and those who do not have English as a first language, according to a new study by the Centre for Economic Performance (CEP).
http://www.capitaeducation.co.uk/news/s ... aims-17936#
If Jenny Chew's suggestion is correct - that the content of the training and teaching of the study (the 'synthetic phonics' provision) does not really match up to high-quality, content-rich systematic synthetic phonics provision, then the study itself is in danger of misleading everyone with regard to the full potential of systematic synthetic phonics provision.