§ Mr. Carter-Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many local education authorities have provided him with information on the results of screening of children for reading ability at the end of their stay in first school; what tests have been employed in the screening; what is the percentage of children found to be still in need of basic remedial help with reading; what proportion of these children are shown to be of average or above average ability; and if he will make a statement.
§ Miss Joan LestorThe screening of individual children for reading ability, as distinct from the monitoring of national reading standards, is primarily the concern of local education authorities,336W which make no returns to the Department about methods and results. The report of the Bullock Committee on Reading and the Use of English dealt at length with problems of screening, and I hope that authorities and schools will look carefully at the committee's recommendations.