§ Mr. Andrew TurnerTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what empirical evidence she has collected on the relative success of teaching of reading by(a) whole language and real books method, (b) the national literacy strategy and (c) synthetic phonics. [62613]
§ Mr. MilibandA wide range of research evidence about the teaching of reading was considered in the development of the National Literacy Strategy (NLS) as documented in the "Review of Research and other Related Evidence", published by the Department in 1998. National test results have shown that the NLS has improved the standards achieved in reading. In 2001, 84 per cent. of pupils achieved the expected level for their age (level 2) in the Key Stage 1 reading tests—a rise of 4 percentage304W points since 1998; 82 per cent. of pupils achieved the expected level (level 4) in the Key Stage 2 reading tests—a rise of 11 percentage points since 1998. Phonics is a key part of the NLS, which advocates the use of both synthetic and analytic phonics.
§ Mr. Andrew TurnerTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the average reading age is of pupils in each age cohort. [62615]
§ Mr. MilibandThe Department does not collect centrally national data regarding the average reading age of pupils in each age cohort. The table therefore shows the percentage of pupils achieving the expected level for their age in the 2001 national Key Stage tests:
Percentage of pupils achieving expected level in 2001 tests in all schools in England Key Stage Percentage KS1 Reading—Level 2 or above 84 KS2 Reading—Level 4 or above 82 KS3 English—Level 5 or above 65