ABSTRACT
In international comparisons of countries' educational performance using the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study, England appears in the top half on the international rankings, but it also has a very long tail of underachievement, suggesting that whilst we have high-attaining results, we have also consistently failed to close the achievement gap despite large-scale policy initiatives. This tail of underachievement in reading is not only in decoding and comprehension but also in enjoyment and choosing to read for pleasure, and it has been the focus for a number of years. Since then, the discussion about how to teach reading has shifted from the “reading wars” approach of the place of phonics and the balance within the simple view of reading between decoding and comprehension and into the importance of children reading to learn and to enjoy books and all forms of reading material.
