ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book aims to improve the education outcomes of young people who live in poverty. Learning to read and write is universally considered to be an important outcome of schooling, but there are differing views about how this might best be achieved. The success of schooling systems in improving literacy achievement has become an issue of global significance, due largely to the growth of international comparative testing, such as the Programme for International Student Assessment. One danger in making literacy so prominent is that when limited versions of literacy become dominant, other important practices can become marginalised. The instrumental rationale for improving literacy contrasts with the rather traditional, narrow approach to literacy testing in National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy.
