The National Literacy Strategy and national standards

There is evidence that the National Literacy Strategy has led to a sustained increase in literacy attainment, especially in reading, although recent international comparisons also suggest some additional issues regarding pupil performance in England. The relative success of the NLS may at least partly lie in the policy application of several complementary areas of educational research, a suggestion disputed by Dominic Wyse (2003). However, his critical commentary is marred by important omissions, particularly of reference to debates about the teaching of reading and to the statutory status of the National Curriculum for English. His alternative suggestions on the use of ‘child development’ evidence lack methodological detail and are only partly formulated. The National Literacy Strategy and national standards Dominic Wyse has raised some interesting questions about the National Literacy Strategy (NLS) and the research base that informed it [‘The National Literacy Strategy: A Critical Review of Empirical Evidence’, this volume]. As he notes, the NLS and the companion National Numeracy Strategy have been described as the most ambitious large-scale strategy of educational reform witnessed since the 1960s (Fullan, 2000). Further evidence in support of this claim has been published since Wyse’s paper was completed. After a period of 30 years when primary school literacy standards in England remained largely unchanged (Brooks, 1998), there is evidence that the NLS has led to a sustained increase in literacy attainment, especially in reading (DfES, 2003). The increase in reading may be reflected in England’s rise in international league tables of reading literacy. In the mid-1990s, the performance of England’s nine-year-olds was around the international average (Brooks et al., 1996). By 2001, England was ranked third in a study of the reading achievement of ten-yearold pupils (Year 5 in England) in 35 countries (Twist et al., 2003). At the same time, there are some continuing issues in England’s international profile of literacy attainment. Pupil performance in reading for literary purposes remains higher than in reading for informational purposes. Girls continue to perform better than boys (as they do in all countries participating in the 2001 research), although gender differences in England are smaller for better readers and also smaller for all English pupils in reading for informational purposes. English children’s attitudes to reading compare less favourably in international comparisons: in England, 44% expressed highly positive attitudes to reading and 13% predominantly negative attitudes, compared with the international averages of 51% and 6% respectively. Leisure reading seems to have greater competition from other pursuits in 2