Irish children at top of literacy league

THE reading skills of young Irish people is improving, a research document has found.

The Education Research Centre (ERC) at St Patrick’s College in Dublin has made comparisons between OECD assessments of reading skills among 15-year-olds in 2000 and an international adult literacy study five years earlier.

They found that, in items common to the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2000 and the 1995 International Adult Literacy Study (IALS), fewer people scored at the lowest level in the more recent research.

Just 9% of 15-year-olds were found to be at or below the lowest rate of reading proficiency, compared to 16% of 16 to 24-year-olds in the IALS.

Although some caution should be taken, the findings were encouraging, ERC research associate Jude Cosgrove said.

“It could be concluded that basic literacy standards have gone up in the period between the two studies, although the sampling methods were quite different,” said Ms Cosgrove.

However, 11% of Irish teenagers scored at or below the lowest level of reading proficiency overall.

“They are likely to experience difficulties in their future education and in the world of work. Because reading standards in Ireland are relatively high, those with poor skills are likely to be at an even greater disadvantage than their counterparts in countries with lower average levels,” Ms Cosgrove said.

She is one of the authors of the ERC report, A Teacher’s Guide to the Reading Literacy of Irish 15-Year-Olds, which has been submitted to the Department of Education. Based on analysis of the OECD’s PISA report, in which Ireland was ranked fifth out of 27 countries in reading literacy, it makes a number of policy recommendations.

Ms Cosgrove said they found that only half the students at the lowest end of the reading scale were receiving learning support at school.

“We have suggested the provisions of learning support across schools should be looked at because there could be some kids who need learning support, but are not getting it.”

The report recommends widening literacy aspects of the Junior Certificate School Programme. The ERC team also suggested that the comparatively strong reading performance of Irish students in PISA could be due to similarities with the Junior Certificate English syllabus.

“There has been no distinct research in other OECD countries, but there is a clear overlap in the results in PISA and people who take higher or foundation level English for the Junior Cert,” Ms Cosgrove said.