Testing won’t boost literacy rates

IN response to Niall Murray (March 28), it makes sense that the more you read, the better reader you become; through repeated practice, you become more fluent, learn more words, and continue to gain the skills and knowledge that hook you into a lifelong love of reading.

Repeated testing interferes with this and misdirects the important work that teachers and students are engaged in to boost literacy rates.

A national literacy plan will be a powerful tool in the coordinated fight to boost children’s literacy rates in Ireland, but not if it means increasing the amount of time teachers and students are required to engage in testing. Indeed, standardised testing introduced by the Department of Education and Science has yet to show any increase in literacy rates. Ireland’s declining OECD league table rankings in literacy appear to suggest quite the opposite. Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) president Jack Keane points out the obvious and immediate danger of pressurising teachers to “teach to the test” that may be used to evidence improvements in literacy rates. North America has a lengthy and well-documented history of massive testing industries that spring up in response to this type of short-sighted national assessment scheme. Huge government expenditures on test development, administration and coaching divert important resources, rather than focusing on the root causes for low literacy levels, and the evidence-based practices we know from research help children to become literate citizens.