New Ministry of Education data is raising questions about claims that the Government’s structured literacy reforms have already transformed reading achievement across New Zealand schools.
The Te Tai Tokerau Principals Association says previously unpublished data, obtained through an Official Information Act request by the Aotearoa Educators Collective, shows a significant difference between results at the 20-week and 40-week Phonics Checks.
In Term One this year, 59 percent of students were at or above expectations after 20 weeks, falling to 29 percent at the 40-week checkpoint. In Term Two, the equivalent figures were 54 percent and 27 percent.
The Ministry data cited by the association also indicates overall achievement patterns were broadly unchanged from the previous year and that progress between checkpoints had slowed.
Of particular concern for Māori education is the finding that achievement gaps affecting Māori, Pacific learners and students in communities facing greater barriers remain, with the association saying the data shows no statistically significant reduction in those inequities.
The group stresses the results do not demonstrate that structured literacy is ineffective. Instead, it argues they challenge the certainty of earlier Government claims that the reforms were already delivering sustained improvements across all schools and communities.
It also cautions that the figures measure phonics achievement rather than overall reading ability, which includes comprehension, fluency and vocabulary.
The latest numbers are likely to add to the election-year debate over the Government’s curriculum reset and whether early improvements in phonics are translating into lasting literacy gains — particularly for ākonga Māori.
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