Two thirds of Scots pupils can't write properly

Published on Tuesday 23 February 2010 21:42

TWO-THIRDS of 13-year-olds are failing to reach expected standards of writing, according to a major Scottish education report.

• Education minister Mike Russell insists latest survey shows some strengths and argues Curriculum for Excellence will address areas of average and below-average attainment. Picture: Greg Macvean

The Scottish Survey of Achievement (SSA) found performance steadily declines after primary three when almost all students are achieving to expectations.

Pupils are a little better at reading, with about 40 per cent "well-established" or better than the expected level for S2.

The report, published by the Scottish Government, said reading levels had been largely static since 2005.

Education secretary Michael Russell admitted the survey showed there were "weaknesses" in the system. He said: "It tells us that while there is much that is really good and much that maintains a high standard there are also some things that are average and – unfortunately – some things that are below average.

"We need the courage to confront those weaknesses. We must recognise where there are failures in the system and address those failings."

He said the new Curriculum for Excellence, which must be taught in all schools from August would focus on basic skills.

And the Scottish Government has already promised to introduce literacy and numeracy tests for all school-leavers.

However, the Conservatives said the figures showed the tests should be done by primary seven.

Schools spokeswoman Liz Smith said: "Parents across Scotland will be horrified by these statistics. What is so deeply worrying is the decline that takes place in the later years of primary school and early years of secondary school.

"If there is one thing parents expect when they send their children off to school it is that they come home able to read, write and count up."

Published yesterday, the report showed standards of literacy fell as children progress through school. Teachers surveyed said pupils lost confidence in these skills as they got older.

The report also found youngsters from deprived backgrounds performed around 20 per cent lower than others.

However, critics slammed the assessment process. Jim Doherty, depute general secretary of the Scottish Secondary Teachers' Association (SSTA) said: "For years there have been a very large number of kids who arrive in the secondary sector with skills reported from the primary sector which are just not apparent."

"The fact is, nobody agrees we have a valid standard by which we can tell whether kids are improving at the rate you would expect.

"The Scottish Survey of Achievement is quite a significant waste of public money."

The SSA is a measure of the levels attained by more than 13,000 pupils, aged seven to 14, at almost 400 schools. It is designed to produce a picture of education achievement across the country.

It used written tests sat by children and questionnaires given to a random sample of pupils and teachers.

Children who answered 65 per cent of questions correctly at the level for their age were regarded as having well-established skills.

The report also found teachers often vastly overestimated the actual skill levels of pupils.

Of those surveyed, almost all felt primary threes to be reading at the expected levels but by second year teachers felt 70 per cent were at the expected levels, rather than the actual 40 per cent.

In writing, primary threes were accurately judged to be at the required level but, at second year, teachers thought 60 per cent were achieving the standard as opposed to the actual 33 per cent.

The report said the difference may be caused by teachers basing their assessments over a longer time frame rather than a single test. Helen Connor, Educational Institute for Scotland union president, said: "Everyone working in education is well aware of the issues of concern the report raises.

"But it is also important to remember that this report is based around the outdated 5-14 levels which will play no part in the future under Curriculum for Excellence."

International comparisons show Scotland has been slipping down the literacy league table.

The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (Pirls) is run by the Boston-based International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement. Its 2006 report ranked Scotland as falling from 14th place to 26th out of 40 countries, with England ranked 19th.

Defenders of the Scottish system argued other countries are improving their performance faster than Scotland's standards are falling.

Mark Pyper, headmaster of Gordonstoun school, said:

"There should be some serious looking at how we are teaching English."

DRAMATIC RESULTS OF NEW METHOD

A RADICAL teaching method has been credited with eradicating children's illiteracy in one local authority.

West Dunbartonshire was one of the first in Scotland to introduce synthetic phonics across the board, after Scots researchers found it could help children improve literacy dramatically.

The literacy learning system teaches children the sounds of individual letters, then shows how to blend them to form words.

A pilot project based on the groundbreaking teaching method took place in Clackmannanshire.

It showed that by primary seven, pupils using the system were more than three years ahead of their peers in reading and almost two years ahead in spelling.

Later, England announced all its primary schools would introduce the phonics method.

However, Scotland did not follow suit, insisting it was up to individual local authorities and schools to decide on the best teaching method.

Synthetic phonics involves taking a word such as "cat" and teaching children to say "c" then "ca" then "cat", instead of breaking it down into individual letters such as "c" then "a" then "t".

HOW STANDARDS FALL FROM P3 TO S2

READING

75% of children have "well-established" reading skills.

40% of pupils achieve the expected levels.

WRITING

100%(almost) of children are writing at expected levels, with 70% performing above that.

33% of children meet the expected writing standards.

TEACHERS

100%(almost) feel pupils are reading at expected levels. The same figure applies for writing.

70% say children meet expected targets. The figure is 60% for writing (compared to the actual figure of 33%).

PUPILS

85% of primary-threes would be happy to receive a book as a present, says a survey.

50% of S2s feel the same.

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