French education experts recommend continuing to teach reading beyond the first grade. If necessary up to middle school, or even high school.
How to support the development of reading skills in French children? This is the question answered by the Consensus Conference organized on March 16-17 at the Ecole Normale Supérieure in Lyon. In a document published a few days ago, the National Council for the Evaluation of the School System (CNESCO) and the French Institute for Education (Ifé) reveal 47 recommendations formulated by a jury of stakeholders and school users to improve learning to read in France.
The main measure proposed is to continue teaching reading beyond primary school. In college, even up to high school, recommend these experts. Indeed, for researchers, students need linguistic explanations, even at 18 years old.
Concretely, this will result in the training of teachers so that they are able to teach the basic mechanisms of reading. “The consensus in the scientific community is very strong. We are not on methods against methods, ”reassured Jean Emile Gombert, professor in cognitive psychology of learning and president of the jury.
Start as early as possible
Continue late then, but also start as early as possible. In CP, these scientists recommend learning from the first days, with repeated and varied exercises, as well as with an effort on the vocabulary. But reading instruction could even be considered before elementary school. These experts advise that from kindergarten, from games (small plays for example), children analyze words orally, break them down, and develop oral comprehension and vocabulary.
All at a steady pace, even for the weakest students. From the first grade, the teacher should devote at least 15 minutes per week to it. The stated objective is to reduce the gaps between students. Recent research shows that some children from underprivileged backgrounds know on average 1,000 words less than other students when they enter primary school.
Vary reading materials
In CP class, the method will thus consist in quickly introducing at least ten “grapheme-phoneme correspondences” (for example OU = OU), in sufficient number to maintain the motivation of the pupils, even those in difficulty. It is also necessary to put in place “an important practice to ensure automation”, according to the principle that “the more one reads, the better one reads”, insists Michel Lussault, president of Ifé and of the Superior council of the programs (CSP).
Depending on the objectives, it is also desirable to vary the reading materials, the experts conclude.
According to the international Pisa survey on the performance of young Europeans published in 2012 by the OECD, 37% of 15-year-old students do not master reading comprehension at the end of middle school. With a negative trend, since 19% of 15-year-old students performed poorly in reading, against 15% in 2000 (PISA 2012).
Between 2000 and 2012, the share of pupils in great difficulty increased by 4% in France while it fell, on average, by 2% in OECD countries.
France is thus the OECD country, after Israel, which has the largest gap between the best and worst performers. (PISA 2012).
For example, the performance gap between girls and boys is such that at 15 years of age, there is as much difference between the sexes as between a 3 rd and 2 nd pupil, to the detriment of the boys.
.
