Statistics tell the story

The Opening General Session of IRA's 21st World Congress on Reading on Tuesday featured a keynote address by Andreas Schleicher of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), who spoke eloquently on "Literacy Skills for the World of Tomorrow." Schleicher used a variety of statistics from international surveys of reading to back his points about trends and needs.

Noting that "reading is the currency in the knowledge society," Schleicher pointed out that a few OECD countries have managed to foster high levels of overall reading achievement while also achieving high levels of equity among students from various socioeconomic backgrounds. "High and equitable performance results in reading are not impossible," Schleicher said, "but they are something we can achieve."

For the future, Schleicher said, we need to create "a knowledge-rich profession in which schools and teachers have the capacity to act, the knowledge to do so wisely, and access to effective support systems." Watch for further information from Schleicher's presentation to be posted soon on the IRA website.