Two hours of reading, writing, leads to literacy gains

A simple edict that Aboriginal children read and write for two hours every morning is finally reducing appalling levels of literacy in remote parts of Australia.

The literacy of children at Kiwirrkurra in the Gibson Desert, 700 km west of Alice Springs, was so poor four years ago that only a handful had the reading and writing skills to attempt the West Australian Government’s annual written literacy exam for all students in Years 3, 5 and 7. Of those who sat the test, not one met the national benchmarks. In the remote township of 150 people, only 15 adults can read and write English.

But the students are now making small but significant gains after the West Australian Government’s Aboriginal literacy strategy, rolled out to 42 remote schools in 2006, made it compulsory for teachers to devote the first two hours of every school day to guided reading, guided writing and word games. Read the article in The Australian online.