Policy & Government

Our work on articulating the neurocognitive processes of reading acquisition was at the heart of the recent decision to introduce state-wide phonics screening in New South Wales, Australia (links to our work here, here, and here).

Our research has been cited by the UK All Party Parliamentary Group on Literacy, the Right to Read Inquiry by the Ontario Human Rights Commission (see here also), the Inquiry into Literacy Teaching in Tasmania, the Inquiry into the Status of the Teaching Profession (Australia) and in the Scottish Parliament. Professor Rastle also contributed to a Parliamentary Seminar on Literacy chaired by Suella Braverman MP (Education Select Committee).

Our research informed the new early years (K-3) literacy curriculum (Mass Literacy). Professor Rastle was an advisor to the Massachusetts Board of Education on how to improve literacy in their state.

Our work is cited in the UK Government's Reading Framework, the Tasmanian Literacy Advisory Panel, Ofsted Curriculum Review for English, the Education Endowment Foundation's guidance for improving literacy in secondary schools, practice guidance for schools in Staffordshire and Cambridgeshire, and guidance for teachers by the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership, Victoria State Government (Australia), and the UK Literacy Association.