Media releases

Concerning numbers of Victorian secondary school students are disengaging from reading in English classes, according to research from Federation University Australia.

This links to concerns about a flat-lining of reading achievement data in secondary school shown through recent NAPLAN results (2017) and a lack of growth amongst high capacity students (Harding et al, 2018). 

While many young people enjoy reading outside of school, a focus on highly structured written responses, testing, and the valuing of certain interpretations, is leading to many students not reading the set texts at all.

The project, now in its sixth year, includes both teacher professional learning and research.  The overall aim is to improve the teaching of reading in secondary school English and through the project a Reading Capabilities Framework has been developed. 

The project begins each year with focus group discussions with students about their reading experiences in classrooms. 

Students’ perspectives are used as the basis for teacher inquiries and for focusing on learning experiences that foster more imaginative, social, dialogical and metacognitive approaches which engage students in deepening their reading skills and responses.

So far 33 Victorian secondary schools from all sectors and from all parts of the state have been involved in the project. 

Quotes attributable to Senior Lecturer in Education, Dr Amanda McGraw:

“There is ongoing concern that many secondary students are not as engaged in purposeful reading as they could be.”

“We examine the complex nature of students’ learning experiences in classrooms and examine how we can change and enhance good teaching practices.” 

“Our research has led to the development of a Reading Capabilities Framework which identifies the cognitive, emotional and embodied processes that effective readers engage. Each capability is described and used as the basis for designing curriculum, pedagogies and assessment.”