Without reading comprehension, it’s easy to be left out

In December 2023, the Swedish government launched a curriculum review. The directive states that reading and reading comprehension should play a stronger role in schools.

Linda Fälth is part of the expert group informing the review. Her focus is on the content of early reading instruction, which she feels is almost drowned out by everything else currently included in the subject of Swedish. Her wish, though she admits it is utopian, is for early reading instruction to have its own syllabus.

– We need to highlight the importance of reading instruction”, says Linda, “and it must be evidence-based, that is, based on research. There is very strong scientific support for the phonics method – working systematically with letters, sounds, and the connections between them. We know this method works, but it’s barely mentioned in today’s syllabus.

A fundamental prerequisite for much in life

The general discussion about literacy skills is often linked to the one about school performance, but according to Linda, reading comprehension is about so much more. Good reading comprehension is a fundamental prerequisite for many aspects of life, and inadequate skills represent a societal challenge that must be taken seriously.

– Reading skills are crucial for becoming an active member of society – for going to the bank, work, or the Swedish Social Insurance Agency; for reading documents sent to you; and for communicating with friends and acquaintances. If you don’t have reading comprehension skills, it’s also easy to be labelled as both lazy and disengaged, which in turn makes it easy to be left out.

Internationally, student performance is compared through the PISA and PIRLS surveys. In recent years, the declining results of Swedish students have caused a stir in the media, but for Linda and fellow researchers, this has come as no surprise.

– It’s the same as we see in our tests. One in five pupils in year 2 hasn’t got started with their reading yet, and we need to take that seriously.

Establish clearer objectives

In the autumn of 2023, Linda and Anna Eva Hallin, associate senior lecturer and researcher at the Division of Speech and Language Pathology at Karolinska Institutet, together with the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise, published a report on how to solve the reading crisis in years 1–3. The first point on their list of measures is to establish clearer objectives from the Swedish National Agency for Education in the syllabus for years 1–3.

– We need to be clearer about what students are expected to achieve – it mustn’t be up for interpretation. We also need a manageable framework for mapping and closely monitoring students’ reading development. Teachers’ time should be spent on teaching, not on excessively testing students.

And if there is one thing Linda hopes to get across in the upcoming curriculum review, it is the importance of identifying where the shortcomings are.

– The government’s directive to the Swedish National Agency for Education must be based on mapping materials grounded in research, measuring the aspects we know are critical for literacy skills. For example, letter knowledge and phonological awareness should be assessed already in the preschool class. These are crucial for decoding and developing reading comprehension.

Mapping with LegiLexi

A tool for assessing reading skills is provided by LegiLexi, a foundation established by Bertil Hult, the founder of EF Education, together with Martin Ingvar, a professor at Karolinska Institutet. Bertil Hult, who himself has dyslexia and a strong commitment to education issues, funds the foundation with the vision that all children should learn to read properly in school.

LegiLexi offers tests to assess and monitor students’ reading acquisition over time. The tests are developed in close collaboration with researchers and are freely available to all teachers in Sweden. Linda has been part of the project since it was launched in 2014.

– I truly believe that LegiLexi can help make a difference. It’s quality-assured and doesn’t cost the school or the individual teacher anything to use. I wish the Swedish National Agency for Education would join forces with LegiLexi and make use of the tool.

Things are moving in the wrong direction

Last year, 185 000 pupils in years 1–3 were tested using LegiLexi, and the results speak for themselves: Over 20 percent of pupils lack proficiency in one or more fundamental reading skills. Still, despite this awareness, things continue to move in the wrong direction. For now, Linda can only speculate about the cause.

– Above all, I wonder if our schools have the right conditions. Do teachers have the organisational conditions to meet the needs of all students, to work in smaller groups, or perhaps even provide one-on-one teaching? Another important aspect is teachers’ knowledge of reading and writing instruction. In this, we as teacher trainers have a significant responsibility.

– Reading isn’t something that just comes naturally”, Linda continues. “It requires practice, and there’s no quick fix. To develop reading skills, there must be time for both independent reading and reading aloud. And it’s not just the school’s responsibility – we adults need to pull ourselves together and be reading role models for our children.