Why the Harry Potter generation gets low marks for literacy . . . [Independent.ie]
- Published: 22 December 2010
The apparent drop in literacy levels among Irish schoolchildren is likely to cause much soul-searching in Irish education circles next year.
Improved teacher training and greater involvement of parents in children's education are among the suggestions that have been made after a major report showed an alarming drop in reading scores.
Ireland's educational image took a hammering in the Performance International Student Assessment (PISA) 2009, a three-yearly global league table from the international think-tank, the OECD.
The most spectacular fall was in reading scores, with the ranking of Irish teenagers plummeting from fifth to 17th between 2000 and 2009, putting them at the OECD average.
While our average score in Maths was not surprising, and in line with previous surveys, researchers have been taken aback by our reading score.
Ireland's decline in literacy, according to the survey, was the biggest in any OECD country.
Full Story: www.independent.ie
