School of Education

Effective practices for literacy teaching

In 2024 the European Commission requested a report on the teaching of reading. The project was led by School of Education's Emeritus Professor Colin Harrison with the final report now being published.

Context for the report 

The European Commission has requested its networks to produce a unique analytical report exploring effective reading teaching practices across Europe. This joint NESET-EENEE* analytical report would consist of a detailed literature review of the most recent European (and international) research on effective approaches to teaching literacy, focusing on practices that have been properly evaluated and supported by available evidence of impact. This interest comes in the light of the PISA 2022 student results, which show a decline in performance in basic reading skills across Europe. The Commission believes that these results call for a closer analysis of the way in which basic skills are taught in EU countries. The report could look at effective teaching practices (both pedagogical and content-specific), support programmes and policies that promote literacy for all children across the EU. It should cover different levels of education and consider the gender perspective and attention to vulnerable and special needs groups. Finally, the report could identify possible challenges and success factors of these practices.

* NESET - Network of Experts working on the Social dimension of Education and Training
   EENEE - European Expert Network on Economics of Education   

Report team

  • Emeritus Professor Colin Harrison - University of Nottingham
  • Emeritus Professor Greg Brooks - University of Sheffield
  • Emeritus Professor P. David Pearson - University of California, Berkeley
  • Professor Sari Sulkunen - University of Jyväskylä, Finland
  • Emeritus Professor Renata Valtin - Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

The report and brief summary of work

 

Posted on Tuesday 29th April 2025

School of Education

University of Nottingham
Jubilee Campus
Wollaton Road
Nottingham, NG8 1BB

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