Mind the gap: What are national assessments really telling us about vocabulary and disadvantaged students?
DR JENNIFER MARSHALL, INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION, UNIVERSITY OF DERBY, UK Introduction This article examines how phonics teaching in compulsory schooling may contribute to a ‘vocabulary gap’ that has repercussions in terms of reading comprehension for disadvantaged students, as seen in SATs and subsequent GCSE exam scores. Reading in primary education The findings from a meta-analysis […]