Learning to read in Australia

http://www.assa.edu.au/Publications/op.asp?id=95
This paper from the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia outlines what is known on the process of learning to read, and reports on the Australian national survey of children's reading levels and of classroom practices in the teaching of reading. The review concluded that for any reading program to be effective, it must include throughout its first two or three years extensive systematic explicit instruction in synthetic phonics. This paper summarizes what has been done so far in response to the 2005 review.