6-Year-Olds in England Get a Phonics Check. American Kids Should Get One, Too
Not that much happens with the results. For example, England doesn’t require that kids who fail the phonics check have to repeat a grade. But parents get to see their child’s result, and kids who fail the test have to retake it the next year. The results are also shared with officials who use them to evaluate each school’s performance.
In this light, England’s phonics check is a light-touch intervention with relatively low stakes. But it has driven dramatic increases in student performance. The percentage of kids passing the phonics check on their first try soared from 58% in 2012 to 82% in 2019. (The check was paused in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic, and the pass rate fell to 75% in 2022, but it was back up to 80% this year.)
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