Queensland
QLDDepartment-wide reading strategy with the 'Reading through the curriculum' guidance, age-appropriate pedagogies and decodable text advice for state schools.
Evidence-based literacy
The Science of
Reading.
Five decades of cognitive science, linguistics and classroom research on how the brain learns to read — and what that means for what we do on Monday morning.
Not a program
The Science of Reading is a body of evidence — not a single curriculum or commercial product.
Reading is not natural
Unlike speech, reading must be explicitly taught. The brain has no reading region — it builds one.
Aligns with v9
Australian Curriculum v9 English foregrounds phonics, phonemic awareness and knowledge-rich reading.
Concept 01
The Simple View of Reading
Reading comprehension = decoding × language comprehension. Both factors are necessary; if either is zero, comprehension is zero.
What the evidence says
- Proposed by Gough & Tunmer (1986) and supported by decades of replication.
- Decoding: translating print to speech sounds accurately and fluently.
- Language comprehension: vocabulary, background knowledge, syntax and inference.
- A weak reader is weak in one or both — assessment must check both strands.
In the classroom
Screen separately for decoding (e.g. nonword reading) and listening comprehension to target the right intervention.
Concept 02
Scarborough's Reading Rope
Skilled reading is the weaving together of word recognition strands (phonological awareness, decoding, sight recognition) with language comprehension strands (background knowledge, vocabulary, language structures, verbal reasoning, literacy knowledge).
What the evidence says
- Hollis Scarborough (2001) extended the Simple View into interwoven strands.
- Lower strands (word recognition) become increasingly automatic.
- Upper strands (language comprehension) become increasingly strategic.
- Together they produce fluent, meaningful reading.
In the classroom
Plan instruction across all strands every week — not just decoding or just comprehension.
Concept 03
Phonological & Phonemic Awareness
The ability to hear, identify and manipulate the sounds in spoken language — independent of print.
What the evidence says
- Phonological awareness is the broader umbrella (syllables, rhyme, onset-rime).
- Phonemic awareness is the finest grain — individual sounds (phonemes).
- Strong predictor of later reading success in F–2.
- Taught orally first, then linked to letters as phonics begins.
In the classroom
Short, daily oral drills: blending, segmenting and manipulating phonemes (e.g. 'say cat without the /k/').
Concept 04
Systematic Synthetic Phonics (SSP)
Explicit, sequenced teaching of letter-sound correspondences, with students blending sounds left-to-right to read words.
What the evidence says
- Endorsed by the 2005 National Inquiry into Teaching Literacy and the 2023 Grattan 'Reading Guarantee' report.
- Contrasts with whole-language and three-cueing approaches.
- Code is taught in a defined scope and sequence — simple to complex.
- Decodable texts are used while the code is being learned.
In the classroom
Follow a published SSP scope and sequence (e.g. InitiaLit, Sounds-Write, Little Learners Love Literacy) — don't improvise the order.
Concept 05
Orthographic Mapping
The brain process that bonds the spelling, pronunciation and meaning of a word so it can be recognised instantly — the real source of a 'sight word' vocabulary.
What the evidence says
- Theorised by Linnea Ehri.
- Requires phonemic awareness + letter-sound knowledge — not memorisation of word shape.
- After 1–4 successful decodings, most words become orthographically mapped.
- Explains why poor decoders rarely build a large sight vocabulary.
In the classroom
Teach 'heart words' by mapping the regular parts and only flagging the irregular grapheme — don't drill whole-word flashcards.
Concept 06
Reading Fluency
Reading with accuracy, appropriate rate and prosody — the bridge between decoding and comprehension.
What the evidence says
- Measured with words-correct-per-minute (WCPM) benchmarks by year level.
- Built through repeated reading, echo reading and partner reading of decodable then connected text.
- Without fluency, working memory is consumed by decoding and comprehension collapses.
In the classroom
Time short passages weekly; model prosody; avoid round-robin reading, which wastes most students' time.
Concept 07
Vocabulary & Background Knowledge
Comprehension depends on the words and world knowledge a reader brings to the text — you can't comprehend what you don't know about.
What the evidence says
- Daniel Willingham and E.D. Hirsch: knowledge is the engine of comprehension.
- Tier 2 vocabulary (cross-domain academic words) needs explicit teaching.
- Knowledge-rich curriculums outperform skills-only comprehension programs.
In the classroom
Build knowledge in coherent topic units (2–3 weeks per topic) and explicitly teach 5–8 Tier 2 words per unit.
Concept 08
Why Three-Cueing (MSV) Fails
Encouraging readers to guess words from pictures, context or first letters trains the habits of weak readers and bypasses the decoding system.
What the evidence says
- Also called 'meaning-structure-visual' or balanced literacy.
- Mark Seidenberg, Emily Hanford and the Australian Education Research Organisation have all documented the harm.
- Banned or discouraged in NSW, SA, VIC and QLD departmental guidance from 2023 onward.
In the classroom
Prompt students to decode all through the word — never 'look at the picture' or 'what would make sense?'.
Where to go deeper
The most useful starting points for Australian teachers — all freely available or low-cost.
- AERO — Australian Education Research Organisation. Plain-language summaries of the reading evidence base.
- Grattan Institute — The Reading Guarantee (2024). Policy and practice roadmap for Australian schools.
- Sold a Story — Emily Hanford podcast. How three-cueing spread, and the cost of getting reading wrong.
- Reading in the Brain — Stanislas Dehaene. The neuroscience of how reading is wired in.
State & territory portals
Reading hubs around Australia
Most state and territory departments now publish a dedicated reading portal aligned with the Science of Reading. Queensland's Reading — Teaching and learning hub (with its "Reading through the curriculum" guidance) is a strong example. Here are the equivalents in each jurisdiction.
Reading — Teaching and learning
New South Wales
NSWK–2 and 3–6 explicit teaching guides aligned to the NSW English K–10 syllabus and the Science of Reading.
Victoria
VICFrom 2025 Victorian government schools must use a structured, systematic synthetic phonics approach — the toolkit hosts the official guidance.
South Australia
SASA was first in Australia to mandate the Year 1 Phonics Screening Check; the guidebooks operationalise SoR-aligned teaching R–6.
Western Australia
WADepartment position statement and resources on evidence-based reading instruction, including phonics scope and sequence.
Tasmania
TASTasmania's Lifting Literacy Action Plan with structured literacy resources and the Year 1 Phonics Check.
Australian Capital Territory
ACTACT Public Schools' evidence-based literacy approach, including the move to systematic synthetic phonics in early years.
Northern Territory
NTNT structured literacy resources, with emphasis on EAL/D learners and remote contexts.
National — AERO
AERONational evidence syntheses, classroom guides and implementation resources for reading — used by departments and schools in every state.
Department URLs change occasionally — if a link 404s, search the department's site for "reading" or "literacy strategy".