The Knowledge Gap: Phonics Alone Isn't Enough for Reading Success | Wexler, Stanford & Hammond

Education writer Natalie Wexler, New Zealand Education Minister Erica Stanford and literacy expert Lorraine Hammond discuss why phonics alone isn't for reading success. Recorded at  @CISAus  in Sydney, this conversation reveals the realities about how schools teach reading comprehension and what needs to change.

In this presentation Wexler presents evidence from US literacy reforms: states that fixed phonics instruction saw test scores improve in early primary years, then fade completely by middle school. "Do kids just forget how to decode words?" she asks. Schools spend years drilling students in abstract strategies like "finding the main idea" or "making inferences" without giving them the subject knowledge these strategies depend on. As Wexler puts it: "We're trying to build students' comprehension skills by having them read random stuff." A student who knows nothing about the Roman Empire can't comprehend a text about Julius Caesar, no matter how many comprehension strategies they've memorised.

The conversation tackles the resistance to knowledge-rich curriculum head-on. Education academics often oppose explicit teaching and knowledge-based approaches even as literacy outcomes stagnate. Hammond recounts pushing back against school leaders who prioritise their own preferences over student data showing poor reading and writing outcomes. The panel discusses why some affluent parents resist knowledge-focused education in favour of vague "critical thinking skills", even as their children benefit from the cultural capital they bring from home, while disadvantaged students fall further behind.

Minister Stanford discusses New Zealand's curriculum overhaul while the panel explores why AI makes subject knowledge more important than ever, the challenge of reforming teacher training programs, and what it will take to shift a system where the crisis isn't low literacy rates—it's that policymakers are finally doing something about it. This is essential viewing for anyone who cares about why Australian kids can't read and what actually works to fix it.

Natalie Wexler is an American education writer and author of "The Knowledge Gap: The Hidden Cause of America's Broken Education System" and "The Writing Revolution: A Guide to Advancing Thinking Through Writing". Erica Stanford is New Zealand's Minister for Education and Immigration, leading comprehensive curriculum and literacy reforms.

Lorraine Hammond is Associate Professor in Early Years Literacy at the University of Notre Dame Australia and one of Australia's leading voices on evidence-based literacy instruction.