How can we improve reading instruction in schools? The impact of teachers’ practices in nursery schools

Tailoring teaching content to each pupil’s progress, introducing early reading instruction and increasing the amount of phonological instruction are educational strategies that have shown very encouraging results in terms of reading acquisition and the reduction of cognitive and socio-economic inequalities. The LECTURE project, proposed by the charity ‘Agir pour l’Ecole’, aims to support teachers and help them adapt their teaching practices to better cater for their pupils’ progress in reading. An évaluation of this teacher training programme for the final year of nursery school shows encouraging results: pupils benefiting from the project are making significant progress and disparities in achievement are being reduced, at a much lower cost-benefit ratio than that of other educational policies (such as reducing class sizes). This study highlights the importance of teachers’ teaching methods on pupils’ progress and indicates that intensive, structured training can effectively change their practices.