Generation Alpha can't read

What is happening to our young people? They disrespect their elders, they disobey their parents. They ignore the law. They riot in the streets inflamed with wild notions. Their morals are decaying. What is to become of them? [65]

Sounds similar to the claims about generation alpha.

But in spite of this, teachers are saying no, it is worse this time around. [64]

And this issue isn't isolated, it is country wide. [7]

America in this case.

But having recently read through the most recent PISA report of 2022, released at the end of in 2023.

It measures 15 year olds mathematical reasoning, reading proficiency, and scientific inquiry

I got the impression American reading proficiency had increased, not decreased. [50]

The pandemic was brought up as a factor for decreased reading scores, which likely contributed to reduced performance across the OECD countries and economies. [4]

But there was a steady decline of scores before the pandemic [67]

and narrowing in on American PISA scores they are similar to the results in the year 2000. [67]

So not only do these scores suggest American 15 year olds are no worse or better,

but also the pandemic didn't impact them as much as potentially claimed.

Some people mention PISA scores, but from blog posts not the raw data, and from the 2018 or even 2015 results [5]

and although PISA is great for an overview, 15 isn't generation alpha

Gen alpha testing

the first thing I considered was that children don't care much about classroom tests so don't take them seriously

the claims seen on social media seem to be teachers in the classrooms, not standardized tests across states or state testing

however, some people have used standardized test stats.

side note here, those that don't like or don't want standardized tests seem to be using them a lot when comparing students,

which seems to go against their educational philosophy

if we shouldn't use standardized tests for comparison, why use them to evidence your claims that Gen alpha can't read?

something else I noticed, is that many discussing this either don't use sources, use outdated sources, use unverified data, anecdotal experience, or use incorrect numbers

so teacher experiences is really what I am going from here.

specifically the teachers speaking on social media, which obviously biases the sample group

but the average composite ACT score, American College Testing, has been used quite a few times to evidence these discussions,

which isn't reading, it seems to be math, english, reading and science.

Phonics teaching

So testing doesn't seem to say anything significant about these claims that gen alpha can't read.

At least significantly worse than previous.

One parent discussing this mentioned a podcast they listened to, saying it is the educational systems fault [13]

Again, not sure what the symptom is, for there to be a fault,

so I had a listen and heard sight words come up.

This is when I thought I was getting somewhere.

Sight words was one of the reasons mentioned in a TikTok explanation. [32]

As someone with limited expertise in early years education, I wasn't sure what sight words were, so took a quick a look.

Sight words are words that students are expected to recognize instantly. [64]

Words like the, once, come, walk

Words that don't follow phonic rules.

The ability to break up a word into sounds from letters or combinations of letters

and the teacher argues sight words are focused on too much.

That's why gen alpha can't read.

which got me thinking about 2 things.

If sight words are words that don't follow phonic rules, how can students learn words that aren't sight words.

Either they aren't taught, taught rarely,

which I imagine would be very difficult to do considering most words can be broken down into phonemes and taught through phonics.

Sounding out the letters and combinations of letters

or teachers make non-sight words, into sight words.

Students then learning to recognize words rather than reading the words

This makes rote memorization somewhat central to reading.

An educational philosophy that has lots of limitations, which educational science has thoroughly documented.

so memorizing answers maybe not be an ideal philosophy for learning how to read,

but these non-sight words into sight words was extended by the reading recovery program the podcast was talking about. [33]

IQ for all - drop

This is where intelligence gets thrown into the mix.

Gen alpha can't read so they must be dumb.

Gen alpha are getting dumber. [21]

But again taking a step back, if you measure intelligence with IQ scores

As Derek explored well in his video [36]

IQ can't be estimated by innate or environmental factors.

The assumption that reading being hard wired, again somewhat challenged here

But also intelligence is diverse.

which is where you can go into fluid and crystalized intelligence

multiple intelligence theory, emotional intelligence

there are so many different theories of intelligence, when looking at the IQ test alone

"The point is that..." 23:50 - 24:05 [36]

again the reason I bring this up is because gen alpha is being accused of being dumb [20]

Granted many of the commentaries could be joking and meant for entertainment,

but if we have lots of people saying the same thing and few challenging it, or adding nuance, it can become widely believed

potentially leading to policy changes or larger consequences like school funding and resources changes

alongside challenges to teacher and student well being.

and when zooming out looking at intelligence levels,

yes, gen alpha has decreased, but so has lots of other age groups.

the flynn effect looks to describe the long term increase in intelligence, and the reverse or negative flynn effect describes a decrease. [47]

A meta-analysis, study of studies, said

they allow us to conclude that there is a continuous decline in IQ scores over time and that this is a real phenomenon and not simply a blip. [37]

Going on to say

If there truly is a trend toward declining intelligence as indicated by a negative Flynn Effect then this would be a phenomenon with potentially serious implications. [37]

Suggesting it isn't just gen alpha, but all ages.

Then again, it comes down to the tests.

Testing

Highly effective workers being tested on skills they don't use, would show poor results.

One of the reasons the OECD compass framework looks at developing competencies and student agency, not individual test results.

Gen alpha, or just students, not getting good results could be because their work, what they do, isn't related to the tests.

Autocorrect was brought up as a reason gen alpha can't spell [8]

But its the same for most people.

If a skill isn't required to survive because of technology or them not needing it, what is the reason, motivation, goal for learning it.

Personal experience here, I was told how to write and format letters and post them in a letter box while I was at school.

I failed my English tests on those things because I didn't think I needed to know.

Text, Email or phoning was and is far quicker.

Now, if I do need to send something in the post, I will look up how to do it on the internet to make sure it gets to where it needs to go.

But I learn how to do it, when there is a reason.

Unless someone is using paper and pen or doesn't have autocorrect on their device, what is the reason for them to learn how to spell.

pass the test

Assuming they are reading what they are writing, the words should be somewhat accurate.

If their not, its more drawing than writing - if you disagree let me know in the comments

I'm not saying spelling and grammar isn't important, it obviously is,

but unless you understand why you need to learn those things, why would you.

Reading academic papers is a skill people could learn.

But sounding out the words. The heavy jargon.

Learning the meaning behind the words.

That's still learning how to read.

Most people don't learn how to read complex academic texts, because there is no reason to.

The same could be said for children, learning how to read basic texts.

Reasons to read

So are the educators, teachers, parents and anyone else involved, giving the children a reason to learn?

apart from, pass the test

Instructions to play a game.

Explanation on how to get their toy back or an Easter egg type hunt thing.

Stories about characters they could be interested in.

I hated reading as kid.

I said the words in the book while my mum listened, but remember paying attention to the page number more than anything else.

10 pages and I can go play sport or do literally anything else.

I didn't know what I was reading, just that the sounds I was making must have been right until I was stopped.

English was my worst subject at school.

But when I had a reason to learn to read, my interest in educational science, I became competent.

The first book I read, and could tell you what the story was about, was an academic textbook I read at 19.

This is where I would love to ask those teachers making the claims about co-agency in their classrooms.

I find this diagram from the OECD documents useful, for those unfamiliar. [55]

But essentially co-agency is the level at which people work together on decisions and directions for learning.

I recognize the teacher student ratio is difficult in classrooms, but for those students that, 'can't read', how much of the decision behind the lesson is given to the child?

My suspicion is that they are expected to just do as they are told, and have little or no influence.

Looking at the accompanying table, maybe hovering around the 'tokenism' level.
Appearing to give young people choice [55]

As stated

The stronger the degree of co-agency, the better for the well-being of both students and adults [55]

You could also bring in theories around self determination, autonomy, the 4 c's competence, confidence, connection, and character

but to be clear this isn't just teacher student, this is parents, peers, and the surrounding community.

So the 37% below basic, or 66% below proficient, students,

what is their reason to learn, and how much choice is given to them about the projects or lessons they are involved in?

Of course this is multi-factorial, but considering those things might help explain the teacher experiences with the struggling students.

Comprehension

But the more I looked into these discussions, the more I heard reading and comprehension being used interchangeably. [12]

But what does comprehension mean?

recognize the words,

put meanings to sentences

have understanding of the sentences

is that deep or shallow understanding

epistemology is the philosophical study of knowledge and those words

knowledge, understanding, comprehension can mean drastically different things

expertise will change what it means to understand something.

the child may understand or comprehend something, better than the teacher, if that is what they have expertise in.

online content being a topic I start thinking about.

I think in this context reading comprehension is, gaining meaning from words.

but if they are not familiar with the words it might not mean anything, like me reading a foreign language.

I could read out the words but have no idea what it means, some words might sound right, some not.

similar to complex academic jargon.

so proficient readers as the PISA report describes them, looks at [38]

understanding texts - identifying the main ideas, [38]

interpreting and evaluating - considering author purpose, tone and perspective [38]

sythesizing information - draw conclusions from multiple sources [38]

applying knowledge - like following instructions [38]

for people with less expertise, typically younger, I would imagine the emphasis is on identifying the main ideas then applying knowledge.

note I said less expertise, because older children and adults also struggle with reading.

there is a reason readability scores are low, for much of online content.

The average reading age in the world is between 9 and 13.

people are still literate, ie they can read and write, but adults skills can be matched by children.

again I want to emphasize, if they don't need read or write complex text in their jobs, why would they learn

consequences

which brings me back to the ranking comparisons this discussion is really about.

Testing and grading students, then comparing them to others either current or in the past.

"back in my day..." 6:55 - 7:09 [9]

grades determining if you pass or fail is not a thing anymore.

I am going to come back to that

but to me this sounds like the test results have limited consequences.

not punishment but a result or effect normally unwelcome

maybe students with poor scores, more constrained practice directed at reading skills

students with better scores, more degrees of freedom in their practice

For transparency, my expertise of the American education system is limited, but I believe each state and district can have different policies

so test consequences will vary and the holding students back, will also vary

not that holding students back seems to be that beneficial, PISA saying we should

Provide additional support to struggling students instead of requiring them to repeat a grade [39]

but those tests that are taken aren't apparently 'needed' in some states to graduate.

"But it is so bad now..." 10:08 - 10:18 [7]

but diving deeper, I feel that's misleading

for clarity, this is high school graduation which is typically at 18 [40]

but could be older for those held back and younger for those pushed forwards.

Oregon was a popular example of these skills not being needed, someone saying that a [41]

Oregon high school diploma will be no guarantee that the student who earned it can read, write or do math at a high school level. [41]

but Oregon emphasize essential learning skills in the classes the students need to take to graduate which includes [42]

read and comprehend text [43]
write clearly and accurately [43]
Apply mathematics in a variety of settings [43]

alongside further explanation, description and other skills.

so the claims students aren't tested seems oversimplified

the claims grades don't matter seems inaccurate

the claims students are dumb seems to lack nuance in the data

the claims gen alpha can't read just seems sensationalised

That's not to say I think the education systems don't have room for improvement, they do

or that some educators couldn't do with updating their understanding of the current educational science, they do

but if we are going to compare generational abilities, we shouldn't forget the context of the conversation.

I don't think gen alpha are doomed, they are just like the rest of us, learning through experiences.