Improving reading outcomes in England has been sold as an international success story. At a time when reading attainment is dropping in most countries, English schools have seemingly avoided a similar downturn in reading results.

But how accurate is this picture?

The most recent Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) scores show that England ranks fourth in the world for reading. And while our scores have dropped by a point compared with five years ago, steep drops in the scores of previously high-performing countries, such as Finland, have allowed England to climb the league tables anyway.

An early focus on phonics and the development of a more “knowledge-rich” curriculum have also been credited with maintaining standards in England, while standards in other countries have declined.

The reading gains we’ve made as a country should certainly be celebrated. Yet it is important that we explore what is going on behind the “good news” headlines, too.

One key concern, for example, is what is happening for different groups of pupils. When you dig into the data, you see a gap that is often left out of the success story: the fact that pupils who were eligible for free school meals performed 40 points behind their non-eligible peers on average.

What is worse is that this performance gap doesn’t close with time. In the Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) tests, taken by 15-year-olds, there is an equivalent gap between those from disadvantaged backgrounds and their peers from more affluent homes.

So, what does this mean for how we approach the teaching of reading?

We should maintain the successes gained by a focus on phonics, along with a concerted policy focus on reading in primary and secondary school. But if we want to close the gap between richer and poorer students, we need to work out how to build on that success in a way that addresses the disparity that already exists.

More than just phonics

Improving reading is a complex and tricky process. If we are to narrow the inequality gap, we are likely to need to draw on a broad array of solutions.

In particular, there are three areas of focus where I believe sustained, explicit teaching could help those pupils who perhaps haven’t had the benefit of full bookshelves at home: developing reading fluency, building pupils’ background knowledge through vocabulary instruction, and helping students to become strategic readers.

1. Developing reading fluency

A strong foundation in decoding words through systematic phonics teaching is a necessary starting point for young readers, and reading fluency is the vital next step. This is the ability to read quickly, accurately and with good expression.

So, what can teachers do to develop reading fluency?

Listening to strong reading role models, such as their teacher, is necessary to boost reading fluency, but students also require intensive daily practice of their own, throughout primary school and into secondary school, too.

The following simple strategies can go a long way:

Choral reading

This involves all students reading aloud in unison with the teacher to build confidence and model fluency within the safety of a group scenario. It typically includes repetition of key sentences, phrases or vocabulary, such as a poem or, for example, complex new phrases in French.

Echo reading

The teacher reads a section of text aloud, then students echo that passage. This is particularly helpful with complex polysyllabic words or phrases that are better understood with clear expression and pronunciation.

Repeated reading

Reading shorter passages of text (of no more than about 50 words) several times can develop reading fluency through repeated exposure to and practice of complex words and phrases. I’d recommend reading the text three times to maximise the learning.

2. Building knowledge through vocabulary

The importance of a “knowledge-rich curriculum” has been celebrated in recent years, but it’s not clear how far this focus is benefiting struggling readers.

One way we can harness the principles of being knowledge-rich is through explicit, structured vocabulary building. This can serve as a bridge to comprehension.

It all starts with identifying the right vocabulary to teach:

Keystone vocabulary

Keystone vocabulary is the small number of high-impact words we associate with a particular topic or text. Teachers need to identify five or six such words to teach explicitly and explore in depth, in order to build a rich knowledge network. For example, if Year 6 pupils are reading The Explorer by Katherine Rundell, keystone vocabulary describing concepts in the novel might include “survival”, “exploration”, “trust”, “Amazon” and “resilience”.

Bridging vocabulary

Bridging vocabulary consists of words that are crucial to a topic but don’t require extended explanation. A lack of understanding of these can hamper fluency, but they aren’t important enough to be worth devoting lots of teaching time to. They can be quickly explained in a matter of seconds.

For example, an English teacher reading A Christmas Carol to their class may briefly pause to define the word “covetous” without slowing down their reading too much.

Teachers can identify bridging vocabulary in advance and appraise the difficulty of a text by pre-testing these words and checking for understanding.

Word-building

The explicit practice of identifying word roots (morphology) - such as “photo” or “therm” - and encouraging pattern-seeking can really help pupils make sense of what they read.

So many of the words pupils need to know are drawn from common Greek and Latin roots, so it’s worth taking time to teach some of these.

Tricky vocabulary in science, such as “exothermic”, becomes much easier to understand if you can recognise the meanings of the root components.

3. Supporting strategic reading

Pupils may read a text fluently in class and even possess strong background knowledge and vocabulary. Yet without the ability to read strategically - by questioning their understanding or summarising key ideas, for example - they can still struggle with comprehension.

It needn’t take a lot of curriculum time, but pupils do need nudges to become strategic readers. Here are some approaches that can help:

The READS framework

What I have termed the “READS framework” offers a structured approach to teaching reading comprehension strategies. It involves teachers supporting pupils to first review the text, then explore and clarify the meaning of key points. The next step is to identify anchor points to check pupils’ understanding, before finally debating alternative meanings and summarising overall understanding.

Summarising

Research consistently shows that summarising what you have read, either verbally or in writing, enhances and consolidates comprehension. This could be a quick single-sentence summary of a complex text, or a 60-second verbal summary. It is a simple but effective strategy.

Graphic organisers

A graphic organiser offers a visual tool to help students organise, summarise and connect ideas when reading. Whether it’s a Venn diagram used to explore an argument in an article, or a fishbone diagram helping to make sense of cause and effect in a history source, these tools help pupils to be more strategic, and support them in recording their ideas.

If schools are to build on early reading gains and ensure that every student is represented at the top of international league tables, we need to prioritise developing pupils into fluent, knowledgeable and strategic readers, giving them the tools to read well, whatever their background.

Alex Quigley’s new book, Literacy Essentials for Every Teacher, is published by Routledge