Languages differ in the way that speech and meaning are represented in written form: in English, the correspondences are variable. Thus, in learning to read in English there is need for an approach that combines alphabetic decoding and a mastery of sight vocabulary. Teaching children to read should develop from an analysis of the skills and knowledge young children bring to the learning situation. When they start school, some children can already read with understanding, yet frequently their needs are overlooked. England is only one of the countries where evidence from research is being ignored, simplistic tests are driving the curriculum, available resources are being spent on commercial products linked to the tests and schools are being ranked by the percentage of children who pass such tests.