The third book of the Aussie Reading Woes trilogy, The 10 Changes: The Nitty Gritty takes readers through an interesting journey exploring literacy, orthographies (spelling systems) and their major impacts on literacy development and education, our too many areas of Swiss-cheese research areas (more gaps than cheese), our education woes, and the 10 Changes. The book’s contents are Nitty Gritty in the sense of useful practical detail, that provides a strong basis for the 10 Changes, strategic directions for Australian education to pursue, for Australia to achieve the strong effective education so many other nations enjoy.

Susan Galletly BSpThy MEd PhD is an Australian learning disabilities researcher and specialist, speech language pathologist and teacher, with decades of experience in research and practice. Her insights are well-considered and wise, seen in her strong emphasis on Australia doing careful research as education explores 10 Changes issues and improvements.

Down the decades, educators have paid surprisingly little attention to key issues which impact Australian education, including

1. Our sad lack of support services for at-risk and struggling readers both in and out of school.

2. Our language-weakness epidemic: too many children starting school with too-weak communication skills, and too many struggling across the school years.

3. Our too many risk factors that our children start school with.

4. Our kids being so young and immature when learning to read and write Standard English, one of the world’s most complex orthographies.

5. The major impacts of the severe orthographic disadvantage we live with, with its sad impacts on our kids, teachers, schools, education success and nation.

6. Our needs to look to nations such as Taiwan, Japan and China, as role models for ending orthographic disadvantage, easing and speeding literacy development, and dramatically reducing the impacts of risk factors.

Should Australia hold off formal word-reading instruction until our kids are older and more mature learners?

Should we be using playbased language and learning enrichment across our first school years?

Should Australia use a beginners’ orthography, as Taiwan, Japan and China now do?

Is excessive child and teacher workload and starting formal education so young crippling education, our teachers and our kids?

In what ways will the 10 Changes lead to education being more relaxed, less pressured, with cost savings too?