A major policy objective of the Commonwealth Government is to provide all young people in Australia with strong foundational literacy and numeracy skills. In working towards this challenge, Commonwealth, State and Territory Ministers stated their agreed commitment in April 1999 in the Adelaide Declaration on National Goals for Schooling in the Twenty First Century. The national goals contain the aim that students should have attained the skills of numeracy and English literacy: such that every student should be numerate, able to read, write, spell and communicate at an appropriate level.
Providing appropriate literacy and numeracy learning opportunities, especially for children experiencing learning difficulties, continues to be a challenge for teachers and schools. In order to support teachers and schools, the Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs commissioned this research project to provide a national picture of how students with learning difficulties are supported in their literacy and numeracy learning in regular primary schools. The project report, Mapping the Territory, was completed in August 1999. The project was based at Edith Cowan University in Western Australia with ten principal researchers:
Edith Cowan University: Associate Professor William Louden (Project Director), Mrs Helen House, Dr Marion Milton, Associate Professor Judith Rivalland, Dr Mary Rohl
The University of Queensland: Professor John Elkins, Dr Christa van Kraayenoord
The University of Melbourne: Dr Daryl Greaves
The Flinders University of South Australia: Dr Susan Nichols
The University of Newcastle: Professor Lorna K. S. Chan (now at The Hong Kong Institute of Education)
The significant minority of children in Australian schools who have been identified by their teachers as facing difficulties with literacy and numeracy are an extremely varied group. For some, the problem may be cognitive ability. For some, poor school performance may be accompanied by difficulties in meeting school expectations of behaviour. For some, poor performance may be linked to differences between home and school language and culture, or to other social circumstances such as poverty or family disruption. For some, there may be gaps between their general cognitive ability and school achievement. In addition, some children identified by their teachers at school entry, often on the basis of immaturity of their oral language and general behaviour, are slow to make a start in formal learning. Many of these young children’s difficulties may be transitory in that, given appropriate early learning experiences, they are able to catch up with their peers. Some of these children, however, will need regular ongoing support to cope with the literacy and numeracy demands of their classrooms.
The following vignettes of five children are taken from the case study schools in the Mapping the Territory report. They illustrate the diversity of children identified by their teachers as experiencing learning difficulties.
Sarah was identified in a transition to school program as a child having difficulty in literacy and numeracy. According to her teacher, Sarah often seemed to be in a world of her own, had poor attention and didn’t socialise with the other children. Unlike many of her classmates, in the first school term of Year 1 Sarah could not identify single sounds. After meeting with Sarah’s parents, her teacher arranged for psychological and hearing assessments. The results of the psychological assessment indicated that Sarah had some cognitive problems. The hearing assessment had not been completed.
On the other side of Australia, Riston’s teachers were concerned that his school performance was poor and his behaviour was difficult to manage. Psychological testing suggested that he was performing below his potential. His Year 1 teacher arranged for Riston to be referred to a local hospital clinic, where he was diagnosed as ADHD with oppositional defiance disorder’ and prescribed dexamphetamine for a trial period. His parents were invited to attend a series of parenting sessions and he was placed in the Reading Recovery program at his school.
Alex in Year 1 had been receiving speech therapy in Preprimary and Year 1. He had been identified by his teacher as needing extra help at the beginning of Year 1 when he was slow to get started in learning. The teacher of his P/1class, who had special education qualifications, used a structured approach to early literacy teaching. She had also taught Alex in a small mastery learning ‘focus’ group where she had explicitly taught phonological awareness, letter-sound recognition and high frequency sight words. At the end of Year 1, whilst his teacher felt that he would still need regular monitoring, Alex’s test results and portfolio assessment showed consistent progress and his speech appeared to be normal.
Yung arrived in Australia as an infant. His family first lived at a detention camp before being admitted as refugees. His parents did not speak English. Yung’s first two years of school were in an intensive language centre in an inner city school. Although he had moved to a mainstream class for Year 3, he still relied on a peer who spoke the same dialect to translate his teacher’s instructions. His teachers thought that his literacy development could have been hampered by home and school cultural differences, although it could also have been compounded by a learning difficulty.
Andy in Year 5 in a rural school, had much less success at school than his older sibling. In Year 2 he had been assessed and his results were in the normal range, but by Year 4 he was frustrated at school and was considered by teachers to be a problem student. After further psychological assessment Andy was diagnosed as dyslexic. His difficulties were identified as differentiating between letter names and sounds, breaking words down into sounds or syllables, and sequencing sounds to achieve phonetically correct spelling. He found spelling particularly difficult: in three attempts at writing ‘ambulance’ he produced phonetic approximations of ‘anblases’.
The Fragility of Learning
There are many factors that may compromise the effectiveness of teaching for children with learning difficulties. In our observations and discussions with students, parents and teachers, we found that school life was extremely arduous for these children. Most class tasks were very difficult for them in that the literacy, and sometimes the numeracy, requirements were far too high for their levels of development. In order to complete these tasks, children with learning difficulties had to work much harder than their normally achieving class-mates. In addition, homework assignments also required more effort from these students. Consequently, they were not always receptive to teaching.
Children with learning difficulties were affected by the mobility of teaching staff. In some of our case study schools children experienced several changes of teacher during the school year. Such changes particularly disrupted the learning of children who had learning difficulties.
The types of identification procedures used by schools had consequences for these children. In order to identify children with specific learning disabilities it is important that schools look for a discrepancy between cognitive ability and school achievement. Otherwise, some children of high cognitive ability who have specific learning disabilities may not be identified as they may be able to perform at a near average level. If such children are to achieve their potential it is important that they are identified so that their specific needs can be met.
Support for Students
Maintaining a motivating and rigorous first wave teaching program that meets the needs of as many children as possible will continue to be a high priority. Despite effective first wave teaching as well as early intervention, there are some children who will continue to struggle with literacy throughout the middle and upper primary school years. It is important for schools to make provision for those children who will need continued assistance with literacy learning throughout their school lives, as well as for those children who will benefit from early intervention programs.
School Planning
Case study schools, recommended to the researchers for their success in providing for children experiencing learning difficulties, all used systematic assessment and teaching strategies. Often, these were based on explicit whole school approaches to planning. In schools that are hard to staff or characterised by relatively high transience of teachers, it is important that these assessment and teaching plans are well documented and relatively easy to sustain from year to year.
Resources
The funding of programs for children with both literacy and numeracy difficulties continues to be a serious challenge for schools. Many schools receive additional funding for children with learning difficulties, but the lack of continuity in funding can make it difficult for schools to maintain systematic long-term programs. Support for children with literacy and numeracy difficulties needs to be built into regular school resourcing and planning.
Numeracy: Second best
Compared with literacy, numeracy has been neglected. Over the past few years far more funding for program provision, student support and teacher development has gone into literacy than into numeracy. It appears from our study that some teachers are confusing literacy with numeracy, in the belief that by supporting literacy development, numeracy will automatically be improved. Whilst poor reading skills may be associated with difficulty in solving word problems, it is not usually the main factor causing difficulties and needs to be addressed separately. Identification of, and provision for, children with numeracy difficulties is an area that has yet to be addressed by many schools.
The states and territories are now developing and starting to implement a range of numeracy programs. It is expected that these will be reflected in classroom practice in future. While some schools indicated that their next focus would be on numeracy, more funding needs to be earmarked for this area.
Technology
Computer technology has the potential to assist children with learning difficulties to overcome some of these difficulties. However, the lack of computer resources in many primary schools places limitations on the use of computer technology to assist children with learning difficulties. As schools increase the computing resources available to classroom teachers, they will need to set clear guidelines for the selection of software for these children.
Program Evaluation
There is some evidence that schools may be adopting programs without putting into place appropriate program evaluation processes. Many of our case study schools had developed systematic methods for monitoring student progress in literacy and in some cases in numeracy. There was a tendency in some schools to rely on these monitoring processes as the only source of evidence of the value of the programs. When schools are making decisions about the implementation of new programs for children with literacy and numeracy difficulties it is important to plan when and how, after a full cycle of implementation, the programs will be formally evaluated. This involves planning for the collection of baseline data and maintaining this data collection over the evaluation period. In addition data needs to be collected on parents’, teachers’ and children’s perspectives on the program. Finally, there needs to be an evaluation of the ease with which a program can be implemented and its cost effectiveness.
Private Provision
Schools should be wary of supporting heavily marketed commercial programs that do not have a significant body of sustained research to support claims of success.
When schools can establish liaison processes that allow children with learning difficulties to be referred to speech pathologists, other health professionals, SPELD (Specific Learning Difficulties Association) or other well qualified practitioners, these children are likely to be provided with effective support. Some children have such a degree of difficulty with literacy and/or numeracy that individual tuition by well-qualified practitioners is likely to be of benefit. However, in the interests of equity, it is important that schools make every effort to support these children within the school setting. If this is not the case, children whose parents cannot afford private tuition, are most likely to be disadvantaged.
Professional Development
Highly committed, well-qualified and skilful teachers are the key to helping children with literacy and numeracy difficulties. This points to the need to ensure that all teachers, not only specialist teachers, participate in professional development that focuses on the needs of children with learning difficulties. Schools are well advised to encourage and support staff to participate in the on-going development of their expertise in teaching children with learning difficulties. These opportunities can be made available through school based professional development as well as by the upgrading of qualifications through tertiary study. A recent US study (see National Research Council, 1999) found that the most effective use of resources in terms of improving school achievement was to develop the qualifications of teachers.
Effective support for children with learning difficulties begins at the whole school level. This involves whole school decision making ensuring that staff are committed to the support of children with learning difficulties. Some important whole school features for supporting these children that were identified in our case study schools include:
Specific policies for children with difficulties in learning literacy and numeracy that are put into practice
Systematic procedures for identification, planning, teaching and monitoring progress
Systematic records that are regularly updated
High profile experienced or well qualified staff member to coordinate whole school support
Professional development for teachers
Community involvement that includes parent-family programs, parent classroom helpers and peer tutoring or buddy systems to create a school culture of cooperation and acceptance
Involvement of other professionals for referrals, teaching and the professional development of teachers
Creative use of resources in terms of flexible use of staff to provide a range of regular classroom and withdrawal teaching contexts that are appropriate for individual student needs
Appropriate teaching materials that motivate children’s learning
Good initial early years teaching that engages children’s desire to learn has the potential to help in the prevention of difficulties in literacy and numeracy. It is the first phase of support for children whose learning is slow to develop. Some characteristics of effective early years classrooms are outlined below.
Focus on literacy
Regular timetabled substantial blocks of time for language and literacy learning
Teacher talk that is clear, precise and focuses children’s attention on what is to be learnt
Oral language activities that develop vocabulary, world knowledge, listening, speaking and thinking skills and awareness of the sounds of language
Comprehension of text through teacher instruction and associated activities such as dramatic play
Systematic practice in using language and literacy through engagement with a variety of oral and written texts, using strategies such as guided reading, independent reading, shared book and modelled writing
Explicit instruction in code-breaking techniques which include phonological awareness, letter recognition, letter-sound correspondences and sight word recognition
Frequent practice in reading aloud to an adult or older student to develop fluency
Instructional texts at appropriate reading levels
Encouragement of invented spelling to help children develop understanding of phoneme identity, phonemic segmentation and sound-spelling relationships, with strategies to facilitate the transition to conventional spelling
Games and motivating activities for practice of skills
Regular assessment, including running records, to monitor the effectiveness of teaching and to identify children not making expected progress
Referral to specialists if hearing, speech and language are of concern.
Focus on numeracy
Development and use of mathematical language to help understanding of number concepts
Hands on activities using concrete materials: a basic set of maths materials, such as Multi-base Arithmetic Blocks (MAB), 3-D shapes, scales and other measurement instruments provided in each classroom
Real life problem solving approach that includes estimating and reasoning
‘Think alouds’, for example, ‘How did I work that out ?’, initially modeled by the teacher and practised by children sometimes through the use of maths journals
Base ten number system explicitly taught
Regular practice in mental computation
Correction at the point of error
Regular assessment using contextualised problems.
Despite excellent first wave teaching there were children in the case study schools who were not progressing at the expected rate. Whilst these children were learning about literacy and numeracy in their regular classrooms they were slower to develop in particular areas. All the components of effective regular classroom teaching are important for these children. Some additional factors for early intervention that we identified and have outlined below, include classroom organisation and teaching principles.
A positive atmosphere that builds success through achievement and positive reinforcement
Regular diagnostic assessment to determine individual children’s patterns of strengths and weaknesses in order to focus instruction on specific needs
Integration of intervention programs that take place outside the classroom with the regular class program, involving close communication of class and withdrawal teachers about the child’s program and progress so that skills and strategies learnt in withdrawal settings are reinforced in the classroom
Parent involvement, especially in family literacy and home reading programs
Small group or individual systematic teaching, on a regular basis, using multi-sensory techniques and mastery learning
Focus on literacy
Phonological awareness activities for blending and segmenting, initially with alliteration and rhyme, later with phonemes and, at appropriate stages, linked to the explicit teaching of phoneme identity and sound-letter knowledge
Balance between the explicit teaching of skills and reading and writing connected text at each child’s independent level
Provision of a wide range of literacy activities, with particular emphasis on listening to stories that contain challenging ideas and language forms
Explicit teaching of metacognitive strategies such as, ‘Does it sound right?,’ ‘Does it make sense?’, and the integration of individual strategies
Focus on numeracy
Sequential introduction of concepts and facts in small steps
Scaffolding learning working from the known to the unknown
Consolidation of learning through extended practice and use of concrete materials
Learning in familiar contexts, such as shopping expeditions and cooking experiences
In all of our case study schools there were some children who had received high quality classroom and early intervention programs yet were still having severe difficulty in coping with the literacy and numeracy demands of the regular classroom. With each passing year they were falling further and further behind their peers. Moreover, schools had few resources with which to support these children and some programs did not appear to reach the same high standards as those observed in early intervention. Schools need to recognise that, however good their teaching, there will always be some children who need regular ongoing support. Some general principles that appear to support children with learning difficulties in the middle and upper primary years are presented below.
Building on successful early intervention procedures, but with materials and strategies appropriate for the age level
Teaching principles that include explicit instruction, modelling, scaffolded support, expert guidance and extended practice in the application of strategies within different contexts
Regular monitoring of students’ progress with feedback
Explicit teaching towards self regulation and metacognition to increase independence in learning
Modification of some classroom tasks or use of technological resources to enable successful completion of tasks
Reinforcement that may initially be extrinsic but gradually moving towards intrinsic reinforcement
Individual Education Plans that specify achievable goals
Liaison where appropriate with external agencies that are assisting children, in order to ensure consistency with the school program
Focus on literacy
Effective teaching for third wave literacy learners includes explicit teacher-directed instruction in some or all of the following areas. Those children who have specific learning disabilities will need a detailed individual program that addresses their identified literacy needs.
Reading for learning and learning to read, which includes:
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Developing reading fluency and vocabulary
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Teaching metacognitive strategies such as self-questioning
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Adapting texts to help children cope with literacy demands
Spelling which includes:
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Error-correction procedures with modelling and feedback
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Self-directed study and self-monitoring
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A combination of visual/orthographic and phonological approaches
Writing which includes a combination of strategies such as:
Focus on numeracy
Effective teaching for third wave numeracy learners will include some or all of the following:
Teaching of concepts and problem solving strategies and the use of concrete materials that are then applied in a number of contexts
Teaching for understanding by focusing on mathematical concepts rather than drill and rote learning
Explicit teaching of how to identify problem types
Opportunities to practice with a variety of materials, including computer programs
Identification of correct and faulty reasoning through teaching of strategies to verbalise processes, for example, ‘How did you work that out?’
Ability grouping either across or within grades for teaching to specific areas of need (Adapted from Carnine 1997)
New programs and packages of materials are constantly entering the market. Advertising claims may be confusing, even misleading, and television current affairs programs regularly claim to have found a miracle ‘cure’ for children with learning difficulties, particularly those with difficulties in literacy. Choosing appropriate resources to use with children who have learning difficulties in literacy or numeracy can therefore be daunting. We present some issues for school administrators and teachers to consider when deciding on programs and materials to use with these children.
First, many highly effective teachers prefer not to use a specific program. They choose to develop their own programs based on the needs of their children and knowledge of principles of teaching children with learning difficulties. Second, it is important to understand that the research clearly shows there is no one program or method that can meet the needs of all children who have learning difficulties. These children are all different, and literacy and numeracy are multi-faceted endeavours. Third, it is important that the content of a literacy or numeracy program directly addresses the skills, knowledge and behaviours that need to be learnt. Teachers looking for a particular program for children with learning difficulties may like to consider the following questions to guide their choice.
- What is the purpose of the program and does it meet the needs of my particular students?
- Is there independent research evidence that the program is effective?
- Is there an educational theory behind it and if so, does it match with my philosophy of teaching?
- Will it entail major school restructuring or will it fit with other programs in the school?
- Is it cost effective and how much of the school’s resource allocation will need to be committed to it?
- Is professional development provided?
- Can it be used in the regular classroom or will it involve withdrawal teaching?
- Are the materials appropriate to the age, developmental levels and cultural backgrounds of my children and will my children find them motivating?
When choosing computer software some specific evaluation criteria are content, user friendliness, adult management features, strength of support materials and value for money (National Research Council, 1999).
Some of the following readings may also help inform your choice of programs, strategies and materials for use with children who have learning difficulties.
Carnine, D. (1997). Instructional design in mathematics for students with learning difficulties. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 30(2), 130-141.
Clay, M.M. (1993). Reading Recovery: A guidebook for teachers in training. Auckland: Heinemann.
DEETYA (1997). Numeracy = Everyone's business. The report of the Numeracy Education Strategy Development Conference. Adelaide Australian Association of Mathematics Teachers.
Education Department of Western Australia (1994). First Steps Developmental Continua/First Steps Resource Books. Melbourne: Longman Australia.
Education Victoria (1998). Early Years Literacy Program. Melbourne: Longman Australia.
Ericson, L., & Juliebo, M.F. (1998). The Phonological Awareness Handbook for Kindergarten and Primary School Teachers. Newark: International Reading Association.
Focus Issues on Numeracy Difficulties (1997). Journal of Learning Disabilities 30, 1 & 2.
Lipson, M., & Wixson, K. (1997). Assessment and Instruction of Reading and Writing Disability. New York: Harper Collins.
Love, E., & Reilly, S. (1995). A Sound Way. Melbourne: Longman.
National Research Council (1999). Starting out right: A guide to promoting children’s reading success. Washington DC: National Academy Press.
Osborn, J., Stahl, S., & Stein, M. (1998). Teachers’ guidelines for evaluating commercial phonics packages. Newark: International Reading Association.
Snow, C.E., Burns, M.S., & Griffin, P. (Eds.) (1998). Preventing reading difficulties in young children. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
Stewart, R., Wright, B., & Gould, P. (1998). Kindergarten students’ progress in the Count Me In Too Project: Teaching Mathematics in New Times: Proceedings of the MERGA Conference, Vol. 2.
Strickland, D. S. (1998). Teaching phonics today: A primer for educators. Newark: International Reading Association.
Watson A., & Badenhop A. (Eds.) (1992). Prevention of Reading Failure. Ashton Scholastic.
Westwood, P. (1997). Commonsense methods for children with special needs. London: Routledge.
Willis, S. (Ed.) (1990). Being Numerate: What Counts? Hawthorn, Victoria: ACER.
The project was funded under the Literacy and Numeracy Programme (Grants for National Strategies and Projects) administered by the Commonwealth Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs (DETYA).
The researchers wish to thank system and sector personnel, schools, teachers, parents and children across Australia, for their participation, encouragement and patience during the preparation of Mapping the Territory. The researchers are also grateful for the invaluable advice of the following members of the Advisory Committee:
Ms Stephanie Gunn, National Coordinator, Literacy and Numeracy Projects
Ms Anne Bayetto, Department of Education, Training and Employment in South Australia
Ms Susan Dennett, Education Victoria
Professor Loretta Giorcelli, University of Western Sydney
Mr David Huggins, Catholic Education Office, Melbourne
Ms Eve Lucas, The Education Department of Western Australia
Ms Jan McDermott, Education Queensland
Ms Marion Meiers, Research Fellow, ACER
Ms Beverly Milsen, New South Wales Department of Education and Training
Professor Margot Prior, The University of Melbourne
Electronic copies of the report Mapping the Territory, on which this brochure is based, are available from: Publications and resources