Students with Reading Difficulties
Diagnostic Testing
The importance of early intervention in supporting students with learning difficulties is now widely acknowledged in Australia. An increasing reliance on data to support learning has broadened the range of data that schools and teachers collect and the ways in which data are used to monitor achievement, diagnose learning difficulties, and improve classroom instruction. A variety of diagnostic assessment instruments is used to support the teaching of reading, including the Progressive Assessment Tests in Reading (PAT R).16
An example of one such diagnostic assessment can be seen in New South Wales’ Best Start Literacy Assessment, which was linked to the state’s English K–6 Syllabus.17 As a common early literacy assessment, it assists teachers in gathering consistent, accurate, and reliable information about student knowledge, skills, and understanding. The assessment covers seven critical aspects of early literacy development: reading texts, phonics, phonemic awareness, concepts about print, comprehension, aspects of speaking, and aspects of writing. Teachers use a marking guide to assess student responses and then make judgments about performance on each aspect, placing students on the Best Start Early Literacy Continuum.
Instruction for Children with Reading Difficulties
While there are different approaches to teaching reading, evidence supports children learning to read through an integrated approach to reading that explicitly teaches phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary knowledge, and comprehension.
In the middle primary years, many approaches are adopted by Australian schools to support students experiencing reading difficulties, primarily in class or individually. In some cases, students identified in the early years as needing continuing support may receive additional support.
Reading difficulties in Year 3 or 4 often relate to problems with comprehension and strategies. Schools use professional and commercial resources in addition to guidance to provide bridges to improved reading comprehension. One example is the Making Up Lost Time in Literacy initiative. The initiative’s Tutorial Centre and Clinic and outreach programs translate research into more effective ways of teaching low progress students experiencing difficulties in learning literacy skills.18