ED2090 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Phonics, Shaun Nichols, Numeracy
Intervention for Learning Difficulties
Lecture One - Week One
Overview of the lecture
- Terminology: difference between students with learning difficulties and learning disabilities
- Dyslexia and working memory
- What to do in your classroom: how do you respond to the needs of these students?
- Multi-level instruction/Response to intervention: three wave model – what the research is telling us works
Students with learning difficulties: (Australian View)
→
Read first reading of unit!
- NOT CHILDRED WITH INTELLECTUAL IMPAIRMENT
o These students fall within the normal range of intelligence – Learning to read – read to learn
- 16 – 20% of our school population
- Normal range of intelligence
- Contributing factors that are external to the child
o External factors that contribute to a child’s learning difficulty
- Result of ‘dyspedagogia’ (Poor teaching) (Elkins, 2007) or ‘instructional casualties’ (G. Reid Lyon, 2007), high
absenteeism, poverty
o Through no fault of their own, they have an intellectual difficulty due to the educational gaps in their
lives
o High absenteeism → Missing out on the foundational layer of literacy – If they miss this, it is harder for
them to catch up
o Where the problems are not persistent, the students respond really well
- Not persistent problems
- Responsive to instruction and intervention
Students with learning disabilities: Subset within the group of learning difficulties (3-5% of the 16-20%)
- 3 - 5% of our school population
- Normal range of intelligence sometimes gifted or dual exceptional
o Writing and reading tends to become a factor of their disability that inhibits their learning
- Contributing factors that are internal to the child
o Endogenous → Within the child
▪ Harder to intervene
▪ No cure
- Neurological in origin (affecting the brain)
- Heritable (genetic in origin)
- Problems are persistent (life long – no cures)
- Resistant to intervention
Identification
- Students with learning difficulties:
o Class or school based assessment especially in junior primary such as SOCS (Screen of Oral
Communication), SPAT-R (Sutherland Phonological Awareness Test), AIST (Astronaut Invented Spelling
Test) and DoE On-Entry Screening in Year PP & Yr 1
- Students with learning disabilities:
o Diagnosis from a qualified professional such as:
▪ educational psychologist; neuro-psychologist; clinical psychologist; school psychologist;
paediatrician.
Dyslexia
- Dyslexia is characterized by difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and
decoding abilities. These difficulties typically result from a deficit in the phonological component of language
that is often unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilities and the provision of effective classroom
instruction. Secondary consequences may include problems in reading comprehension and reduced reading
experience that can impede the growth of vocabulary and background knowledge.
- (Fletcher, Lyon, Fuchs, & Barnes, 2007) and the definition adopted by the International Dyslexia Association (IDA).
The Double Deficit
- Many children (and adults) with dyslexia also have working memory, sometimes referred to as double deficit
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Terminology: difference between students with learning difficulties and learning disabilities. Multi-level instruction/response to intervention: three wave model what the research is telling us works. Students with learning difficulties: (australian view) read first reading of unit! Not childred with intellectual impairment: these students fall within the normal range of intelligence learning to read read to learn. 16 20% of our school population. Contributing factors that are external to the child: external factors that contribute to a child"s learning difficulty. Students with learning disabilities: subset within the group of learning difficulties (3-5% of the 16-20%) 3 - 5% of our school population. Normal range of intelligence sometimes gifted or dual exceptional: writing and reading tends to become a factor of their disability that inhibits their learning. Contributing factors that are internal to the child: endogenous within the child, harder to intervene, no cure. Problems are persistent (life long no cures)
