SEN Newsletter - Summer 2013 - Staffordshire Learning Net ...

What works for children and young
people with literacy difficulties?
The effectiveness of interventions schemes
4th Edition: Greg Brooks University of Sheffield (Feb 2013)
Greg Brooks was commissioned by the DfES/DfE to produce three previous editions of
this publication. They aimed to collate evidence on interventions that could increase the
rate of progress in pupils with literacy difficulties. This, the latest of the research reports,
was commissioned by the Dyslexia-Spld Trust and aims to review schemes currently
available in order to inform schools’ choices when selecting appropriate support.
Part 1 (Chapter 1-3) examines a variety of schemes aimed at increasing the rate of
progress for children aged 5–14 who are experiencing difficulties in literacy acquisition.
Most of the schemes covered are ‘Wave 3’ initiatives as previously defined within the
literacy section of the Primary National Strategy and the KS 3 Strategy for English.
Greg Brooks concludes:
• Ordinary teaching does not enable children with literacy difficulties to catch up.
• Schemes for KS3 are few but several work well for reading and Grammar for Writing
has great potential.
• Schemes for children who struggle with spelling work best when highly structured.
• Work on phonological skills for reading should be embedded within a broad
approach.
• Children’s comprehension skills can be improved if directly targeted.
• IT approaches work best when they are precisely targeted.
• Large-scale schemes, though expensive, can give good value for money.
• Where reading partners are available and can be given appropriate training and
support, partnership approaches can be very effective.
• Good impact – sufficient to at least double the standard rate of progress – can
be achieved, and it is reasonable to expect it.
Chapter 3 describes:
A. Schemes targeting reading and/or spelling at primary level
B. Schemes targeting reading and/or spelling at KS3
C. The few schemes which have investigated how to improve writing
Part 2 (Chapters 4-6) is a completely new section and attempts to identify interventions
that aim to support pupils with specific learning needs. This part of this report contains
chapters on schemes designed:
• for children with specific special educational needs, including dyslexia-SpLD
• to boost literacy at primary/secondary transition
• for young people aged 14–18, including those detached from education or
training, including those who have offended or may be at risk of doing so
This is followed by an extensive reference and appendix section that lists all the
interventions and the impact that they have had on progress. It uses methods such as the
ratio-gain system i.e. 12 months progress in 12 months is a ratio gain of 1; 24 months
progress in 12 months is a ratio gain of 2 etc.
http://preview.tinyurl.com/brgd5fw
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