PIRLS 2006 Encyclopedia

PIRLS 2006 Encyclopedia• Teachers’ knowledge of literacy learning by continually developing their knowledgeabout literacy and about literacy acquisition;• Knowledge of the learner encompasses teachers’ knowledge of each child in termsof developing an individual profile of their learning, patterns of progression, andliteracy practices outside of school;• Engaging learners with texts involves using and creating a variety of appropriatetexts, which relate to children’s interests, draw on and affirm their social andcultural identities, use authentic language, and motivate and challenge them aslearners;• Teachers’ expectations for learners, which should be reflected on and reviewed,should be high but, at the same time, appropriate and clearly expressed to learnerand their family;• Partnerships among significant people in learners’ lives, including family peersand specialist teachers, should be actively promoted; and• Instructional strategies and the deliberate acts of teaching should focus on learningto achieve a particular outcome.Deliberate acts of teaching have been identified and described in the texts and areintended to sharpen the focus of instruction. Teachers use these to develop their students’knowledge, strategies, and awareness in terms of learning the code of written English,making meaning, and thinking critically when reading and writing. 27Reading DisabilitiesDiagnostic TestingThere is currently no single, mandatory comprehensive screening test used by schools toidentify students with problems that could potentially affect children’s ability to learn toread or for identifying a reading disability. Schools decide on the appropriate assessmenttools to examine and monitor students’ reading progress, as well as the most appropriateremediation programs. An Observation Survey of Early Literacy Achievement (Six-year-Net), 28 is an example of an assessment tool administered to children at age 6 after theyhave completed 1 year of schooling. The survey is a comprehensive assessment whichincludes a dictation exercise to see how students write and hear sounds in words andword tests to check students’ letter identification and concepts about print. 29New ZealandInstruction for Children with Reading DisabilitiesReading Recovery® is a key early intervention program that English-medium schools maychoose for children identified as making only limited progress in reading after 1 year ofschooling. 30 Students who enter the program undergo intensive one-on-one sessionswith trained Reading Recovery® teachers. The main goal of the program is to acceleratestudents to the same reading level as their peers within a 20-week period.Resource Teachers of Literacy, employed by the Ministry of Education, also providesupport for schools that have identified students with reading and writing difficulties.288