Comments on: Not the best solution for under-achieving students

By: Sally

Sally — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 06:30:10 +0000

Once more the government goes off half cocked trying to show that they are really “concerned”about the children in our schools. How further from the truth could we be. If they were truly concerned they would put into schools all the things every one here has suggested. I am a Prep teacher with over 30 years experience working in the early years. Never have we had so little support for delivering quality education which is the only way those children who struggle to achieve will reach their full potential.

Until Parents take responsibility for their children’s learning and value education then it won’t matter what sort of initiatives the government bring in or what sort of programmes teachers implement nothing will be resolved.

By: Anne Rutledge

Anne Rutledge — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 13:55:47 +0000

I too agree with all that has been said. As a past Reading Recovery Teacher finishing her training in the final year, I too was outraged to find out it had been axed as we all saw the benefits that 1-1 time could have for these students.
Maybe there is an argument for intervention for students who are just under the average in the class and not always the worst scores, often known to be the LD or very low IQ scores or they may have a Sp & L deficit; very difficult to move whereas the other grou-p often can easily jump over the hurdle that they had been having and progress more quickly.
Last but not least, as a parent of Yr 6 child invited to participate in Summer School, all those same ideas crossed my mind but I did not want him to miss out if that was all that was going to be available. I now fully agree that I may have made a wrong decision and realise it could be detrimental to his overall attitude to school and to his own self-esteem. Thanks for the chance to hear from others; ED Qld should have done this long before Summer Schools were even mentioned.

By: Lorraine Brown

Lorraine Brown — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 05:38:41 +0000

I have yet to find one single teacher who thinks this is going to be an effective way to support students who are struggling with literacy and/or numeracy.
Early intervention is most effective, as research indicates - and Reading Recovery seems to currently be the most effective support that can be given in this area. This combined with smaller class sizes in primary - even if just in the early years of primary school - would be extremely powerful and could, I suspect, certainly reduce the problem and, long term, save immense amounts of money used all through schooling system, and afterwards, trying to support what becomes a greater and greater problem. This would mean that for an intermediate period, you might have to support older students as well as increase early years support; but eventually, it should dramatically reduce the need for on-going support - so that only children that were truly learning disabled would need support throughout their schooling career (and they will need support throughout their schooling career no matter what intervention and how good the teaching in class).
However, until some honesty replaces spin in beaurocratic and governmental decision-making, these damaging decisions will continue I suspect, and it is no easy thing to maintain personal integrity within a corrupt context, or to truly change a corrupt context from within. The only way to change such decisions might be for enough teachers to refuse to carry them out - and to be willing to cop the comments that will be directed at us.

By: D Davis

D Davis — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 08:51:28 +0000

‘Summer/winter’ catch up school is a ludicrous idea. What can struggling children learn in a week that they could not learn during the previous terms? It seems to me as though someone heard about the U.S. summer school idea and thought it would be good for our kids too. But - summer school in the USA is mainly for children who want to get ahead (not catch up). American children also have a 3 month summer holiday - not the 5-6 weeks we have here. The schooling system in Australia is not the same as the USA and therefore summer schooling doesn’t suit our students. Students do need a break from constant academic pressure. They need to recharge their batteries and come back ready to learn, rather than feel as though they have been punished.
The money would be better spent providing teachers with regular PD along with follow up visits with mentors/coaches. Reading Recovery offered fantastic, regular PD sessions, which met individual needs of teachers and students. Visits from tutors were invaluable and teachers were able to put theory into practice.
Ongoing training and development of teachers as a resource is a better idea than the bandaid approach of summer school.
Governments need to consult with teachers from a variety of schools and follow their advice when it comes to educating students.

By: Karen Anderson

Karen Anderson — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 02:17:05 +0000

Angela, I agree with Jules Young’s comments, and looking at this problem from outside the school system, through my work in industry as a Cert IV Assessor & Trainer (where I often see the end result of this problem), having raised three literate children and reading to foster children in my spare time, my personal observation is that children, and adults, who aren’t reasonably literate, have often arrived at this destination via a combination of experiences. Some are intellectually or culturally disadvantaged while others haven’t cultivated a love of language or the written word in childhood because their early experience of entertainment is DVD’s, TV or Nintendo which takes the place of personal interaction and storytelling. Surely teachers and the school curricula cannot forever be expected to make up the shortfall for inadequate parenting & disability problems. Students whose families channel them towards careers, whether it be tertiary education, apprenticeships or mainstream office based positions, usually ensure the child has the literacy levels required for such pursuits. The “underachievers” who fall through the cracks need a program designed to help them understand how reading & writing can add another dimension to their lives. If a child is interested in something, then their particiation is usually more spirited. I have used cooking & shopping edpeditions etc. for girls and sport avticities for boys to introduce the need to be able to read to fully enjoy their interests. Cards & games are also a great tool. They are also learning numeracy skills while they are having fun. I know a lot of children go to PCYC Programs during school holidays and maybe the Education Dept., instead of encroaching anymore on teacher’s vacation time and setting up yet another program which may, or may not, work, could investigate including activities, on certain days, which combine fun and literacy and make it available for children who need assistance in a way that they would not feel they were being “kept in” over the holidays. Money that would have been spent on setting up an entirely new school holiday program, could be channelled into an already existing one at possibly less cost.

By: Barbara Brown

Barbara Brown — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 23:40:11 +0000

I agree with jennell’s statement:
It would seem that we ask the question - “What is the best way to solve the problem?” And then the opposite is usually done!
I see the summer school as a very poor way of addressing the problems associated with low achievement in L&N for these reasons:

-held during students holidays-low level of commitment and negative attitude to being there
-combined L&N classes-ineffective since non specific
-up to 12 students in one class-no real individual attention able to be given and liklihood of student behaviour problems
-3 hours per day is too long for tuition sessions-young students (years 3,5 etc)can’t concentrated on intense learning for this long.
-lack of teacher interest since get paid for only 3 hours per day even if have to travel long distance. This is unfair to teachers.

lots more onjections but the above are a good start!

By: Jennell

Jennell — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 02:04:07 +0000

When will common sense prevail. Many children find it difficult to function in overcrowded classrooms where much of the teacher’s time is taken up dealing with behaviour issues. Smaller class sizes and more classroom support would go a long way with dealing with under-achievers. It would seem that we ask the question - “What is the best way to solve the problem?” And then the opposite is usually done!

By: Jo Johnston

Jo Johnston — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 01:55:30 +0000

How many students will be wanting to put their hands up for this and attend willingly - not to mention that teachers also need the break to refresh and reorganise for the next year? I agree that the fund - if given to schools would be much better utilised and in a more creative fashion than that which seems to be suggested by the powers that be. Networking with other teachers, I have heard many wonderful ideas and suggestions that just need a little more funding and in most cases not that much more money. I would love to just be given the money and then I am sure we would be able to address this lag in learning with many of our students.

By: Anne Dale

Anne Dale — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 06:15:40 +0000

Whatever happened to Reading Recovery?
Still the best literacy intervention program in the world.
It was thrown out because it was ‘too expensive?’
It’s not looking that expensive now, when you weigh up the cost of the summer schools, literacy pd, coaches etc!!!
let’s just hope that our literacy coaches are former Reading Recovery teachers!!

By: Jan Weir

Jan Weir — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 04:39:22 +0000

Thanks Angela for providing a discussion forum that should be provided by Ed Qld and the Ministers for Education, both Federal and State. This is such an important topic yet the decision makers only want to address it with the cheapest possible band aid. Our ‘tail’ of under achievers is the nearly the largest of the OECD countries because we fail to acknowledge the research which supports smaller class sizes, early intervention, family support strategies and good teacher training. I agree with Paula that too much teacher ‘PD’ time is wasted on new policies, procedures,curriculum development and ‘jargon ism’.Teachers are required to ‘differentiate’ their teaching to cater for all students, BUT,the NAPLAN testing makes no allowances for ESL students (a significant percentage), for those with learning difficulties/disabilities, Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander students, those in Foster Care etc etc. Keep it simple.Provide quality support for the 200 days a year students already spend at school.