PROVEN METHODS OF LITERACY EDUCATION FOR VICTORIAN GOVERNMENT SCHOOLS
Reading, writing and spelling are essential skills that our children will need throughout their lives and they deserve to be taught using the best evidence-based methods.
Dyslexia Victoria Support (DVS) Reading Teachers Australia (RTA), Code Read Dyslexia Network, Learning Difficulties Australia (LDA) and AUSPELD (inclusive of all State SPELD entities) call upon the Minister for Education, for the sake of our children, to remove programs such as Reading Recovery and Leveled Literacy Intervention from Victorian public schools.
DVS represent parents/carers and others who have been impacted by dyslexia. Approximately 20% of students are thought to have learning difficulties, including dyslexia, with 5% being severely affected.
Dyslexia is a specific learning difficulty, where there are problems with accurate and fluent word reading and/or poor spelling. Persons with dyslexia can, however, learn to read, spell and write with appropriate educational support. Measures that help dyslexics also help other children to read, write and spell: EFFECTIVE READING INSTRUCTION
Much money has been spent on literacy, but not necessarily in the right ways. Reading Recovery is a literacy program widely used in Victorian schools that has been heavily criticised. In 2017 the New South Wales government abandoned the compulsory use of Reading Recovery in government schools: LITERACY AND NUMERACY STRATEGY 2017-2020 and DVS and Code Read requested that the Victorian government do the same.
In place of Reading Recovery, the Victorian government should provide access for ALL children to programs that use an explicit structured approach to the teaching of reading – see – LEARNING DIFFICULTIES AUSTRALIA (LDA) and the AUSPELD Understanding Learning Difficulties: a Practical Guide for Parents
Another program – the Leveled Literacy Intervention (LLI) – is also used in Victorian schools and is not supported by the current research evidence and must not continue to be funded by the Department of Education for use in Victorian government schools.
Our petition is supported by Reading Teachers Australia, AUSPELD, Code Read Dyslexia Network and Learning Difficulties Australia.
WHO ARE WE
Created in 2014, Dyslexia Victoria Support (DVS) is a state and international award-winning community group, supporting the Science of Reading (SOR) and evidence-based education for literacy difficulties.
It is a place to seek advice and support for Specific Learning Difficulties.
We promote programs such as direct instruction (DI), systematic synthetic phonics (SSP), explicit teaching, decodable texts and audiobooks.
We support information about programs that have been independently, scientifically peer-reviewed and published in reputable scientific journals.
DVS is run by a team of volunteer parents supported by; Teachers, Allied Health Professionals such as Psychologists, Occupational Therapists and Speech Pathologists, Academics, Parents, Grandparents, Specialist Tutors, Schools and people who have literacy difficulties or dyslexia.
DVS PARENT SURVEY – LITERACY IN VICTORIAN SCHOOLS REPORT
NOVEMBER 2020
Click here to view the Report: PDF
Victoria’s education system has long failed children with literacy difficulties. Rather than being equitable, it’s discriminatory. Rather than being inclusive, it’s marginalising. All children deserve policy makers, educators and parents who are willing to step up to the collective responsibility of teaching all children to read and write in their early years of school.
“The ability of a population to read and write at standards considered competent, and not merely functional, confers widespread opportunities to succeed academically and gain post-school training and education, even in the context of inter-generational academic under-attainment. This in turn affords opportunities for larger numbers to be part of the social and economic mainstream, and sits at the core of reading ability as a pressing public health issue and as a modifiable form of social inequity and disadvantage.” (Snow, P. (2020). SOLAR: The Science of Language and Reading. Child Language Teaching and Therapy. Published early online August 4 https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0265659020947817)”
DVS parents contend with the academic, social, emotional and financial costs that follow when their child’s reading difficulties are not addressed at school. This parent survey gave Victorian parents of children with literacy difficulties the opportunity to share their experiences. Thank you to those who shared their personal experiences. You are not alone.
Click here to view the Report: PDF
"The best way to advocate for a child with dyslexia is to be so well-trained and informed that no one can (or wants to) argue with you." ~ Dr. Kelli Sandman-HurleyNext Steps Screening Tool
The purpose of this online screening tool is to provide an informal indication of the likelihood that the individual being screened is demonstrating literacy or numeracy-related learning difficulties. It is designed to assist with determining whether the individual would benefit from targeted intervention and/or formal assessment, and what steps should be taken next to best support them. It is important to note that any assessment (including this online Next Steps Screening Tool) completed without the child or individual being directly assessed or having their academic skills formally measured will not provide enough information for a diagnosis to be made. However, this online tool can be very useful in promoting a better understanding of current difficulties and provide an indication of future support needs.
Auspeld information sheets
- AUSPELD Information Sheet 1 (Structured Synthetic Phonics: A Guide for Teachers and Parents)
- AUSPELD Information Sheet 2 (Examples of High Quality, Evidence-Based Phonics Programs and Resources)
- AUSPELD Information Sheet 3 (Developing Phonemic and Phonological Awareness Skills)
- AUSPELD Information Sheet 5 (Reading Remediation for Lower Primary Students)
- AUSPELD Information Sheet 6 (Reading Remediation Upper Primary _ Lower Secondary)
- AUSPELD Information Sheet 8 (Assisting Reading Development – A Guide)
- AUSPELD Information Sheet 9 (Spelling Remediation for Lower Primary Students)
- AUSPELD Information Sheet 15 (Written Expression Remediation for Primary Students)
- AUSPELD Information Sheet 28 (Accommodations for handwriting difficulties)
- AUSPELD Information Sheet 29 (Classroom Accommodations for Students with Learning Difficulties and Disabilities)
- AUSPELD Information Sheet 37 (Specific Learning Disorders Flow Chart)
- AUSPELD Information Sheet 38 (Identifying Dyslexia in the Early Years)
- AUSPELD Information Sheet 39 (Learning Disorders and the NCCD)
AUSPELD Bookshop
Understanding Learning Difficulties: A Guide for Parents
https://auspeld.org.au/product/understanding-learning-difficulties-a-practical-guide-for-parents-2022/
There is a new edition and can be bought from here:
https://auspeld.org.au/resources/
**Published with permission from the publisher, Australian Federations of SPELD Associations (AUSPELD).
DVS facts
- Dyslexia Victoria Support Fact Sheet (Dyslexia and anti-discrimination law in schools by Margaret Ryan)
A phonics e-petition: unlocking the literacy door in Victorian schools
A feature article by Debra Le Nepveu
24 February 2022
About the author
Debra Le Nepveu (she/her) is a lawyer and an emerging creative writer.
Her work has appeared in Spineless Wonders’ 2018 Time Anthology and Deakin University’s 2020 Verandah 35 Literary & Art Journal.
Debra wrote this article for assessment in the subject “Feature Writing” (ALJ728) towards a Master of Arts (Writing and Literature) (Deakin University). It achieved a High Distinction.
She has a strong personal interest in the topic of specific learning disabilities and their impact upon families. Her daughter, who illustrated this article, is dyslexic.
In 2018 Dyslexia Victoria Support was awarded the Victorian Premier’s Volunteer Champions Award for Teamwork.
Carolyn Merritt, Heidi Gregory, Sarah Asome
Described as the ‘heart and soul’ of Victoria’s Dyslexia Community, the DVS Administration Team work around the clock to give online support and advice to thousands of people on screening, assessments, assistive technologies, and targeted interventions. The team displays initiative, courage and open mindedness, and have developed essential resources, fostered local support groups, convened events and advocated for people with dyslexia.
Disclaimer: Please note that Dyslexia Victoria Support (DVS) Australia does not officially endorse, represent, sponsor, or have any legal connection to any of the resources listed. Many parents have found these resources to be very useful in their journey to learn more about dyslexia and how to better advocate for their children.