Using Online Literacy Programs to Support more Students
by Hannah MacLellan
The advantages of 1:1 specialist teaching for those students with learning difficulties is indisputable; we know that with structured, multi-sensory specialist teaching reading and spelling can be improved, and many students with hidden learning difficulties reach their potential in their schooling life because of that 1:1 intervention.
Specialist experience means the intervention is tailored to the individual and students get the valuable 1:1 attention that they may never have had. This can often be a pivotal point in a child’s life and be the difference between succeeding and slipping through the net.
But how many students who need intervention are not actually getting it? Is literacy support provision reaching the numbers?
It is estimated that 10-15% of the population in the US has dyslexia and that 6-10% of students in the US has a general learning disability. In a school of, say, 500 students, that could potentially mean there are up to 75 students who might need extra support.
Realistically, it is not possible to provide 1:1 specialist intervention to all those who need support. Budget limitations and capacity make this unfeasible. How many students have access to a specialist teacher? How many students can one specialist see in a week? Time, cost and capacity restraints means 1:1 tuition becomes a luxury for the few. Small specialist group work can be very effective, though sometimes we see the stronger students carrying the weaker ones, so it is potentially not as effective for every child as it should be.
So, the cost of specialist teaching is high, and the output of students reached is low. Specialist teaching tends to be channelled to those who are at the more severe end of the spectrum. For those who are not at the severe end of the spectrum but are nevertheless performing behind their age group in literacy, specialist 1:1 support may not be necessary – sometimes it is a “boost” that is needed.
This is where an online literacy intervention program can be hugely valuable – not as a replacement for 1:1 support, but as a tool to help reach the students who are being left behind, and to provide additional support to those who are already receiving 1:1 support. And the good news? It is affordable. This can be achieved on a comparatively much smaller budget, so, we get: low cost, high output.
Some literacy intervention programs are designed to be used by specialist teachers, but some have been adapted to be used by Teaching Assistants in schools or home educators at home. A good online intervention will be based on the methodology that we see in specialist teaching: multi-sensory, structured, cumulative, lots of revisiting and opportunity for self-checking and active learning. With online programs, students are usually encouraged to become independent learners and so too comes the potential to have a higher student to tutor ratio.
Online means students can work anywhere anytime, and this means they can progress more quickly. Going with a little and often approach, a 25 min session can be very effective.
Nothing can replace 1:1 specialist teaching; that’s not what we want to do. But we have a problem - we don’t have enough of these valuable specialist teachers to reach all the students who are falling behind. One way we can address this is with online programs that enable tutors to work with groups at a relatively low cost per head. Let’s keep that green bar growing!
Hannah worked as a Dyslexia & Literacy Specialist at Dyslexia Action for many years and now works with the Units of Sound development team. She has considerable experience working with and providing advice, training and support to schools, colleges, community centers and parents. Units of Sound has a home version, Literacy that fits, which is designed to get parents/guardians supporting their child at home without all the training that is involved with most intervention tools used in schools.
by Hannah MacLellan
The advantages of 1:1 specialist teaching for those students with learning difficulties is indisputable; we know that with structured, multi-sensory specialist teaching reading and spelling can be improved, and many students with hidden learning difficulties reach their potential in their schooling life because of that 1:1 intervention.
Specialist experience means the intervention is tailored to the individual and students get the valuable 1:1 attention that they may never have had. This can often be a pivotal point in a child’s life and be the difference between succeeding and slipping through the net.
But how many students who need intervention are not actually getting it? Is literacy support provision reaching the numbers?
It is estimated that 10-15% of the population in the US has dyslexia and that 6-10% of students in the US has a general learning disability. In a school of, say, 500 students, that could potentially mean there are up to 75 students who might need extra support.
Realistically, it is not possible to provide 1:1 specialist intervention to all those who need support. Budget limitations and capacity make this unfeasible. How many students have access to a specialist teacher? How many students can one specialist see in a week? Time, cost and capacity restraints means 1:1 tuition becomes a luxury for the few. Small specialist group work can be very effective, though sometimes we see the stronger students carrying the weaker ones, so it is potentially not as effective for every child as it should be.
So, the cost of specialist teaching is high, and the output of students reached is low. Specialist teaching tends to be channelled to those who are at the more severe end of the spectrum. For those who are not at the severe end of the spectrum but are nevertheless performing behind their age group in literacy, specialist 1:1 support may not be necessary – sometimes it is a “boost” that is needed.
This is where an online literacy intervention program can be hugely valuable – not as a replacement for 1:1 support, but as a tool to help reach the students who are being left behind, and to provide additional support to those who are already receiving 1:1 support. And the good news? It is affordable. This can be achieved on a comparatively much smaller budget, so, we get: low cost, high output.
Some literacy intervention programs are designed to be used by specialist teachers, but some have been adapted to be used by Teaching Assistants in schools or home educators at home. A good online intervention will be based on the methodology that we see in specialist teaching: multi-sensory, structured, cumulative, lots of revisiting and opportunity for self-checking and active learning. With online programs, students are usually encouraged to become independent learners and so too comes the potential to have a higher student to tutor ratio.
Online means students can work anywhere anytime, and this means they can progress more quickly. Going with a little and often approach, a 25 min session can be very effective.
Nothing can replace 1:1 specialist teaching; that’s not what we want to do. But we have a problem - we don’t have enough of these valuable specialist teachers to reach all the students who are falling behind. One way we can address this is with online programs that enable tutors to work with groups at a relatively low cost per head. Let’s keep that green bar growing!
Hannah worked as a Dyslexia & Literacy Specialist at Dyslexia Action for many years and now works with the Units of Sound development team. She has considerable experience working with and providing advice, training and support to schools, colleges, community centers and parents. Units of Sound has a home version, Literacy that fits, which is designed to get parents/guardians supporting their child at home without all the training that is involved with most intervention tools used in schools.
