UC research predicts children’s first year reading success
UC research accurately predicts children’s school
first year reading success
September 16,
2012
Latest research at the University of
Canterbury (UC) College of Education has found that a simple
computer test at school entry can accurately predict
children’s end of first year reading success with 92
percent accuracy.
At least 15 percent of the
population have some reading difficulties and it’s
estimated that five percent of New Zealand children suffer
from dyslexia, UC Pro Vice-Chancellor Gail Gillon said
today.
``Significant scientific advancements in
understanding dyslexia have been made in recent years. But
have these advancements led to the possibility of preventing
persistent reading and spelling difficulties that
characterise dyslexia?
``A first step towards the
prevention of this language disorder is to understand which
children are at risk. It’s significant that our college
research has unearthed this way to predict a child’s end
of first year reading success with 92 percent accuracy. A
first step towards the prevention of this language disorder
is to understand which children are at
risk.’’
Professor Gillon will talk about
dyslexia and learning at UC’s What if Wednesday public
lecture on campus this week.
Despite strong
investment in raising literacy achievement for all
children inequalities in literacy outcomes continue to
exist among some of the world’s most advanced economies,
she said.
Ensuring that children become proficient
readers in their own classrooms was a critical issue in
reading education. International prevalence statistics
suggested that up to one in three children struggle with the
basic reading and writing skills and that large inequalities
existed between good and poor readers in developed
nations.
New Zealand has a strong reputation for
attaining high levels of literacy achievement and is ranked
third among 34 OECD countries in performance. However, in
New Zealand there is a large gap between the ability of good
and poor readers. It’s important, therefore that
educators scrutinise class programmes that may contribute
towards successful reading outcomes for all children,
particularly those that were currently under-achieving in
literacy, Professor Gillon said.
Of concern is the
development of literacy abilities in young children with
spoken language impairment. These children were four to
five times more likely to struggle with reading acquisition
due to deficits in underlying skills that support written
language development such as phonological awareness and
vocabulary development.
``Despite new initiatives
over the last decade to improve reading standards, the gap
between high risk populations and good readers does not
appear to be closing. It is critical that educators and
researchers investigate how to efficiently and effectively
integrate key predictors of literacy success into the
classroom to improve reading equality,’’ Professor
Gillon said.
University of Canterbury - which
currently has 13,000 students, 600 courses and is the third
biggest employer in Christchurch - is continuing research in
this literacy area.
ENDS