INTERVENTION: Ensure all students receive high quality literacy instruction and that students who require intervention have equity of access to, and participation in, appropriate support services in a timely manner
Reform 6
Every school should deliver evidence-based, high-quality literacy instruction, with additional early interventions for students who need additional support.
When children struggle to keep up with classroom learning, it can create a negative cycle where they lack understanding, become frustrated and disengage from learning, which can hinder future learning opportunities.
If teachers do not intervene quickly to help these students, even small learning gaps can grow and have devastating consequences as academic demands increase.
To ensure timely support for struggling students, we call for implementation of a systematic intervention model.
This model operates through three tiers of teaching support, increasing in intensity based on the needs of each student.
TIER 3
TIER 2
TIER 1
High-quality initial instruction for all students
→TIER 1
Targeted additional support, typically in small groups, for students identified through assessment as falling behind (approximately 20-25% of students)
→TIER 2
→TIER 3
Intensive one-on-one support for students who do not respond sufficiently to Tier 2 interventions or who have identified learning difficulties (approximately 5% of students)
Small group and one-on-one interventions are ideally additional to the high-quality instruction all students in the class should receive, rather than a substitution for whole class instruction.
Every state and territory gathers data through NAPLAN and various assessments to pinpoint students who could benefit from interventions.
But this data is not yet being leveraged to specifically target those who most need assistance.
This needs to change – so students get support exactly when they need it as outlined in the Primary Reading Pledge.
The National School Reform Agreement should include a commitment to the provision of intensive tuition support to help all students who are falling below the NAPLAN proficiency benchmarks.
Wrap-around services should be provided to at-risk and vulnerable students through easy access to allied health professionals (e.g. psychologists, speech pathologists, occupational therapists).