EDLA631 - Literacy Learning and Intervention

Year

Credit points

Campus offering

Prerequisites

Unit rationale, description and aim

Since effective literacy skills are essential for academic achievement, it is critical that teachers and allied professionals possess specialist knowledge and skills to identify language and literacy learning difficulties, adjust instruction, and implement effective literacy interventions.

In this unit within the Language and Literacy specialisation, students will have opportunities to develop advanced knowledge and skills in relation to literacy learning in primary school and to generate instructional solutions that account for the multidimensional causes of literacy underachievement and literacy-related learning disabilities. In analysing students’ literacy needs and designing appropriate adjustments, scaffolding strategies, and interventions, teachers will generate plans that are consistent with the overall aims of the specialisation, namely, to promote data-driven literacy intervention that meet the literacy needs of individual students and improve the overall literacy performance of all students.

The aim of this unit is to support students in developing the required specialist knowledge, understanding, and skills they need to address the literacy needs and differences of learners.

Learning outcomes

To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.

Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.

Explore the graduate capabilities.

On successful completion of this unit, students should be able to:

LO1 - Analyse a literacy text comprehension model that synthesises contemporary theories of literacy learning, compare it with other theories of text comprehension, and convey a deep understanding of the utility of the respective models. (GA5, GA9, GA10; APST 1.2 (HA &/or Lead))  

LO2 - Explain development, individual differences, underachievement, and learning difficulties/disabilities to generate individual student learning profiles (GA1, GA5, GA9; APST 1.2 (HA &/or Lead))  

LO3 - Evaluate protocols and procedures for: assessing literacy and for diagnosing underachievement in literacy; problem-solving reading comprehension difficulties; and communicating students’ literacy learning profiles to students, their parents, and teachers (GA1, GA5, GA8, GA9; APST 1.2, 5.4, 6.4, 7.1 (HA &/or Lead))  

LO4 - Describe a literacy intervention framework that derives from the literacy learning model, compare it with the frameworks that underpin other literacy interventions, and analyse and evaluate these interventions. (GA1, GA5, GA6, GA8, GA9, GA10; APST 1.5, 1.6, 2.3, 2.5, 3.1, 3.2, 3.6, 4.1, 4.5, 6.4, 7.1 (HA &/or Lead)).  

LO5 - Apply a problem-solving approach to implementing literacy intervention that includes using the developmental pathway for each aspect of the model to plan teaching and to map students’ literacy learning profiles into personalised differentiated interventions and to report these to students and their parents and teachers. (GA1, GA5, GA8, GA9, GA10; APST 1.2, 5.4, 6.4, 7.1 (HA &/or Lead)).  

LO6 - Use the literacy teaching framework to differentiate literacy teaching within a “response to intervention” paradigm (GA4, GA6, GA9, GA10; APST 1.2, 1.3, 1.5, 1.6, 2.5, 2.6, 3.2, 3.6, 4.3, 5.4, 6.4 (HA &/or Lead)).   

Graduate attributes

GA1 - demonstrate respect for the dignity of each individual and for human diversity 

GA4 - think critically and reflectively 

GA5 - demonstrate values, knowledge, skills and attitudes appropriate to the discipline and/or profession 

GA6 - solve problems in a variety of settings taking local and international perspectives into account

GA8 - locate, organise, analyse, synthesise and evaluate information 

GA9 - demonstrate effective communication in oral and written English language and visual media 

GA10 - utilise information and communication and other relevant technologies effectively.

AUSTRALIAN PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS FOR TEACHERS - HIGHLY ACCOMPLISHED/LEAD

On successful completion of this unit, students should have gained evidence towards the following standards:

Content

Topics will include: 

• How readers and writers build a mental model of a text and the endogenous (cognitive, metacognitive, verbal, identity, motivational) and exogenous (environmental-cultural, societal and teaching) factors that influence model-making. The factors are synthesised into an explanatory model of text comprehension. 
• Developmental and environmental-cultural influences on literacy acquisition processes.  
• Explaining the causes of reading underachievement in terms of these influences (factors and processes) and their implications for describing literacy learning profiles for diagnosis and intervention; 
• Research relating to effective literacy intervention, including earlier meta-analyses of literacy interventions as well as literature related to the Simple View of Reading, the National Reading Panel in the US, and the National Inquiry into the Teaching of Reading in Australia. 
• A literacy teaching framework that derives from this research and its implications for differentiating regular literacy pedagogy. 
• Teaching implications of the model including the three-phase comprehending process and pedagogy for each phase: word reading, phonological, phonemic, phonic and orthographic aspects; teaching comprehending of sentences, vocabulary, paragraphs and topics; teaching comprehension; teaching the metacognitive and self-efficacy aspects; teaching for identity and positive self-efficacy as a reader; teaching the cultural and social aspects of literacy transactions. In addition, procedures for evaluating the effectiveness of each aspect of the teaching will be considered. 
• Planning and implementing personalised literacy intervention programs. 
• Procedures for embedding the literacy intervention in the classroom and school. 

Learning and teaching strategy and rationale

This unit is offered in multi-mode and will be supported by a unit LEO (learning environment online) site. Engagement for learning is the key driver in the delivery of this curriculum. The unit will facilitate active participation in pedagogical approaches that demonstrate alignment of teaching, learning and assessment and incorporate: 

• Online digital resources, including reference readings, online assessment and teaching materials, analysis of scenarios of oral language use. These will include ‘flipped learning’ opportunities and ‘group learning’ through webinars.  
• Dialogic teaching and small group collaborative learning in group ‘face to face’ formats will be used to foster reflective practice following the personal analysis, evaluation and synthesis of relevant literature; 
• Videotapes of students’ use of oral language will be used to display developmental trends in each aspect, to develop screening and diagnostic skills and skills in planning interventions 
• Online forum and chat tools will be used as appropriate to build a community of learners; 
• Problem-based learning sessions will be used to develop assessment and differentiation of pedagogy skills and to analyse and apply learning to educational case studies for the purposes of assessment. 

This is a 20-credit point unit and has been designed to ensure that the time needed to complete the required volume of learning to the requisite standard is approximately 300 hours in total across the semester. To achieve a passing standard in this unit, students will find it helpful to engage in the full range of learning activities and assessments utilised in this unit, as described in the learning and teaching strategy and the assessment strategy. The learning and teaching and assessment strategies include a range of approaches to support your learning such as reading, reflection, discussion, webinars, podcasts, video, workshops, and assignments etc.  

Assessment strategy and rationale

In order to successfully complete this unit, postgraduate students need to complete and submit two graded assessment tasks. The assessment strategy used allows students to demonstrate their knowledge and skill related to literacy learning and intervention  

The total assessment will be equivalent to 11,000 words. In order to pass this unit, students are required to submit or participate in all assessment tasks. each worth 50% of the final grade for the unit. The first task is a critical analysis of an aspect of literacy learning; the second task applies a literacy intervention framework and reports on the application. 

Overview of assessments

Representative texts and references

Armstrong, D., & Squires, G. (2015). Key perspectives on dyslexia: An essential text for educators. London: Routledge

Clarke, P. J., Truelove, E., Hulme, C., & Snowling, M. J. (2013). Developing reading comprehension. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. 

Cockrum, W. A. (2013). Locating and correcting reading difficulties. Boston, MA: Pearson. 

Doherty Stahl, K. A., & McKenna, M. C. (2012). Reading assessment in an RTI framework. New York, NY: Guilford. 

Dunson, W. E. (2013). School success for kids with dyslexia and other reading difficulties. Waco, TX: Prufrock Press.  

Elliott, J. G., & Grigorenko, E. L. (2014). The dyslexia debate. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press. 

Ellis, A. W. (2014). Reading, writing and dyslexia: A cognitive analysis. Hoboken, NJ: Taylor & Francis. 

Farrell, M. (2013). The effective teacher's guide to dyslexia and other learning difficulties. Hoboken, NJ: Taylor & Francis. 

Gambrell, L.B., & Morrow, L.M. (2019). Best practices in literacy instruction (6th ed.). New York, NY: Guilford Press.

Kamhi, A. G., & Catts, H. W. (2014). Language and reading disabilities (3rd ed.). Harlow, UK: Pearson Education.

McKenna, M. C., & Stahl, K. A. D. (2015). Assessment for reading instruction (3rd ed.). New York: Guilford Press.  

Taylor, B.M., & Duke, N.K. (2014). Handbook of effective literacy instruction: Research-based practice (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Guilford Press

 Thomas, A., and Thomas, D. (2021). Teaching and Learning Primary English, Oxford University Press.