Children’s reading improves when teachers focus on when children are ready to learn rather than finding out what they cannot do, according to research from the University of Melbourne and the Catholic Education Office.

The research analysed a range of standardised reading comprehension tests aimed at Grade 3 and 4 children to see whether the statistics from the tests could help teachers better target the reading development level of their students.

The data was analysed and mapped into eight reading development levels to show the progression of children’s reading skills from the basic matching of words and pictures to sophisticated understanding of narrative texts.

The supposition was that if the test score could point to one of the eight levels on the continuum of reading development the teachers would have a better idea of how a score translated into a set of reading skills for each child.

The teachers from the 19 schools who participated in the research found that having this information helped them make decisions about how to teach children at different stages of reading development in the same class by using various strategies and teaching in smaller groups rather than to the whole class.

The study was a collaboration between the Catholic Education Office and the University of Melbourne led by Professor Patrick Griffin, Director of the Assessment Research Centre in the University of Melbourne’s Graduate School of Education.

“Traditional approaches to learning have tended to focus on a fix-it approach, finding out what children don’t know. This model shows there are no children who can’t learn; we just need to identify when they are ready to learn,” Professor Griffin says.

“Children need to be able to decode what they read, make connections between what they read and what they already know and think deeply about what they have read. One major aspect of comprehension is having sufficient vocabulary and another is having the reasoning ability to draw conclusions about what has been read,” he says.

“The gains made by the children in the participating schools were extraordinary. When we re-analysed the data at the end of the year the gains in children’s reading at all of the schools using the eight reading levels, teaching in smaller groups and using the model of professional learning teams, were three times the state’s average gain in reading achievement. In one school it was five times the state average gain.”

The research broadened from an analysis of test data to new ways of teachers interacting with their students and the creation of professional learning teams, in the schools working together to investigate and extend their knowledge of strategies to assist students at different reading comprehension levels.

The encouraging research results have led to the development of a new award course in Melbourne’s Graduate School of Education, focusing on team leadership, the use of data for decision-making, and evidence-driven intervention programs.

“The course we have designed is the product of partnership between a community, a system of education, a set of schools and a University research centre – really knowledge transfer at work,” Professor Griffin says.

The model is now used in almost 60 Catholic schools and is about to be implemented in the State government Northern Metropolitan Region and in special schools as part of a current Linkage project, which could help bring the number to 200 schools. It is also being piloted in Western Australia with funding from Nickel West and will be the core of a Linkage grant application from the Australian Research Council (ARC)