Daily Archives: May 9, 2008

Scheme helps bad readers catch up

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 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7390143.stm

The BBC reports that a study suggests that struggling young readers make lasting progress on a scheme that offers one-to-one support. Reading Recovery provides six-year-olds with tailored coaching from specially trained teachers for half an hour a day for between 12 and 20 weeks. A study of 500 pupils found those on the programme not only caught up with their age-group but were out-performing the national average within two years.

Problem readers on other catch-up schemes remained a year or more behind. The Institute of Education study assessed the progress of 500 of the poorest young readers at 42 schools in 10 inner London boroughs.

Exam papers go digital

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 http://www.tes.co.uk/2616170

TESS reports that an alternative to scribes and readers used by pupils requiring support in exams has been launched.

Scotland is the first part of the UK to offer digital papers to exam candidates, as an alternative to scribes and readers for pupils requiring support.

With the exam season fully underway this week, 209 pupils in 48 schools will use the adapted question papers to sit 509 examinations over the course of the next few weeks. This follows successful trials of adapted digital papers in 2006 and 2007 by the Scottish Qualifications Authority and CALL Scotland (the Communication, Access, Literacy and Learning team at Moray House School of Education).