M E D I A
RELEASE
Media and
Communications
Tel. +61 3 9925 3176
Fax +61 3 9662 2739
MELBOURNE
BRUNSWICK
BUNDOORA
FISHERMAN’S BEND
POINT COOK
HAMILTON
HO CHI MINH CITY
HANOI
Struggling readers need early intervention: study
An RMIT University study has found early intervention is vital for children who
struggle to read, with intensive coaching through a phonics-based reading
program able to significantly improve literacy skills.
The study, by Associate Professor Kerry Hempenstall, found many children who
struggle with the basics of reading were not given the help they needed by their
schools.
“There has been a tendency to believe that literacy progress is dependent upon
a child’s maturity, so teachers and parents will hold back from intervening in the
first years of schooling,” Associate Professor Hempenstall said.
“Unfortunately, slow initial progress is strongly predictive of future problems.
“This study has shown that basic skills can be improved with well-designed,
evidence-based reading programs – as recommended by the 2005 National
Inquiry into the Teaching of Literacy – but this kind of intensive coaching needs
to begin when the problems appear.
“Waiting for children to catch up ‘when they’re ready’ can result in the problems
becoming entrenched and resistant to intervention.”
The study, published in a recent edition of the Australasian Journal of Special
Education, studied the literacy skills of 206 struggling readers in Years 3 to 6
from Melbourne’s northern and western suburbs.
The 134 students who received a 65-lesson synthetic phonics program – known
as Corrective Reading –showed strong gains in their decoding, spelling and
phonological skills, compared with only modest changes in the group that
received their normal English program.
Associate Professor Hempenstall, an educational psychologist in the School of
Health Sciences, said it was clear the National Inquiry’s recommendations have
not significantly altered school practice, with phonics-based literacy systems
emphasised in only a few schools, comprehensive assessments of children’s
literacy skills still not in place and young teachers still receiving inadequate
training in evidence-based teaching.
“We have a long way to go to significantly improve the basic skills of struggling
students,” he said.
For interviews and copies of the paper: Associate Professor Kerry
Hempenstall, (03) 9925 7522 or 0418 357 041.
For general media enquiries: RMIT University Media and Communications,
Gosia Kaszubska, (03) 9925 3176 or 0417 510 735.
7 April, 2008
NEWS 
