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    What assistance is needed? : assessment for literacy learning difficulties in NZ schools : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Educational Psychology at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2017) Neville, Angela
    At the present time, contemporary information regarding effective assessment and remediation practices for children with literacy learning difficulties in New Zealand/Aotearoa schools is scarce. The aim of the present study was to fill that gap in our understanding by carrying out a survey of current practices and comparing these with the research literature on best practice in assessment and remediation. To address the research questions, an online survey was developed and emailed to all schools in New Zealand/Aotearoa. There were 208 responses from a wide range of schools across the country and from a number of specialist teachers and school leaders. In addition to the online survey, interviews were carried out with 13 of the respondents, representing both teachers and specialist teachers. The results indicated a wide diversity of assessment and remediation practices in schools for students with literacy learning difficulties. A possible explanation for this is that assessment and remediation methods are often tied to theoretical views of the literacy process. At the current time in New Zealand/Aotearoa there are varied theoretical perspectives that seem to account for that diversity, in particular, the difference between whole language and phonological theories and their implications for assessment and remediation. The results from this study indicated that teachers and specialists were focusing mainly on proximal factors in assessment and were teaching to those factors. They paid less attention to the assessment of distal factors which is more of a focus among psychologists. This study provides the basis for further discussion into how best to identify and remediate students with literacy learning difficulties in New Zealand/Aotearoa.
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    Severe learning disabilities : an investigation into the incidence and treatment of children failing to reach their reading potential : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts at Massey University
    (Massey University, 1981) Smith, Bryce R
    During 1976 teachers in Taranaki, as in other parts of New Zealand, were expressing concern for children who appeared to make scant progress in language skills despite the best endeavours of teacher and pupil. Discussions with psychologists and education department officers resulted, in a research programme being structured to survey such a group. In view of the then current interest in visual and auditory perception deficiencies which were believed to contribute to learning difficulties, investigations were to be made of several strategies. It was planned to institute proceedings which would not only remedy deficiencies but could also become the basis for preventive action with similar pupils at an earlier age. At that time teachers were available to allow staffing of the project and so two schools were selected for field trials. Teacher nominations of candidates were tested and groups of children isolated who would benefit from the programme. Staff training commenced to build up a set of practices which would subsequently be modified as experience was gained. Teachers were also helped to devise monitoring behaviours to ensure adequate and comparable data collection strategies were instituted. During the investigation, changes in approach were made as programmes developed and from new insights resulting from concurrent reviews of the literature which became available. Two major shifts occurred, the second resulting in the abandonment of some major precepts concerning remedial programming. Investigations are still proceeding related to the early identification and preventive aspect. THE PROPOSAL It is now time to go back to the beginning. At that stage the writer held certain beliefs on causation and remediation of reading disabilities which became the basis for examining the hypotheses: • That learning disabled children present a number of neuro-sensory deficits which led to their disability. • That remedial programmes which build up these areas and reading programmes which are tailored to avoid use of those deficits will result in improved performance.
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    Phonological processing and the Reading Recovery Programme : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Education at Massey University
    (Massey University, 1991) Iversen, Alexandra Josephine
    This study had three aims. First to determine whether those children entering the Reading Recovery programme were deficient in phonological processing ability. Secondly, to see whether the Reading Recovery Programme provided for the adequate development of phonological processing strategies, and thirdly, to ascertain whether a Reading Recovery programme, modified to include systematic training in phonological processing strategies, would be more effective. Sixty four First grade children identified as being the lowest scorers on the Diagnostic Survey (Clay), and the Dolch Word Test, were given either a standard Reading Recovery programme or a Reading Recovery programme modified to include systematic training in phonological processing strategies. Each child was matched on the basis of his/her scores on letter identification and dictation with a child frorn the other group, and with a child for whom no Reading Recovery was available, but who was receiving a standard intervention programme. Three tests measuring phonological processing ability were also administered pre and post-treatment, and at the end of the year. At the end of each child's programme an average child from the same classroom was also tested. The results supported the evidence that children experiencing difficulty in reading may be particularly deficient in phonological processing strategies. The results also confirmed the evidence that the Reading Recovery programme is very effective in bringing nearly all of the lowest scoring children up to average levels of performance in reading and writing in a matter of weeks. Furthermore, those children receiving the modified Reading Recovery programme reached the criteria for discontinuation (that is, they had acquired a set of strategies that would enable them to continue to learn to read as they read increasingly more difficult material), in significantly fewer lessons. Thus it would appear, for children experiencing difficulty in reading, the teaching of phonological processing strategies that make explicit the relationship not only between sounds and letters but also letters and sounds, increases the rate of learning. The type of educational setting that this teaching should take place in is discussed, as are the implications of such learning in relation to the child's growing control over the reading process.
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    The effects of rime-based orthographic analogy training on the word recognition skills of children with reading disability : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Education at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 1998) Greaney, Keith Thomas
    Phonological processing abilities among a group of older disabled readers were investigated in the first of two experimental studies. A second study was undertaken to determine the extent to which a group of disabled older readers could be trained to use rime spelling unit knowledge to make orthographic analogies when decoding unfamiliar words. The purpose of the first study was to assess (using a reading age match design) specific phonological processing abilities among a group of disabled readers. The disabled readers' performances on the tasks were compared to the performances of a group of younger normally developing readers who were reading at the same level as the disabled readers. The rime analogy training study was designed to encourage disabled readers to capitalize on their limited but sufficient phonological knowledge to assist them to make greater use of rime spelling units as a basis for making orthographic analogies when decoding unfamiliar words. In the rime analogy training study 57 disabled readers were assigned to either one of two training groups or to a third standard non-intervention (control) group. All of the disabled readers were enrolled on Resource Teacher of Reading (RTR) programmes. Thirty-six of these RTR children received one of two specifically designed 5-minute decoding interventions on a daily basis for 11 weeks. The remaining 21 disabled readers received only their standard RTR lessons. The Neale Analysis of Reading Ability Accuracy Subtest (1981), the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (1981), the Burn Word Test (1981) and five tests of phonological processing ability were administered to all 114 children (i.e., 57 disabled readers and 57 younger normal readers) at the beginning of the reading age match study. The 57 disabled readers were also posttested on all the measures (except the PPVT) at the conclusion of the training study. Follow-up tests one year after the completion of the training study were also administered to 52 of the disabled readers and to a randomly selected group of 20 of the younger normally developing readers. The results from the reading age match study confirmed findings from earlier studies indicating that disabled older readers' poor reading abilities are more likely to be caused by phonological processing deficits rather than by a general developmental delay in their word processing abilities. The results from the rime analogy training study indicated that disabled readers can be trained to focus on specific rime spelling units and to use this knowledge to assist them to decode a large proportion of unfamiliar words encountered during context reading. Results from the one year follow-up study further indicated that the positive gains made during the training intervention study were maintained. The strategies taught in the training programme were also shown to generalize to uninstructed reading materials.