Contributions from: Alec Webster - University of Bristol, UK
Abstract
There is pressure on schools in the UK to prevent learning failure. The special needs Code of Practice (DFE, 1994) strongly emphasizes the need for early identification and intervention. Against this background of pressure, this study focuses on teachers' predictions of early literacy development and subsequent intervention in a sample of eight primary schools drawn from two Local Education Authorities. A strategy termed "representativeness" was in evidence in the Reception teachers' evaluations of children's literacy potential, and it was found that the teachers were able to predict baseline and outcome literacy levels with some accuracy. The study examined support arrangements made during the Reception year for LDP children (literacy difficulties predicted). On the measure used (entries in home/school reading diaries) low expectation children received less support. It also emerged that in the main the teachers were not in agreement about the appropriateness of early intervention, and that in general there was a lack of planned, systematic intervention for the LDP cohort. Nevertheless there were individual teacher differences in the levels of support offered and in the value accorded to early intervention. Implications for schools are outlined and it is proposed that more attention should be paid to teachers' intuitive judgements about children's potential for literacy development when intervention approaches are under consideration.
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