children-with-persistent-literacy-difficulties

The most effective schools understand the importance of high expectations and the use of accurate data. Success with some pupils with the most severe problems is elusive. There is a small group of pupils who show a poor response to well-founded literacy interventions and need prolonged support.

Factors that can place pupils at risk of not responding to specialist interventions include:

• Having the lowest levels of phonological skill at the start of the intervention.
• Being rated low on measures of attention and behaviour.
• Adverse socio-economic circumstances.

(Rose 2009)

Pupils with persistent difficulties tend to have long- standing word reading problems and many in this group may be described as having dyslexic difficulties. Pupils with the most severe problems ‘resist’ intervention, fail to make satisfactory progress in literacy and fall further behind their peers. For some members of this group the social and emotional aspects of learning can become a further problem.