Dyslexia : Did you know this?

September 1, 2017 John Hicks

Not too long ago I wrote a blog article which shared some statistics about dyslexia that were being circulated by the Driver Youth Trust.

I thought that it would be useful to you as a parent to see this information as it will give you valuable insights into what is known about dyslexia and how it is supported.

Key Findings From The Drivers Youth Trust About Teacher Training For Dyslexia.

Teachers are not currently getting the training they need to support children who struggle to read and write:

More than a third of teacher training providers (35%) spent less than a day of their courses training teachers how to support children who struggle with literacy.
Almost a quarter (23%) did not specifically assess their trainees’ ability to teach children who struggle with literacy.
Despite this, 8 out of 10 providers (84%) were satisfied with their training on literacy.

Teachers got even less training in how to identify and support children who are dyslexic:

7 out of 10 providers (69%) spent less than a day training students how to support children with dyslexia.
Nearly a third of providers spent less than half a day teaching teachers about dyslexia.
Only 18% of providers offered an optional extra module, placement or project on dyslexia or on special educational needs (including dyslexia).
Despite this 7 out of 10 (65%) were satisfied with their training on dyslexia.

Recommendations:

Provide mandatory training for all classroom teachers on special educational needs, including dyslexia.
Develop guidance and new training resources on teaching children who struggle to read and write and those with dyslexia, to accompany the new Teachers’ Standards.
Ofsted to investigate how schools support children who struggle to read and write, and whether teachers are getting the right training.
The new laws on special educational needs should make sure schools identify and support children with dyslexia, with proper assessment and well trained specialist teachers.
The Government should develop a dyslexia and literacy strategy to ensure that children who struggle to read and write get the right support. This should recommend a dyslexia specialist teacher for every school

The Studying With Dyslexia Blog

Dyslexia : Did you know this?

Key Findings From The Drivers Youth Trust About Teacher Training For Dyslexia.

More than a third of teacher training providers (35%) spent less than a day of their courses training teachers how to support children who struggle with literacy.

Almost a quarter (23%) did not specifically assess their trainees’ ability to teach children who struggle with literacy.

Despite this, 8 out of 10 providers (84%) were satisfied with their training on literacy.

7 out of 10 providers (69%) spent less than a day training students how to support children with dyslexia.

Nearly a third of providers spent less than half a day teaching teachers about dyslexia.

Only 18% of providers offered an optional extra module, placement or project on dyslexia or on special educational needs (including dyslexia).

Despite this 7 out of 10 (65%) were satisfied with their training on dyslexia.

Recommendations:

Provide mandatory training for all classroom teachers on special educational needs, including dyslexia.

Develop guidance and new training resources on teaching children who struggle to read and write and those with dyslexia, to accompany the new Teachers’ Standards.

Ofsted to investigate how schools support children who struggle to read and write, and whether teachers are getting the right training.

The new laws on special educational needs should make sure schools identify and support children with dyslexia, with proper assessment and well trained specialist teachers.

The Government should develop a dyslexia and literacy strategy to ensure that children who struggle to read and write get the right support. This should recommend a dyslexia specialist teacher for every school

Parenting Dyslexia With John Hicks