Literacy and Numeracy Intervention (EDUC90423)

This subject introduces teacher candidates to forms of literacy and numeracy intervention designed to meet the learning needs of Year 7 and 8 students who experience difficulties. Teacher candidates will work in schools analysing school students’ needs, and studying teaching interventions and their effectiveness. Topics include: policy imperatives that support literacy and numeracy intervention; research data on the factors that impact on school students’ learning; screening tests and assessment data to identify school students’ needs; types of intervention, structures and programs for intervention in schools and an evaluation of these. The literacy component of the subject will address literacy development in the lower secondary school. It will introduce teacher candidates to literacy intervention programs and examine the features of language and literacy targeted in these interventions. Teacher candidates will institute designated aspects of one of these programs in their schools and collect data on the intervention’s impact. The numeracy component of the subject will cover assessment and teaching of mathematical topics that are foundations for secondary schooling. These include place value, decimals, fractions, mental computation, number sense, and number operations. Teacher candidates will examine key progression points, common misconceptions, how to assess school students’ learning needs, and appropriate teaching strategies and resources.