Executive Summary

The purpose of the Resource Teachers of Literacy Annual Report is to identify the nature of the support RT:Lit provided to students during the year and to report on student outcomes and progress while receiving RT:Lit support.

RT:Lit were asked to complete an overview form and an individual form for each student they worked with. The overview form provides a summary of all students on RT:Lit rolls in 2011 and the individual forms provide intervention details for each student.

From the overview forms, RT:Lit reported 3,777 students on their rolls in 2011. Individual forms were received for 3,760 of these students.

Key findings for 2011

Students who received support from RT:Lit in 2011

• A total of 3,777 students were on the RT:Lit roll in 2011 (compared with 3,995 in 2010). RT:Lit provided individual information for 3,760 of the 3,777 students (compared with 3,648 students in 2010).
• Consistent with data from previous years, half (53%) of all students were New Zealand European, just over one-third (35%) were Māori, 10% were Pasifika and 5% were Asian and other ethnicities. More boys (n=2,460) than girls (n=1,300) received RT:Lit support in 2011.
• Over half of students supported by RT:Lit in 2011 (56%, slightly higher than 52% in 2010) received direct support (sometimes in conjunction with indirect support), a period of intensive specialised teaching provided by the RT:Lit to individual or small groups of students. Around two-thirds of students (64%, slightly lower than 67% in 2010) received indirect support (sometimes in conjunction with direct support), where RT:Lit support classroom teachers in relation to particular students. Twenty-percent of students received both direct and indirect support.
• The majority of students on the RT:Lit roll received support for reading literacy (87%, similar to 88% in 2010). Almost all of these students (80% in total, slightly lower than 84% in 2010) received reading processing support with 66% receiving reading comprehension support (up from 57% in 2010). Almost half of students received written literacy assistance (45%, similar to 48% in 2010), while 6% of students received support for oral language (7% in 2010).
• Nearly one third of RT:Lit students had previously received Reading Recovery (32%, the same as in 2010) and of these students, just over a third had been successfully discontinued from Reading Recovery (35%, slightly lower than 38% in 2010).
• On average, directly supported students received 37 half-hour units of support over 16 weeks and indirectly supported students received 14 half-hour units over 15 weeks.

Student outcomes following RT:Lit support

• Two-thirds of all students (63%) supported by RT:Lit in 2011 were discharged by the end of the year because they had completed their period of support. A further 18% were discharged for another reason, 8% were referred on for further specialist assistance, 6% were expected to continue RT:Lit support in 2012 and 5% received an incomplete intervention either because they had moved out of the area serviced by the RT:Lit or were unable to continue receiving support for another reason.
• At the end of 2011 or when their support ended, 32% of students were reading texts at a level that matched their chronological age (slightly higher than 29% in 2010). A further 21% of students were reading texts at a level between 6 months to a year below their chronological age (slightly lower than 24% in 2010), 24% were reading texts at a level more than a year below the expectations of their chronological age and the same proportion (24%) were reading texts more than 24 months below their chronological age (48% combined, similar to 47% in 2010).
• Almost half of students (47%) discharged from RT:Lit support were reading texts that matched their chronological age.
• Students who were reading texts more than 24 months below their chronological age were more likely to referred on for specialist support (23%) or receive further RTLit support (10%) than other students.
• New Zealand European/Pākehā (50%) and Asian/other (49%) students who were discharged from RT:Lit support were more likely than Māori (41%) and Pasifika (44%) students to be reading texts which matched their chronological age when they were discharged.
• A comparison of reading assessment data at entry to and exit from RT:Lit support highlighted a general shift overall in students' literacy achievement over the course of RT:Lit support.