Identifying effective language and literacy screening and intervention practices for at-risk students

July 2023

Catholic Education Canberra Goulburn (CECG) Senior Officer, Teaching and Learning Literacy Jessica Colleu Terradas has published her report ‘To identify effective language and literacy screening and intervention practices for at-risk students’, through the Churchill Fellowship.

Developing the research paper involved observing global best practice in literacy instruction, including attending the Reading League Annual conference in Syracuse (New York) and the International Dyslexia Association Annual Conference in San Antonio (Texas).

The Churchill Fellowship enabled Jessica to explore language and literacy screening procedures and identify effective instructional practices. Her aim is to continue to promote effective classroom instruction, improve early identification of children with reading difficulties, and to provide advice about effective targeted intervention to help all readers reach their full potential.

The report referenced CECG’s Catalyst Program and how our teachers and Principals have reported students who experience explicit teaching practices achieve greater learning gains.
Jessica decided to apply for a Churchill Fellowship in the hope it would help her lead the change she wants to see – where no child leaves school unable to read. Her aim is to disrupt the trajectory of at-risk adolescents ending in the juvenile justice system and to substantially reduce the number of students entering secondary school with low literacy.

Jessica’s goal with the Fellowship was to research and identify effective language and literacy screening and classroom reading intervention practices from schools around the world, for at-risk students so that these can be disseminated to teachers in primary and secondary schools and those in teacher training.

Finally, Jessica hopes that her report and findings will be used to make recommendations with the potential to shape the future of schooling in Australia, leading to more equitable outcomes for all.

Read the research report

Jessica Colleu Terradas. Photo credit the Churchill Fellows Association of WA