It was very encouraging to see that the Analysis and Policy Observatory named our evidence review report as Top for the week. This means that it was downloaded by many people. I am delighted about this as the findings of the review offer the best chance that I have encountered in a long time to change how support is offered by schools, and to make it far more equitable for ALL students.
https://www.aare.edu.au/blog/?p=16879
This article by we, the authors of the evidence review, cuts through some of the other media discourse (that you may have seen and/or heard last week when the report was released - see links below) to highlight the most important implications of the findings for your child and, and indeed all Australian students.
The Drum: Tuesday 16/5/2023 : ABC iview (View from 18:57)
The Financial Review:
6PR Perth:
Why student illiteracy is on the rise - 6PR Afternoons with Julie-anne Sprague - Omny.fm
Dr Kestel hosts Dr Kate De Bruin to present an introduction to multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS). A major finding from the recent evidence review conducted by Kate, Eugenie and a team of researchers from Monash University (report released 15 May 2023 - see link below) showed MTSS to be the most effective framework through which schools can support students significantly behind in literacy and numeracy.
ACES (Inc.) has grown dramatically over the last 5 years, increasing in both student numbers, tutor numbers and complexity of tuition required to cater for many different individual learning needs. We are constantly looking for ways to improve our delivery of service, and as such, in 2020 we are formalising a new Case Management structure within the organisation which we believe will not only enhance the delivery of an exceptional service to students, but also provide a solid foundation for the future growth of our unique organisation.
As you may be aware, at ACES (Inc.) there is a lot of work that occurs behind the scenes to manage your child's specialist tuition program. This includes senior staff/ peer reviews; monitoring student progress using internal and external, formative and summative assessment data; ongoing professional development and upskilling of tutors; and, liaison with key stakeholders. From 2020, formal structuring of this work will occur by assigning each student to a case manager. The case manager will be a senior, experienced staff member.
The case management model reflects the exceptional characteristics of our students, their range of learning needs and the fact that typically, they do not respond to conventional instruction. To maximise the effectiveness of specialist tuition, our students often require expertise beyond the skills and experience of a single tutor. The ACES (Inc.) collaborative model ensures that each student's evidence-based tuition is individualised to unprecedented levels. Incorporating the latest research findings into practice for individual students requires close liaison between tutors and experienced researchers and it is this practice that we will extend in 2020 to ensure that every student has the benefit of the wealth of knowledge and expertise of our staff.
Dr Eugenie Kestel offers Professional Development workshops for schools in Perth or rural WA. Workshops can be tailored for either half or full day sessions to suit the requirements of an individual school.
These workshops cover evidence-based intervention strategies for students with problems learning mathematics. This includes catering for students with learning disorders with specific impairments in mathematics. Catering effectively for theses students requires a highly specialised skill set and is an emerging field internationally.
Dr Kestel has published articles in international journals and conference proceedings. See links below
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/ldrp.12164
https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-3-319-12688-3_29
