John McGlashan College is one of only 39 schools nationwide to receive funding for research into a reading intervention programme.
In 2014 the Ministry of Education announced it would invest ten million dollars over three years to fund teacher-led research aimed at improving learning outcomes for students.
Over 204 project proposals were received by the Ministry of Education and John McGlashan College was one of only 39 schools selected to receive funding for research. The focus of the research project is to trial a reading intervention programme that is based on neurological research. Neuroeducation is an emerging field that aims to bring cognitive science and education closer together.
Collaboration with external experts is another aspect of the project. We are very fortunate to be working with Associate Professor Claire Fletcher-Flinn who has over 25 years experience in the area of literacy acquisition and dyslexia. She was employed at the University of Otago College of Education from 2008 until her retirement at the end of 2014. She now resides in Central Otago, and is an honourary member of the staff at the Department of Psychology at the University of Auckland. She is on the Editorial Boards of four international academic journals, and is the editor of a forthcoming e-book, “Frontiers in the Acquisition of Literacy”.
Sixteen students in years 7-10 are involved in the project and they were offered the opportunity to participate based on specific selection criteria. Mrs Mary Guthrie and Ms Rebecca Rapson are the two reading teachers involved in implementing the intervention and Mrs Sue Porter is the project leader. The study will run over terms 3 and 4, 2015, and any findings will be used to inform future teaching practices with regard to providing reading intervention programmes in secondary schools. The final project findings will be submitted to the Ministry of Education in January 2016.
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