An Australian Perspective on Researching and Supporting Low-Achieving Students in the Middle School Grades: The QUICKSMART Intervention

Abstract

This paper begins with a brief overview of current learning disability definitions and support structures in schools in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The paper will then explore the development of a research-based intervention, described under the generic name of QuickSmart, designed to improve basic academic skills in reading and numeracy for students' with learning disabilities. The intervention features the Computerized Academic Assessment System (CAAS) developed at the Laboratory for the Assessment and Training of Academic Skills (LATAS) at the University of Massachusetts. The intervention draws on theory and research in the fields of education and psychology, focusing on learning disabilities, modularity theory, developing automaticity, the role of working memory and a heirarchical view of students' learning of academic skills. Additionally, the structured approach of QuickSmart, with its appropriate use of technology and an emphasis placed on both practice and strategy instruction, is very much in tune with how many teachers consider students with learning difficulties can be usefully supported. The QuickSmart intervention has been developed and implemented over the last four years, with over 150 middle grades (Years 5-8) student participants, in 15 schools in rural New South Wales. The studies conducted to date have investigated the effects of improved automaticity of basic academic skills on higher order processes such as comprehension and problem solving. Results of the research, coming from a variety of sources, indicate that students' improvement in information retrieval times and accuracy in basic academic skills can lead to subsequent gains on tasks which target higher order thinking skills.