A second chance for success

Abstract

Students who experience ongoing failure in upper-primary and lower-secondary school face a myriad of difficulties in pursuing post-school options and contributing to society through employment and aware citizenship. Those who exhibit consistent weaknesses in basic skills, such as the recall of number facts, or who experience difficulty with reading and comprehension, are particularly vulnerable. These students are usually caught in a cycle of continued failure, as it is particularly difficult to bring about sustainable change within the usual classroom environments for students who, by Year 5, are persistently at or below national benchmarks. There is well-documented evidence in Australia of a substantial systemic decline in achievement for these vulnerable students in terms of reaching national benchmarks from Year 3 to Year 5 to Year 7 and on to Year 9. Data from national assessments (NAPLAN summary reports) underpin a compelling case for the need to develop instructional programs that improve the numeracy and literacy outcomes for Australian students performing in the lowest 30 per cent of the achievement spectrum. This cohort includes students performing around or below the national numeracy/literacy benchmarks. Many indigenous and geographically isolated students, as well as those in low-socioeconomic areas, are particularly in need of such a program. It was this notion that was the catalyst for the development of the QuickSmart program.