LDA is an association of teachers and other professionals dedicated to assisting students with learning difficulties through effective teaching practices based on scientific research.
Announcements
Publications Announcement:
LDA Australian Journal of Learning Difficulties
Dr Tanya Serry, senior lecturer at La Trobe University, is the new Editor of LDA’s Journal of Learning Difficulties. Tanya’s research and teaching focuses on the literacy, language and learning difficulties among students from the early years through to tertiary students, and her expertise in the area of learning difficulties is well aligned with the vision of LDA and the Journal. Members of LDA have free access to previous, current and upcoming issues and articles of the Journal, as well as receiving a print copy of each issue in the mail.
Click here to learn more about Tanya Serry.
September 2018 – LDA National Tour with Dr Kate Nation
Reading and Comprehension Difficulties: research-practice links and applications for the classroom
LDA is honoured to present Kate Nation - Professor in Experimental Psychology and Fellow of St. John’s College, Oxford, Director of ReadOxford, Partner Investigator ARC Centre for Excellence, and LDA’s 2018 Eminent Researcher Award winner - in Melbourne (21 September), Adelaide (24 September), and in Sydney. (28 September). Kate will consider the complexity of reading by constructing meaning from print, highlighting why children may struggle to understand what they read, and discuss evidence-based interventions for children with poor reading comprehension, considering implications for the classroom.
Click here for further information.
October in Perth/November in Sydney 2018 – LDA presents:
Dr Charlotte Andrist
Spelling: Beyond the Alphabetic Principle
Charlotte Andrist – with degrees in Special Education, School Psychology, and PhD in Cognitive Psychology, began teaching struggling young children struggling with early literacy, math and language skills, is now retired from Notre Dame College of Ohio, where she began and directed the master’s Reading and Reading Endorsement programs. Charlotte will present a systematic explicit evidence-based hands-on session focusing on teaching spelling as a process, based on the structure of the English language including phonology, syllabication and morphology.
Click here for further information.
LDA and AJLD Awards
New LDA Award 2018:
Rosemary Carter Award
This year LDA will confer the first annual Rosemary Carter Award, in recognition of Rosemary Carter’s enormous contribution to LDA, to the education of young struggling students, and to the wise and valuable support she provided to parents and colleagues over many decades. LDA Members are invited to nominate a current LDA Consultant Member for this Award. Nominations close soon for 2018,
Click here for full details.
The LDA and AJLD Awards are designed to recognise outstanding work in the field of learning difficulties.
Award Recipients are presented at the LDA Annual General Meeting thereafter. Winners’ travel and accommodation expenses to attend the ceremony will be met by LDA. Submissions can be forwarded by email to ldaquery@bigpond.net.au with the name of the award nomination category in the subject line. For more information about the awards, how to apply, and previous winners, visit https://www.ldaustralia.org/ldaajld-awards.html
LDA and AJLD Awards for 2017
LDA and AJLD Awards were announced at the LDA AGM held on Saturday 21 October 2017 at the Treacy Centre.
LDA Eminent Researcher Award to Professor Anne Castles
Mona Tobias Award to Professor Pamela Snow
LDA Bruce Wicking Award to Mr Chris Eveans
Click here to read about Current and Previous LDA Award Winners
Click here to read about Current and Previous AJLD Award Winners
Click here for general information about the LDA and AJLD Awards
Other upcoming LDA Events
Click here for Conference & Seminar information.
Current Issues
Ending the Reading Wars: Reading Acquistion From Novice to Expert
Continuing public interest questioning how children learn to read and a
review of reading science research, and a look at how the research makes its
way into classrooms is the topic of the recently published and acclaimed
article written by LDA President Anne Castles, Kathleen Rastle and Kate
Nation; 'Ending the Reading Wars: Reading Acquisition From Novice to
Expert'. There remains a wide gap between the state of research knowledge
about learning to read and the state of public understanding, which has
resulted in decades of the “reading wars”. The aim of this article is to
fill this gap.
This is a must read for all. Free download here. Ending the Reading Wars: Reading Acquistion from Novice to Expert
Professor Maggie Snowling, President of St John's College Oxford and Professor of Psychology at the University of Oxford, recently visited Australia and spoke at the Australian National University on ‘Dyslexia, Language and Learning to Read’ on 25th July, 2017, to a sold out crowd.
Additional information on Professor Snowling’s esteemed career and research, and details of her Australian ANU presentation can be viewed here.
LDA is very grateful to Professor Snowling, and the ANU, for granting permission to provide an audio of this event for LDA.
National Year 1 Phonics Screen
The Federal Education Minister, Senator Simon Birmingham, announced a "Phonics Screen" check for Year 1 students. Research supports evidence-based reading instruction and specifically, the explicit teaching of phonics in the early years of school.
LDA strongly supports this federal initiative as an opportunity for early identification and lifting the performance of struggling beginner readers. Click here to see DDOLL network letter of endorsement.
Click here to read more about the Phonics Screen and phonics research resources.
Effective Teaching
The Centre for Independent Studies published Read About It: Scientific Evidence for Effective Teaching of Reading by Kerry Hempenstall, edited by Jennifer Buckingham, focusing on the large and rigorous body of scientific evidence from the 1960’s to 2015, identifying the key elements of high quality reading instruction and demonstrating that explicit instruction methods are the most effective way of teaching reading, especially for novice readers and children at-risk of reading failure. Available at: https://www.cis.org.au/publications/research-reports/read-about-it-scientific-evidence-for-effective-teaching-of-reading
FIVE from FIVE - The Centre for Independent Studies (CIS), FIVE from FIVE project aims to improve literacy levels by bridging the gap between evidence-based research on reading instruction, policy, and practice. LDA has joined the FIVE from FIVE Alliance to help every child receive the most effective reading instruction from their first day at school.
The FIVE from FIVE website is http://www.fivefromfive.org.au/ – is a resource for teachers, principals, parents and policy makers with up-to-date credible evidence-based information.
Is Reading Recovery failing the New Zealand Literacy Strategy - what is the evidence?
Click here for the recently published NSW evaluation of Reading Recovery and relevant Reading Recovery resources.
Click here for an excellent 08/02/16 interview on Radio National with Professor James Chapman: "Is Reading Recovery Working?"
To hear LDA’s President Dr Lorraine Hammond’s 15/02/16 interview on Radio National in relation to teaching reading systematically and effectively, Click here
The National Curriculum
Click here to see LDA's submission or click here to see the Review.
Summer 2017 issue of LDA Bulletin now FREE to download!
Take advantage of LDA’s special offer to non-members of LDA to download the Summer 2017 issue of the LDA Bulletin. Click here to download.
Members of LDA can access back issues of the Bulletin from the Members Only section of this website. To join LDA, click here.
Recent Publications
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Volume 50, No 1, Autumn 2018 |
Volume 21, No 1, May 2016 |
Subscribe to our monthly LDA e-News |
Current & past issues  |
Past issues |
NOTE: LDA Members can access complete back issues of these publications and pre-publication Journal articles when logged into the LDA Members Only section, via the latest articles item in the Taylor & Francis main menu.
Professional Learning
Professional Learning Courses
September 2018 – LDA National Tour with Dr Kate Nation
Reading and Comprehension Difficulties:research-practice links and applications for the classroom
LDA is delighted to present Dr Kate Nation, LDA’s 2018 Eminent Researcher winner, in Melbourne, Adelaide, and in Sydney. Kate Nation is Professor in Experimental Psychology and Fellow of St. John’s College, Oxford, Director of ReadOxford, and Partner Investigator, Australian Research Council Centre for Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders. Kate’s research studies language processing, especially reading and its development – typically how children learn to read, write and comprehend text, the relationship between spoken language and written language, and why some children with language impairment, autism and dyslexia struggle and what can be done to help them.
Click here to learn more about Kate and ReadOxford, their research, and what is For Schools, For Parents and For Kids. ReadOxford at: http://readoxford.org/
For full details and registration for Kate’s LDA half-day presentations:
Click here for Melbourne – Friday 21 September 2018
Click here for Adelaide – Monday 24 September 2018
Click here for Sydney – Friday 28 September
Spelling: Beyond the Alphabetic Principle
Dr Charlotte Andrist
Perth 20 October 2018 / Sydney 5 November 2018
Charlotte will present a systematic explicit evidence-based hands-on session focusing on teaching spelling as a process, based on the structure of the English language. In this full day session participants will learn the procedures and spelling rules for:
- spelling regular 1-syllable words based on sound-symbol relationships, (phonology)
- spelling irregular words
- spelling multisyllabic words based on structural analysis
- adding suffixes, (morphological principles)
Perth / Saturday 20 October - click here for details and to register
Sydney / Monday 5 November – click here for details and to register
August 2017 - From the Lab to the Classroom: New Directions in Dyslexia Research
Professor Maryanne Wolf, internationally acclaimed reading researcher, Director of the Center for Reading and Language and Associate Professor Child Development at Tufts University presented some of the most transformative studies in neuroscience-based research on dyslexia in the past two years, highlighting the translation of findings into insights for the classroom.
Click here for further Maryanne Wolf biographical information, publications
Click here to read Maryanne Wolf’s 2013 A Literate Nation White Paper
March 2015 – LDA National Tour with Dr Louisa Moats
Dr Louisa Moats, LDA Eminent Researcher, has contributed widely to reading and spelling instruction knowledge, writing extensively on the importance of code-based literacy instruction and better teacher preparation.
Click here to read Lousia Moats article Systematic, not "balanced" instruction in the October 2014 LDA Bulletin.
Click here for Louisa Moats significant paper Teaching Reading Is Rocket Science and more Louisa Moats Resources.
Resources:
Book Shop - essential Explicit Teaching & Response to Intervention Numeracy & other resources
A Free Online Course, Supporting Children with Difficulties in Reading and Writing Click here for details.
A new online course in teaching systematic synthetic phonics & its integration with wider reading, spelling and writing.
Click here for details.
Post Graduate Course Information
MOTIf: An assessment resource for researchers and professionals