The shift to inclusive education within Australia has resulted in increasing numbers of students with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) being placed in mainstream educational settings. This move has created new demands on teachers who are not necessarily trained to meet the challenge. Therefore, the present study aimed to develop an understanding of how 12 Western Australian primary school (K–7) teachers adapted to the challenge of having a student with ASD in their mainstream classroom. Using an interpretivist framework, data from semistructured interviews revealed that teachers perceived a need to first recognise and accept the challenges associated with having a student with ASD in their mainstream classroom before they could move to accessing avenues of support. The implications of this finding are discussed.

The focus of this paper is on the assessment of the two main processes that children must acquire at the single word reading level: word recognition (lexical) and decoding (nonlexical) skills. Guided by the framework of the dual route model, this study aimed to (1) investigate the impact of item characteristics on test performance, and (2) determine to what extent widely used reading measures vary in their detection of lexical and nonlexical reading difficulties. Thirty children with reading difficulties were administered selected reading subtests from the Woodcock-Johnson III, the Wechsler Individual Achievement Test – Second Edition, the Castles and Coltheart Reading Test 2 (CC2), as well as a measure of nonverbal IQ. Both within-subjects analyses and descriptive data are presented. Results suggest that in comparison to a pure measure of irregular word reading, children with reading difficulties perform better on word identification subtests containing both regular and irregular word items. Furthermore, certain characteristics (e.g., length, similarity to real words) appear to influence the level of difficulty of nonword items and tests. The CC2 subscales identified the largest proportions of children with reading difficulties. Differences between all test scores were of statistical and clinical significance. Clinical and theoretical implications are discussed.

Using a case-series design with double baseline and 10-week maintenance phase, 5 struggling readers from middle- to high-income families (age range 6.4–7.9 years) completed a 5-times-weekly intervention (96 sessions) administered by a parent. All participants completed the intervention with phonological decoding, text-reading accuracy and reading comprehension scores above the 30th percentile. Regular-word reading improved significantly, and 3 out of 5 participants achieved average levels at postintervention testing. Growth of 0.58 standard deviations (SD) was seen in one participant on a test of irregular-word reading. The other 4 participants made growth of > 0.8 SD. However, only 1 participant achieved average levels at postintervention testing on the irregular-word reading measure. Results provide preliminary support for the effectiveness of the intervention in improving word-level decoding and comprehension in struggling readers. Most important, the data provide preliminary evidence that some parents can function as paraprofessionals and provide effective reading intervention for struggling readers. Special education professionals may be able to work around limited funding for struggling readers by recruiting, training, and supervising parents.

This paper presents the findings of a qualitative study of learning partnerships between teachers and parents of students with learning barriers. The aim was to investigate the beliefs and understandings of parents and teacher participants around roles in partnerships, so as to identify operational processes that support effective collaboration. The study was based on the premise that home–school partnerships have been established as a positive influence on the education of students with learning barriers but tensions exist within these partnerships in practice. In the study it was posited that some tensions stemmed from differences in role understandings between parent and teacher. Data revealed key themes emerging from the case studies. Findings indicated that parents and teachers believed that involvement and partnerships are integral to supporting the learning of students with learning barriers. However, differences emerged as to how teachers and parents constructed and interpreted involvement and operational processes supporting partnerships, and the significance each group placed on different aspects of collaboration between parent and teacher.

The acquisition of spelling skills in English presents, for a substantial number of children, a significant challenge. Spelling skills do not automatically transfer from reading skills, and while many teachers are aware of the need to develop a separate word study program to assist with spelling development, time and confidence factors often result in their turning to commercial spelling programs for assistance. But to what extent do such programs reflect what contemporary research tells us about how spelling skills are acquired? The current study uses criteria developed from Cramer and Cipielewski (1995) to analyse 9 Australian commercial spelling programs designed for use in primary Years 4 to 6. The programs are examined with special attention to the needs of weaker spellers. The study found that although the majority of the programs contained treatment of basic morphological aspects of spelling, only 2 of the programs presented material designed to develop understanding of the more complex sound–symbol relationships of the English spelling system. Treatment of more complex morphemic principles was weak in almost all programs, and there was only limited coverage of compound words, homonyms, contractions, and words that are easily confused.