Hvernig mætir grunnskólinn þörfum nemenda með lestrarerfiðleika?

Rannsóknin hefur tvö megin markmið. Fyrra markmiðið er að kanna hvernig grunnskólakennarar skipuleggja lestrarkennslu nemenda með lestrarerfiðleika; hvort þeir skipuleggja kennsluna með öðrum hætti en annarra nemenda, hversu fljótt þeir grípa inn í ef veikleikar koma fram, og hversu góða þekkingu bekkjarkennarar telja sig hafa á lestrarerfiðleikum. Hitt megin markmið rannsóknarinnar er að kanna afstöðu foreldra barna til kennslunnar og skoða hver upplifun þeirra er af stuðningi og þjónustu við barnið þeirra í skólanum. Þátttakendur í rannsókninni voru umsjónarkennarar í fyrsta til sjöunda bekk í 19 grunnskólum og foreldrar nemenda með lestrarerfiðleika í þriðja, fimmta og sjöunda bekk í sömu skólum. Spurningalisti kennara samanstóð af 37 spurningum sem fjölluðu um lestrarkennslu almennt, tíðni og eðli lestrarerfiðleika barna í þeirra bekk, vinnulag við greiningar, skipulag kennslu og magn viðbótarkennslu (sérkennslu) nemenda með lestrarerfiðleika. Spurningalisti foreldra samanstóð af 44 spurningum um lestrarerfiðleika barna, aðrar greiningar barnsins, skipulag kennslu, foreldrasamstarf og líðan barna þeirra. Niðurstöður rannsóknarinnar benda til þess að þrátt fyrir að flestir kennarar í þeim skólum sem rannsóknin náði til leggi sig fram við að mæta þörfum nemenda með lestrarörðugleika eins vel og hægt er, er víða pottur brotinn í því efni. Lestrarkennsla er mismikil eftir árgöngum, en í elstu árgöngunum virðist litlum tíma varið til kennslu í lestri. Kennarar yngstu bekkjanna lögðu yfirleitt ríka áherslu á snemmtæka íhlutun í sinni kennslu, en þrátt fyrir það var meðalfjöldi sérkennslutíma lægstur í fyrsta bekk. Margir kennarar telja sig ekki hafa nægjanlega þekkingu á lestrarerfiðleikum og finnst vanta tíma í faglega umræðu við samstarfsfólk sökum álags í starfi.This research had two main goals. The first was to explore how the needs of children with reading difficulties are met within the primary school system. The mains questions concerned how teachers organize reading instruction for these students, how quickly they intervene if they see problems occur and how much knowledge teachers have about reading disabilities. The second goal was to examine the views of parents about the help and the support their child is getting in the school. Participants were classroom-teachers in grades 1 to 7 in 19 elementary schools and parents of children with reading disabilities in 3rd. ,5th. and 7th. grade in the same schools. The teachers were asked to answer a questionnaire which included 37 questions regarding their approach in reading instruction in general and for students with reading difficulties, the frequency and nature of reading disabilities in their class, general practice of diagnosis and how much special education students with reading disabilities receive. The questionnaire for parents included 44 questions about the nature of their children’s reading disability, how and when they were diagnosed and whether they had been diagnosed with any other kind of learning problems. The parents were also asked to assess their own knowledge about reading difficulties, the support offered by the school, and their child’s emotional state. The results indicate that despite much effort of many teachers, the needs of children with reading difficulties within Icelandic primary schools are not met sufficicently in many respects. Much emphasis is placed on reading instruction in the early grades and most teachers stress the importance of early intervention. Despite of that, the amount of special education support was lowest in first grade in the participating schools. The results also show that as children grow older the amount of formal reading instruction they receive decreases steadily and by 7th grade direct instruction in reading was limited in most of the schools. Many of the teachers who participated in this research feel that they lack both time and knowledge to be able to give students with reading problens the edcational support that they need