Getting it Right from the Start is a research project supporting primary schools to enhance children’s language and reading skills.
The project uses a systematic approach to help students access the learning support they need when they need it. The approach is called ‘Response to Intervention’ (RTI). The approach helps teachers to identify children who are struggling early and provide evidence-based targeted support to address their specific learning needs. The aim is to help children “keep up” so they don’t have to “catch up”.
Which schools are involved in Getting it Right from the Start?
Getting it Right from the Start builds on the work of two prior projects, Oral Language Supports Early Literacy (
OLSEL) and Classroom Promotion of Oral Language (
CPOL), with the overall aim to help children thrive through education. Getting it Right from the Start began in 2021 and will run until 2025. It involves 16 schools from the Metropolitan, Northeast and Northwest Victoria regions. The Victorian Department of Education and Training and Melbourne Archdioceses Catholic Schools are collaborators on the project, ensuring project implementation is relevant and sustainable in schools.
Watch the video below to learn more about Getting it Right from the Start.
View the Getting it Right project summary
Why we need to enhance children’s oral language and reading skills
Oral language and reading are critical for children’s lifelong learning, development, social participation and mental health, and have an enduring impact on future education and employment opportunities. More children are starting school without strong oral language and pre-reading skills, particularly from families experiencing adversity. For these children, learning to read can be more difficult.
The Getting it Right from the Start project will help schools to intervene early—in the first two years of school—to enhance oral language and reading, and to prevent a widening gap between the least and most advantaged children.
What does Getting it Right offer to schools?
The Getting it Right project supports schools to adopt a whole-of-school improvement approach, known as a ‘Response to Intervention’ model. The approach will be implemented at the Foundation to Grade 1 level to support teachers with a systematic framework to improve children’s oral language and reading skills.
Over two years, schools participating in the project are provided with evidence-based professional learning and an implementation support partner to help them successfully implement the ‘Response to Intervention’ model.
What is Response to Intervention?
Response to Intervention is a multi-tiered approach to supporting student learning and development. It is based on high-quality classroom instruction, data-based decision making, screening, progress monitoring and a multi-level system of support.
It helps teachers:
- adapt classroom teaching to address student needs
- identify students who require additional support; and
- make decisions about the type of additional help provided to students.
Student learning needs are addressed using three different tiers of support. The first tier describes quality differentiated classroom instruction provided to all students (Tier 1). The second tier provides small-group, targeted instruction to students needing additional support in a specific learning area (Tier 2). The third tier provides intensified support for students experiencing significant barriers in accessing learning (Tier 3).
The Response to Intervention model is dynamic – regular screening and progress monitoring moves students through the different tiers based on their needs at the time. Through a Response to Intervention model the goal is to support the majority of students with classroom learning, and provide early and intensified support to students who need it.
Publications and resources
Readiness for change in schools report
Education systems and schools routinely implement new initiatives to better support learning and development. However, schools often face significant challenges when they introduce new approaches. As a result, new initiatives often aren’t fully embedded in schools and fall short of achieving intended outcomes. One reason for this is that schools may not be ready to make the changes needed to fully adopt a new initiative or program.
The Centre partnered with the Australian Education Research Organisation to publish a report about school readiness for change in schools from the Getting it Right from the Start project.
View the report
Getting it Right project summary
What Getting it Right aims to achieve
Getting it Right aims to achieve the following outcomes:
Children:
- Children who need additional support are identified and supported early using evidence-based interventions.
- All children feel like they can be capable learners at school.
- All children have oral language and reading skills expected for their age.
Schools:
- Schools adopt a systematic approach to supporting student needs.
- Teaching staff feel confident using data and screening tools to inform problem solving, decision making and monitoring.
- The Response to Intervention model is ready to be adapted to other areas of the curriculum.
Research community:
- Findings identify the factors that influence successful implementation in school.
- Findings identify the supports schools need to successfully implement the Response to Intervention model in Australia.
- The project generates evidence of a scalable and sustainable intervention that enables fairer student learning outcomes.
Our team
- Prof. Sharon Goldfeld, Lead Investigator, Centre for Community Child Health at the Murdoch Children's Research Institute
- A/Prof. Jon Quach, Investigator, Melbourne Graduate School of Education at the University of Melbourne
- Mr. Stuart Edwards, Investigator, Victorian Department of Education and Training
- Ms. Judy Connell, Investigator, Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools
- Prof. Pamela Snow, Investigator, La Trobe University
- Prof. Patricia Eadie, Investigator, Melbourne Graduate School of Education at the University of Melbourne
- A/Prof. Shiralee Poed, Investigator, University of Queensland
- Prof. Lisa Gold, Investigator, Deakin University
- Ms. Beth Shingles, Investigator, Centre for Community Child Health at the Murdoch Children's Research Institute
- Ms. Francesca Orsini, Investigator, Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics Unit (CEBU), Melbourne Children’s Trials Centre (MCTC) at the Murdoch Children's Research Institute
Collaborators
Getting it Right from the Start is a partnership between the Centre for Community Child Health (CCCH) at the Murdoch Children's Research Institute (MCRI), Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools, the Victorian Department of Education and Training, La Trobe University, Melbourne Graduate School of Education (MGSE) at the University of Melbourne, Deakin University, and The University of Queensland.
Getting it Right from the Start would like to acknowledge the Eureka Benevolent Foundation, the Australian Education Research Organisation (AERO), Department of Education Victoria and Melbourne Archdioceses Catholic Schools for their financial support in establishing the program.
Contact us
Email Melissa Cheah Senior Project Officer at
gir@mcri.edu.au with any questions.