“Fallen through the cracks”: Teachers’ perceptions of barriers faced by struggling literacy learners in secondary school

Figures & data

Table 1. Respondent characteristics.

Characteristic	in sample (N = 315)	in sample (%)
Gender
Female	270	85.71
Male	42	13.33
Other	3	0.95
Age Group
<20	0	0.00
21-30	51	16.19
31-40	92	29.21
41-50	90	28.57
51-60	65	20.63
61-70	16	5.08
>71	1	0.32
Years teaching experience
<3	32	10.16
3-6	55	17.46
7-10	49	15.56
11-14	58	18.41
15-18	32	10.16
19-22	21	6.67
23-26	22	6.98
27-30	22	6.98
>30	24	7.62
Years post teacher training
<3	27	8.57
3-6	58	18.41
7-10	43	13.65
11-14	51	16.19
15-18	41	13.02
19-22	21	6.67
23-26	18	5.71
27-30	25	7.94
>30	31	9.84

Table 2. School characteristics.

Characteristic	in sample (N = 315)	in sample (%)
Location
Metropolitan	220	69.84
Rural	90	28.57
Remote	5	1.59
State/territory of school location
SA	41	13.02
Tasmania	12	3.81
NT	14	4.44
NSW	82	26.03
WA	56	17.78
Queensland	50	15.87
Victoria	45	14.29
ACT	15	4.76
School type
Government (public)	195	61.90
Private	120	38.10
ICSEA ^a
Above average ICSEA	67	21.27
Average ICSEA (1000)	79	25.08
Below average ICSEA	106	33.65
Unsure	63	20.00
Year groups being taught ^a
Year 7	140
Year 8	147
Year 9	158
Year 10	176
Year 11	175
Year 12	153

^a multiple selections permitted, so percentage not relevant

Table 3. Plurality of perceived barriers and group and individual level.

Agreement	in sample (N = 315)	in sample (%)
Agreement with diverse barriers at group level (Group).
Strongly agree	185	58.73
Somewhat agree	105	33.33
Neither agree nor disagree	17	5.40
Somewhat disagree	5	1.59
Strongly disagree	3	0.95
Agreement with diverse barriers at individual level (Individual).
Strongly agree	212	67.30
Somewhat agree	93	29.52
Neither agree nor disagree	5	1.59
Somewhat disagree	3	0.95
Strongly disagree	2	0.63

Table 4. Preponderance of students who have a diagnosed learning difficulty or are EALD learners.

Agreement	in sample (N = 315)	in sample (%)
Agreement with SLLs typically having learning difficulty (Diagnosed).
Strongly agree	23	7.30
Somewhat agree	131	41.59
Neither agree nor disagree	55	17.46
Somewhat disagree	82	26.03
Strongly disagree	24	7.62
Agreement with SLLs typically being EALD
Strongly agree	16	5.08
Somewhat agree	62	19.68
Neither agree nor disagree	38	12.06
Somewhat disagree	93	29.52
Strongly disagree	106	33.65

Table 5. Levels of perceived positive attitudes and home support.

Agreement	in sample (N = 315)	in sample (%)
Agreement with SLLs holding positive attitudes towards literacy learning (Attitude).
Strongly agree	10	3.17
Somewhat agree	53	16.83
Neither agree nor disagree	55	17.46
Somewhat disagree	145	46.03
Strongly disagree	52	16.51
Agreement with SLLs having home support (Home support).
Strongly agree	4	1.27
Somewhat agree	45	14.29
Neither agree nor disagree	54	17.14
Somewhat disagree	135	42.86
Strongly disagree	77	24.44

Table 6. Australian student attendance rate (%) Years 1–10 in 2018.

	NSW	VIC	QLD	SA	WA	TAS	NT	ACT
Attendance by school year
1	93.6	93.2	92.2	92.2	92.6	93.0	82.2	92.8
2	93.7	93.5	92.5	92.7	93.0	93.2	83.2	92.9
3	93.8	93.6	92.7	92.8	93.3	93.1	83.8	93.0
4	93.6	93.5	92.5	92.6	93.2	93.0	83.9	93.0
5	93.5	93.4	92.5	92.6	93.2	92.8	83.9	92.8
6	92.9	93.2	92.3	92.0	93.1	92.7	83.0	92.3
7	92.8	93.5	91.9	91.7	92.1	91.4	80.3	91.9
8	90.7	91.8	90.0	91.3	89.8	89.4	76.7	90.0
9	89.5	91.1	89.0	89.6	89.1	87.8	75.0	88.9
10	88.1	90.9	88.6	89.0	88.0	85.9	73.0	88.1
Attendance by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples status	85.4	86.3	84.4	80.5	76.5	87.8	65.1	83.9
Non- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples	92.7	92.8	92.1	92.1	93.0	91.7	91.6	91.9
Gap	7.3	6.5	7.7	11.6	16.5	3.9	26.5	8.0
All	92.2	92.7	91.5	91.6	91.8	91.3	80.8	91.6

(adapted from data available at ACARA, 2018)

Table 7. Spearman’s rho correlation.

			Spearman’s rho correlation
Agreement N = 315	Mean	Standard deviation	Time	Group	Individual	Diagnosed	EALD	Attitude	Home support
Agreement with easy to find time to support SLLs (Time).	4.32	.981	1	−.148**	−.203**	.111*	.228**	.328**	.289**
Agreement with diverse barriers at group level (Group).	1.53	.754	−.148**	1	.373**	.110	.080	−.077	−.139*
Agreement with diverse barriers at individual level (Individual).	1.38	.634	−.203**	.373**	1	−.045	−.036	−.282**	−.255**
Agreement with SLLs typically having learning difficulty (Diagnosed).	2.85	1.120	.111*	0.11	−.045	1	.202**	.146**	.213**
Agreement with SLLs typically being EALD learners (EALD).	3.67	1.264	.228**	0.08	−.036	.202**	1	.256**	.080
Agreement with SLLs holding positive attitudes towards literacy learning (Attitude).	3.56	1.052	.328**	−.077	−.282**	.146**	.256**	1	.357**
Agreement with SLLs having home support (Home support).	3.75	1.021	.289**	−.139*	−.255**	.213**	.080	.357**	1

*Significant at p < .05, ** significant at p < .001