Dyslexia in Education

Summary

A request was made for data on dyslexia training for teachers, diagnosis rates, funding, and literacy outcomes in Isle of Man primary schools. The Department of Education refused to provide specific statistics on teacher training and diagnoses due to lack of records but promised to follow up on teacher data by January 2020.

Key Facts

• The Department does not hold systematic records of teachers' dyslexia training.
• Schools do not necessarily maintain records of formal dyslexia diagnoses for children.
• The Department intends to contact schools after the Christmas half term to seek teacher training information.
• A follow-up response regarding teacher training data was expected by Friday 24th January 2020.
• The Department referred the requester to a Tynwald written answer from July 2015 regarding teacher training.

Data Disclosed

• 2019-11-25
• 2020-01-03
• 2015
• 21st July 2015
• Friday 24th January 2020
• page 109
• question 50
• sections 11(2)(b) and 11(3)(a)

Exemptions Cited

• Freedom of Information Act 2015 sections 11(2)(b) and 11(3)(a) (practical refusal reason: information not held or cannot be found after reasonable steps)

Original Request

How many qualified teachers currently teaching in the Isle of Man at publicly-funded mainstream primary school level have undergone recognised formal training in dyslexia? To count, such training should be fairly recent and up to date (for example during the last five years) and should be relevant in having application to children of primary school age in mainstream classes? How many children at publicly-funded primary school level in the Isle of Man have been formally diagnosed (by someone with appropriate expertise) as having dyslexia? Over what time period have such diagnoses been made? The intention here is to estimate the average annual inception of such diagnoses. For how many of these diagnoses were the costs of carrying out the diagnosis publicly funded? What incentives are in place for qualified teachers at publicly-funded mainstream primary school level in the Isle of Man to render support to children with dyslexia or at risk of dyslexia? Typically, what proportion of children educated in the publicly-funded mainstream primary schools in the Isle of Man leave primary school at the end of year 6 having skills in literacy or mathematics rated as below satisfactory?

Data Tables (1)

Full Response Text

Corporate Services Division Department of Education, Sport and Culture Hamilton House Peel Road, Douglas IM1 5EZ Telephone: (01624) 685808 Website: www.gov.im/dec Email: dec@foi.gov.im Our ref: 1067861 31 December 2019

Dear ###,

We write further to your request which was received on 25 November 2019 and which states:

"How many qualified teachers currently teaching in the Isle of Man at publicly-funded mainstream primary school level have undergone recognised formal training in dyslexia? To count, such training should be fairly recent and up to date (for example during the last five years) and should be relevant in having application to children of primary school age in mainstream classes? How many children at publicly-funded primary school level in the Isle of Man have been formally diagnosed (by someone with appropriate expertise) as having dyslexia? Over what time period have such diagnoses been made? The intention here is to estimate the average annual inception of such diagnoses. For how many of these diagnoses were the costs of carrying out the diagnosis publicly funded? What incentives are in place for qualified teachers at publicly-funded mainstream primary school level in the Isle of Man to render support to children with dyslexia or at risk of dyslexia? Typically, what proportion of children educated in the publicly-funded mainstream primary schools in the Isle of Man leave primary school at the end of year 6 having skills in literacy or mathematics rated as below satisfactory?"

In order to identify and locate the information that you asked for, we needed to clarify your final question, specifically which academic year the information has been requested for the attainment levels of children leaving primary school. You advised: The figure for any specific academic year might be unusually low or unusually high, or might be skewed in one direction or another due to unusual events. If the figure is stable from one academic year to another, then that single measurement will suffice. If, on the other hand, the figure goes up and down quite a lot, then it would be better to provide the figure for each of the last five academic years.

Our response to your request is as follows: How many teachers have undergone recognised formal training in dyslexia? While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Department (as the public authority) does not currently hold or cannot, after taking reasonable steps to do so, find the information that you have requested. Therefore a practical refusal reason applies under sections 11(2)(b) and 11(3)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2015 (the Act) and we are unable to remove the practical refusal reason in sufficient time to respond to this request. This is because the Department does not hold the information that has been requested and Schools do not necessarily keep systematic training records, such that it would be possible to identify how many teachers had undertaken this particular type of training. However by way of advice and assistance, you may be interested in a written answer given at the 21st July 2015 sitting of Tynwald regarding this matter. This can be found on page 109 (question 50) of the following link: http://www.tynwald.org.im/business/hansard/20002020/t150721.pdf By way of further advice and assistance, in an attempt to remove the practical refusal reason the Department intends to contact schools upon their return from the Christmas half term to seek such information. Upon receipt of this, we will supply to you any information that is held by Schools. We will endeavour to do this by Friday 24th January 2020. How many children have been formally diagnosed (by someone with appropriate expertise) as having dyslexia? While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Department does not hold or cannot, after taking reasonable steps to do so, find the information that you have requested. Therefore a practical refusal reason applies under sections 11(2)(b) and 11(3)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2015 (the Act) and we are unable to remove the practical refusal reason. This is because neither Schools or the Department necessarily keep maintained records of children with a dyslexia ‘diagnosis’ as this has no bearing on the support provided for children presenting with a specific literacy difficulty. The Department and Schools consider that what matters is how a child’s difficulty presents and not the diagnostic label. Schools have resources to assist with the assessment of dyslexia related learning difficulties, supported by the Department’s Professional staff where required. For how many of these diagnoses were the costs of carrying out the diagnosis publicly funded? While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Department does not hold or cannot, after taking reasonable steps to do so, find the information that you have requested. Therefore a practical refusal reason applies

under sections 11(2)(b) and 11(3)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2015 (the Act) and we are unable to remove the practical refusal reason. What incentives are in place for teachers to render support to children with dyslexia or at risk of dyslexia? While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Department does not hold or cannot, after taking reasonable steps to do so, find the information that you have requested. Therefore a practical refusal reason applies under sections 11(2)(b) and 11(3)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2015 (the Act) and we are unable to remove the practical refusal reason. This is because teachers are not incentivised to support children with dyslexia/at risk of dyslexia any more than they are to support children with any other type of need and therefore the information is not held by the Department. Teaching children with any kind of learning difficulty is an integral part of the role. What proportion of children leave primary school at the end of year 6 having skills in literacy or mathematics rated as below satisfactory?" While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Department does not hold or cannot, after taking reasonable steps to do so, find some of the information that you have requested. This is because the Department does not use the terms ‘satisfactory’ in relation to pupils’ attainment and it is therefore not possible to provide this information. However by way of advice and assistance the Department has attached a guide for analysis of pupil attainment, which details average expectations of pupil attainment and achievement in primary and secondary schools. Also attached is the Key Stage Two attainment information for children at the end of year 6 in the last five years.

Please quote the reference number 1067861 in any future communications.

Your right to request a review

If you are unhappy with this response to your freedom of information request, you may ask us to carry out an internal review of the response, by completing a complaint form and submitting it electronically or by delivery/post.

An electronic version of our complaint form can be found by going to our website at https://services.gov.im/freedom-of-information/Review . If you would like a paper version of our complaint form to be sent to you by post, please contact me and I will be happy to arrange for this. Your review request should explain why you are dissatisfied with this response, and should be made as soon as practicable. We will respond as soon as the review has been concluded.

If you are not satisfied with the result of the review, you then have the right to appeal to the Information Commissioner for a decision on; 1. Whether we have responded to your request for information in accordance with Part 2 of the Freedom of Information Act 2015; or 2. Whether we are justified in refusing to give you the information requested. In response to an application for review, the Information Commissioner may, at any time, attempt to resolve a matter by negotiation, conciliation, mediation or another form of alternative dispute resolution and will have regard to any outcome of this in making any subsequent decision. More detailed information on your right to a review can be found on the Information Commissioner’s website at www.inforights.im. Should you have any queries concerning this letter, please do not hesitate to contact me. Further information about freedom of information requests can be found at www.gov.im/foi. I will now close your request as of this date. Yours sincerely

Freedom of Information Coordinator

Corporate Services Division Department of Education, Sport and Culture Hamilton House Peel Road, Douglas IM1 5EZ Telephone: (01624) 685808 Website: www.gov.im/dec Email: dec@foi.gov.im Our ref: 1067861 24 January 2020 Dear ###, We write further to our response to your Freedom of Information request which was sent on 31 December 2019 and to which we responded: By way of further advice and assistance, in an attempt to remove the practical refusal reason the Department intends to contact schools upon their return from the Christmas half term to seek such information. Upon receipt of this, we will supply to you any information that is held by Schools. We will endeavour to do this by Friday 24th January 2020. This was in relation to the following question from your Freedom of Information request: "How many qualified teachers currently teaching in the Isle of Man at publicly-funded mainstream primary school level have undergone recognised formal training in dyslexia? To count, such training should be fairly recent and up to date (for example during the last five years) and should be relevant in having application to children of primary school age in mainstream classes? Our response to your request is as follows: Information Based on School Responses No. of Teachers No. of Schools Dyslexia training received during last 5 years 113 16 No training within the past 5 years - 11 No information on training held/ no response received - 5 Please quote the reference number 1067861 in any future communications. Your right to request a review If you are unhappy with this response to your freedom of information request, you may ask us to carry out an internal review of the response, by completing a complaint form and submitting it electronically or by delivery/post. An electronic version of our complaint form can be found by going to our website at https://services.gov.im/freedom-of-information/Review . If you would like a paper version of our complaint form to be sent to you by post, please contact me and I will be happy to arrange for this. Your review request should explain why you are dissatisfied with this response, and should be made as soon as practicable. We will respond as soon as the review has been concluded. If you are not satisfied with the result of the review, you then have the right to appeal to the Information Commissioner for a decision on; 1. Whether we have responded to your request for information in accordance with Part 2 of the Freedom of Information Act 2015; or 2. Whether we are justified in refusing to give you the information requested. In response to an application for review, the Information Commissioner may, at any time, attempt to resolve a matter by negotiation, conciliation, mediation or another form of alternative dispute resolution and will have regard to any outcome of this in making any subsequent decision. More detailed information on your right to a review can be found on the Information Commissioner’s website at www.inforights.im. Should you have any queries concerning this letter, please do not hesitate to contact me. Further information about freedom of information requests can be found at www.gov.im/foi. I will now close your request as of this date. Yours sincerely

Freedom of Information Coordinator