A Clearer View: How ROOP is using AI to help kids read
Reading Out of Poverty, or ROOP, is wholeheartedly embracing tech in order to spot kids' learning difficulties earlier through their ‘A Clearer View of Reading’ project.
Using a combination of novel eye-tracking technology and Artificial Intelligence – and with the assistance of a $50,000 Telematics Trust grant – ROOP developed a system that tests children’s reading abilities, providing teachers with a crystal-clear view of students’ comprehension level.
The fun and engaging test, which takes only around five minutes to complete, accurately collates results so that a personalised reading plan can be developed and the student’s progress tracked over time.
A Growing Problem
In recent years, reading development problems have become an important issue, especially given the long disruption to face-to-face learning routines during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Children living in lower socioeconomic areas were disproportionately affected, with research showing that 41% of children in these areas showed signs of stalled reading development in 2021-22.
Without early diagnosis and intervention in the form of additional support and tutoring, these children too often fall behind, cementing their poorer reading skills and blunting their future opportunities.
This challenge is further compounded by stretched school resources and increasingly time-poor teaching staff.
Enter ROOP
This is where ROOP comes in. Already an Australian leader in helping children gain the literacy skills needed to flourish, regardless of their circumstances, ROOP decided that a rethink of literacy and reading assessments was needed.
In partnership with Telematics and equipped with reading software from Lexplore, they identified and administered a pilot scheme where the reading skills of 1500 prep to grade 3 students, across 3 disadvantaged schools in Bendigo, Victoria, were tested.
The assessment methods and innovative technologies used meant that testing was purpose-driven and inclusive of students with special needs such as dyslexia and those on the autism spectrum.
The data was shared with teachers and school literacy specialists, and used to design learning interventions that were based on each child's individual needs, representing the first step on the pathway to addressing low literacy skills.
Andrew Kay, ROOP’s CEO, was keen to highlight the project and Telematics’ involvement:
“The support from the Telematics Trust provided ROOP with an opportunity to use newly developed AI eye-tracking technology to help in the early detection of children with signs of reading problems. We trained a small team of volunteers to use the software with 2000 students in schools in low income communities. Alongside the integration aid, teacher or school literacy specialist, we were able to develop a literacy intervention based on the individual needs of each student. We are forever grateful to the Telematics Trust for funding this innovative project. Thank you!”
A Clearer View of Reading
This project is only the latest for Reading Out of Poverty, which has already changed young lives through their Books from Birth program, Pop-Up libraries, ‘Read, Learn, Play’ activities, and ‘Read-Aloud’ story sessions, amongst others.
In their focus on supporting children from low socioeconomic backgrounds, including young migrant, refugee, and Indigenous individuals, ROOP is moving toward their mission of creating a more literate and equitable society – one that the Telematics Trust is proud to have supported.
Find out more about ROOP and their remarkable work by visiting their website.
