Buenos Aires, Argentina

Students with Reading Difficulties

Diagnostic Testing

The Buenos Aires curricular framework for reading, writing, and subject learning understands teaching as the task of producing didactic conditions so all students can develop and advance in their learning. The job of the teacher is to take into account the point of departure where the student is having difficulties and intervene accordingly. As it is assumed that everyone learns if they have adequate didactic and pedagogical conditions, the provision of assistance to the most disadvantaged is delivered through teaching interventions and by giving more opportunities to these students. Thus, when students do not progress as expected, it is perceived as more of a teaching problem than a learning one.

Instruction for Children with Reading Difficulties

Precisely because creating an environment conducive to learning is a pedagogical condition, all primary schools have pedagogical support teachers who work in the classroom with students who require particular pedagogical strategies.

The program for reorganizing studentsʼ school trajectory for students who are older than the expected age for their grade is one of the cityʼs initiatives aimed at supporting students with learning difficulties. The target population is public school students in the fourth grade who are two or more years older than the expected age for that grade. Its purpose is to offer students significantly older for the grade than expected an alternative of pursuing their schooling in a shorter time than the progression of one grade per year. For this purpose, acceleration groups and classrooms are organized and teachers use specially designed instructional materials. The same content is covered in better pedagogical conditions: smaller groups, more trained teachers, and weekly technical assistance for students and teachers. The program works with schools that concentrate on students older than expected for their grade and only includes students from other schools with an exception.^d