A primary concern of the BDA is that the professional help available to dyslexic people of all ages and abilities should be of a consistent and high standard.

The BDA stresses the importance of the practical content of specialist training courses supporting the structured, sequential, multisensory approach, for numeracy, which has been found to be essential for those with specific learning difficulties/dyslexia. These specialist teaching skills must be transferable to the classroom and other learning environments.

This will be awarded to:

• qualified teachers who hold Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) and are recognised by the General Teaching Council (or equivalent);
   
• speech and language therapists with appropriate professional qualificaitons and experience;
   
• occupational therapists with appropriate professional qualificaitons and experience;
   
• educational psychologists with appropriate professional qualificaitons and experience; and
   
• other psychologists with appropriate professional qualificaitons and experience.

Applicants must have completed a BDA accredited course and have a minimum of 2 years relevant teaching experience.

If you are unsure whether your qualifications and experience are suitable, please contact the BDA office prior to commencement of the course.

It is expected that an accredited course will enable you to:

1. understand the nature of dyslexia and how it affects learners’ learning;
    
2. understand how dyslexia affects maths learning (dyslexia vs dyscalculia);
    
3. be able to identify learners with specific learning difficulties/dyslexia in maths in the classroom;
    
4. make a diagnostic appraisal of maths skills based on observation, assessment of attainment tests and reports of other professionals;
    
5. demonstrate an understanding of structured, sequential, multisensory teaching including evaluation of teaching materials;
    
6. deliver and evaluate the programme;
    
7. review classroom organisation to facilitate individual learning within the National Curriculum and National Numeracy Strategy, or their equivalents;
    
8. communicate effectively with parents, teachers and other professionals by verbal and written reports on a learner’s needs and achievements in relation to maths and make recommendations for remediation;
    
9. accurately observe and assess the cognitive abilities and learning styles of individual learners and the difficulties faced by learners who fail to become competent in numeracy;
    
10. critically appraise a range of numeracy teaching programmes;
     
11. show familiarity with appropriate research and an understanding of the prerequisites to learning maths;
     
12. design and evaluate appropriate programmes, including those which could be used in the National Numeracy Strategy framework, in relation to the assessed needs of a range of students;
     
13. be conversant with the potential offered by ICT in the teaching of specific learning difficulties/dyslexia, in particular in relation to maths, and of the range of relevant technical aids to teaching.

There is an expectation that such a course will provide a minimum of:

• 90 hours of lectures and seminars plus private study time.

 
• 30 hours of evaluated specialist teaching, at least 15 hours of which shall be with the same pupil.

 
• 3 hours of teaching to be observed and assessed by a course tutor who holds AMBDA

 
• 1 hour of diagnostic assessment to be observed and assessed by a course tutor who holds AMBDA.

The following are essential points on observation.

Observation of the 3 hours of evaluated specialist teaching is for the purposes of both formative and summative assessment. This should be split into 1 hour segments and should take place at appropriate points during 30 hours of teaching.

Whether by direct observation or video, this observation must form a significant part of the process of developing the student’s specialist skills. Each hour should be followed by a written report to the student which should indicate how far that teaching currently meets the criteria.

Teaching should be evaluated by formal and informal means of observation, teaching diaries and the monitoring of pupils' progress. The teaching programme should be discussed and approved by the supervisor or tutor. Progress should be monitored with a final report on the quality of teaching.