About Dannevirke South School

Dannevirke South School is a decile 4 primary school with 228 students, situated in the Tararua region of the North Island, New Zealand.

Students ranged between ages 5-13 and had a wide range of ethnicities, including: NZ European/Pakeha, Māori, Chinese, African, Indian, Cook Islands, Cambodian, British, Sri Lankan, Vietnamese, Japanese, and Samoan.

How the school came across StepsWeb

StepsWeb was first introduced to Dannevirke by a Resource Teacher: Learning and Behaviour (RTLB) after identifying a small group of students who were achieving below the expected literacy level. After reviewing the program, the staff felt StepsWeb offered a way for students to develop their literacy skills effectively while also having fun.

Initially the RTLB funded the computer-based program and the Teacher Aide (TA) hours to implement it. Seeing the gains the students were making, the school decided to purchase licences on the web-based program and supporting workbooks and games.

The educators at Dannevirke South used StepsWeb in small groups with the following objectives:

• Build confidence and restore student self-belief that they can learn.
• Improve literacy skills for students identified as needing further support.
• Offer differentiated instruction to students with the help of teaching support staff.

What worked well:

• Dedicated StepsWeb staff
  Having staff who were dedicated to implement and monitor student progress and work alongside the teachers was considered a must. This ensures any areas of concern were quickly picked up and addressed through assigning targeted reinforcement from StepsWeb, and allowed informed support in specific literacy areas.
  The school had two teacher-aides who ran the program and tracked progress and achievement closely.
  
  
• Dedicated StepsWeb space
  StepsWeb works exceptionally well as a whole class resource as it enables students to work at their own level and reduces the workload of teachers who only need to monitor progress rather than set work. Dannevirke South used a dedicated space as they chose to use the program with a targeted group of students.
  
  
• Student progress was checked often
  Every educator using StepsWeb with students have their own login. This allows them to track and monitor their students' progress, giving them key insights into their spelling age progression, any errors they are making or literacy areas which need more reinforcement. The educators at Dannevirke South School utilised the educator login to ensure their students were on track to succeed.
  
  
• Regularly celebrating student success
  Celebrating student success regularly made a huge impact on how students engaged with the program. Teachers displayed their success daily by pinning medals on the wall. This acted as a visual reminder of their progress, and made them excited to learn and add to their medals.
  
  “StepsWeb helps me to learn to spell words and it makes my reading better because I know the words. I like getting the gold medals and putting them on the wall, My golds can go all the way up the wall sometimes.”
  -Year 4 Student
  
  
• Game Day
  Once a week, students who successfully earned at least four gold medals were given access to the games on StepsWeb. Students became competitive - particularly when it came to the Blocks game. The Teacher Aides enjoyed getting involved in this too.
  
  
• The online program, supporting workbooks, and hands-on resources were used together
  The educators emphasised how important it was to use all the resources StepsWeb has to offer to support students, particularly neurodiverse learners.
  
  
• Acknowledge achievement with certificates
  Student certificates were given out during weekly assemblies, and printed and displayed on the 'Wall of Success'. This helped to boost motivation and a sense of achievement among students.
  
  "Students who were previously disengaged in learning reignited their confidence and reengaged due to seeing themselves succeed."

For more key insights, see the educator and student testimonials on this page.

Students at Dannevirke South took an initial test which assessed the students' spelling age (SA). Students took a final SA test again at the end of this study, providing a measure of how StepsWeb impacted their literacy level over that time.

Below there are two graphs:

• The first graph includes students who used StepsWeb consistently for 20 weeks (5 months). These students saw an average spelling age gain of 15 months.
• The second graph includes students who used StepsWeb for a shorter period of time - anywhere from 7-14 weeks. These students saw an average spelling age gain of between 9-10 months.

These two graphs demonstrate how consistent use of StepsWeb over a 5 month period can render significant improvement for the majority of students. While some students who used the program for less time still saw impressive literacy gains, results varied more between students. 

The results for this case study were collected in November 2021.

Students who spent at least 20 weeks (5 months) on the program made significant progress, averaging 15 months gain.

Students who spent between 7-14 weeks (1.75-3.5 months) on StepsWeb, saw varying results. This may be due to students adjusting to new routines or disruptions occurring within the short amount of time, e.g. sicknesses.

For some students in the above graph we still see significant improvement. Student I, for example, made 17 months of spelling age gains after just 10 weeks of using StepsWeb. 

Overall, the students using StepsWeb for 7-14 weeks made an average of 9-10 months of spelling age gain.

All students made measurable gains in spelling age.

For best student results, we generally recommend the following:

• Students should use StepsWeb consistently for a minimum of 6 months to see results over a considerable period of time.
• Educators ensure students complete their weekly goals during this time. This will ensure students are completing enough activities to make significant gains in their learning.

Dannevirke South teachers also noticed improvement in other areas:

"Our learners are keen to go to StepsWeb and have become highly motivated in other areas like math, and inquiry as they are becoming more successful risk takers....
Therefore, the gains and bonuses around StepsWeb are not just academic. The gains for the child are as a whole- social, emotional, academic, and physical.”

Julianne Jackson - Senior Teacher


"As students learnt their spelling words, their writing engagement improved with more attempts to spell, and longer more interesting stories developed." 

Donna Heaps - Former Yr 6 Teacher

What Dannevirke educators have to say:

“We have been using StepsWeb for over 3 years now and we have seen amazing progress across all year levels. We have two very committed teacher aides who run the programme and track student progress and achievement closely. They have an excellent relationship with the children and this certainly has helped. The students are excited to be able to track their progress and always like to receive the certificates when they finish a level. We have seen accelerated progress for the majority of students who are selected for the program.

It is lovely to see the learners’ self-esteem grow and their drive to achieve. It is important to use the whole program including the workbooks and games, especially for the neurodiverse children.

StepsWeb has an amazing support network and are very easy to work with. As a result of the children’s enthusiasm and the progress we are seeing, we will continue to use StepsWeb.”

-Caroline Gyde, Deputy Principal

“As a team leader, I am involved in the discussion around the learners that are chosen to participate on StepsWeb. Our learners tend to stay on the program for at least 6 months to a year where we then see a positive gain in progress and achievement.

Our learners are keen to go to StepsWeb and have become highly motivated in other areas like math, and inquiry as they are becoming more successful risk takers. I believe having a longer time on the intervention helps them build security and trust relationships with the teacher aides. The learners also know that they are not going to be pulled from StepsWeb at the end of the following term.

Therefore, the gains and bonuses around StepsWeb are not just academic. The gains for the child are as a whole- social, emotional, academic, and physical.”

Julianne Jackson - Senior Teacher

"I used StepsWeb with my whole year 6 class in 2020. The students each had a 20-minute slot to complete their online activities and 20 minutes to work on their workbooks. Students were engaged and only a few Tier 3 students needed some extra assistance to complete activities.

As students learnt their spelling words, their writing engagement improved with more attempts to spell, and longer more interesting stories developed. I found StepsWeb the easiest program to use as the teacher portal allowed me to see at a glance how much time a student was spending on an activity, any issues they may have been having and the progress they made daily."

Donna Heaps - Former Yr 6 Teacher

Student quotes (we have not included names for privacy):

“StepsWeb is challenging. Game day and playing blocks are fun. I have learnt how to use a keyboard. It also helps with my spelling and concentration.”

-Year 3 student

“StepsWeb helps me to spell my words. It is fun because it’s like I am playing games but I know that I am not really. I love seeing my gold medals and when I pass my level I get a certificate to take home and another one goes up on the wall in the StepsWeb room.”

-Year 3 Student

“StepsWeb helps me to learn to spell words and it makes my reading better because I know the words. I like getting the gold medals and putting them on the wall, My golds can go all the way up the wall sometimes.”

-Year 4 Student

“I like doing the challenges and the word search is fun. StepsWeb helps me to get my ‘b’ and ‘d’ around the right way.”

-Year 3 Student

“Helps me to spell and it’s fun when we have game day.”

-Year 6 Student

Using StepsWeb in small groups vs whole-class

The StepsWeb Course has been designed to look the same throughout, so students working at a lower level feel no different to their peers who are working at a more advanced level of literacy. StepsWeb will automatically provide more reinforcement to students who have been identified as struggling from the initial Spelling Placement Test, allowing them to catch up through more practice of core skills.

Using StepsWeb with small groups will likely see significant gains for those students, however using the program in this way also comes with limitations.

Recent research into StepsWeb usage suggests that using the program with small groups can cause students to feel self-conscious due to segregation from their peers. Using StepsWeb with the whole-class reduces this from happening, and all students, including both struggling and extension learners see progress. StepsWeb adapts to each learner, meaning every student works at their own level and pace, making it an ideal resource that caters to both high need and extension learners.

We also recommend struggling students use the workbooks alongside the online Course to provide further reinforcement and to consolidate the skills being practiced on StepsWeb. While workbooks would likely benefit all students, the majority of learners will progress just fine on the online Course alone. Learn more about StepsWeb Workbooks.

Dannevirke South School has shown how StepsWeb can be used effectively within small groups as a remediation tool. If you would like further advice on how to effectively use the program in the same way, please feel free to reach out.

The StepsWeb Course

When we refer to the 'StepsWeb Course,' we are referring to the structured, cumulative, built-in progression on StepsWeb which every student is placed onto as a result of their initial Spelling Placement Test. 

The StepsWeb Course follows a progression which is research-based and aligns with Structured Literacy and the Science of Reading principles. A major benefit of StepsWeb is it will automatically assign activities to students at their own level.

StepsWeb Course Scope & Sequence

Dannevirke South School primarily used the StepsWeb Course for their students, and has consistently seen excellent results. Please feel free to contact us if you would like more guidance on using the Course.

The school identified students achieving below the expected literacy level and needed to investigate intervention programs to support these learners and ensure they were not left behind. StepsWeb effectively addressed the needs of their struggling students through individualised reinforcement via the online Course, supporting workbooks, and hands-on resources. 

Overall, Dannevirke South School students who used StepsWeb consistently for 20 weeks (5 months), made an average of 15 months of spelling age gain.

StepsWeb ensures students needing extra support in literacy progress at their own level and builds their confidence as they each experience success.

Key Takeaways

The school's educators attributed the following actions to their successful implementation:

• Having dedicated StepsWeb staff.
• Having dedicated StepsWeb working areas for students.
• Student progress was checked often.
• Regularly celebrating student success.
• Using StepsWeb games to incentivise students to complete their StepsWeb work.
• The online program, supporting workbooks, and hands-on resources were used together, particularly for neurodiverse students.
• StepsWeb certificates were used to celebrate achievement.