THE SUST PROGRAM FOR TEXT COMPREHENSION IN INCLUSIVE PRIMARY EDUCATION

There is a growing international awareness that pupils with Specific Learning Disorders (SLDs) require effective teaching practices rather than separate instructional approaches, and that such practices can benefit the entire class within a truly inclusive educational framework. In Italy, a research project has been launched to address students’ difficulties in text comprehension, as highlighted by national and international assessment surveys. The project aims to identify instructional responses consistent with the Evidence-Based Education perspective and to produce and disseminate reliable knowledge on the effectiveness of different teaching strategies. Within this framework, the study focuses on teaching effective strategies for the comprehension of study texts in fifth-grade primary school classes, including students with SLDs, in the subjects of history and geography. A review of the literature was conducted, through which the research group identified evidence-based methodological guidelines capable of improving the teaching of academic text comprehension in inclusive Italian primary school settings attended by students with SLDs. Based on these findings, a structured and systematic set of teaching strategies aimed at enhancing comprehension of history and geography texts was developed. This instructional program was named “Strategies for Understanding and Studying the Text (SUST)”. The SUST program is aligned with Evidence-Based Education principles and is characterized by progressive, intensive, and evidence-based activities. The research hypothesis is that students, including those with SLDs, who participate in the SUST program will achieve greater learning gains than students taught through standard instructional methods used in control classes. The study adopts a quasi-experimental design. The sample consists of 29 fifth-grade primary school classes, including students with SLDs: 19 experimental classes and 10 control classes. The classes are distributed across three Italian regions (Lazio, Abruzzo, and Lombardy). In September, a training program was conducted for teachers of the experimental classes, focusing on the educational implementation of the SUST program in inclusive classrooms. The effectiveness of the educational intervention in promoting learning and participation among all students, including those with SLDs, will be evaluated at the end of the school year, in June 2026