花東是國內典型的弱勢縣市，本研究旨在瞭解花東地區學生的識字能力特徵。研究主要以花東小一～國三2,144 位學生的識字量評估測驗資料進行分析，但由於該測驗建立常模時所用的取樣方式易忽略小型學校，本研究特別再對台東縣4 所偏遠小型國小實施識字量評估測驗，小一至小五共523 人。研究結果發現，花東地區學生的識字量隨著年級漸增，但低識字組學生的識字問題相當嚴重，小五至國一低識字組學生，僅有一般學生小二的程度；國三低識字組學生，平均未達一般學生小三的程度。另外，花東學生的識字能力從小一開始就落後全國兒童，在小四後差距有擴大的趨勢，且識字能力越弱的學生，落後的情況越嚴重。進一步的分析指出，偏遠小型學校的識字問題更為嚴重，有29.5%的學生落入低分組，比花東常模16.2%多了近一倍。本研究最重要的發現是，花東兩弱勢縣市兒童的識字量低於全國常模，而且，偏遠小型學校學生尤為弱勢中的弱勢。

Hualien and Taitung counties are the most disadvantageous area in Taiwan. Using the standardized test of Chinese characters Estimation, the researchers investigated the character size of 2144 students in grade 1 to 9. To further investigate character size of students in remote elementary schools who tend to be undersampled when the national norm is established, the research assessed character size of a total of 523 first- to fifth-grade students from four low-enrollment elementary schools remotely located in the counties It was found that character size of student in the two counties was lower than the national norm at each of the grade level. More disturbingly, the discrepancy in character size between the students in the two counties and the national norm increased with grade level. The disadvantage in vocabulary is even more profound in the low-enrollment remote schools where 29.5% of students were identified as having “limited character size”, which is twice as much as the national norm of 16.2%.