October 2009Lorraine Edwards. School Improvement. NMR

Our evidence on student development is gathered from a range of sources including:

•Progress/ALP tests, Naplan, school assessment schedule & our ongoing observation, monitoring & collecting of what students, say, make, write & do.

•What can this student do? ... a formative, forward looking model for all students at all stages of development

•What evidence is available to inform what we want this student to learn?

•What evidence will we collect/use to inform when it has been achieved?

•What can this student do? ... a formative, forward looking model•What evidence is available to inform what we want this student to learn?• What evidence will we collect/use to inform when it has been achieved?

Working at the student level & at the teacher level:

We evaluate our effectiveness on the basis of student outcomes... Must know the student through evidence & then...Do we know what the student needs to learn next? Do we know how to effectively teach it? ...personal level, team level, school level

Our Work“…teachers should & can possess specialised knowledge of students, of content & tasks & of how to represent &

teach this knowledge.” Hillocks

Each teacher needs a knowledge base including:Knowledge of studentsKnowledge of teaching processes, management &

organisationCurriculum knowledge/pedagogy: curriculum knowledge

of content, how to teach specialised knowledge & content, knowledge of educational purposes, theories & practices

High quality literacy teaching practice...

• AiZ: High Reliabilities, Key Comprehension Strategies from National Enquiry 2005 & reading comprehension research plus combined experience & knowledge

PLT’s: A culture of reflective practice. Collaboration & Challenge

• Learning Logs/ILP’s...evidence of what a student can say, make write, do• Reflecting on the evidence, our teaching decisions, plans & implementation to date plus... what is the next level of learning? How do we do it? Specific & measurable learning goals plus strategies & techniques for achieving them...• Rigor. Collaboration & Challenge. Shared input, responsibility & learning

• Triads, teacher observation, instructional rounds etc

PLT’s: A key element of AiZ: data & teaching practice...School Visits. NMR & UoM

• In place regularly at most schools

• There is an increase in collaboration/team approach through dialogue & sharing at both the establishment of learning logs & the review stage of logs & their implementation

•Challenge...is a challenge! Important to be open to change

PLT’s:

•Say, make, write, do is a powerful focus for many schools... a refining, a noticing, a deeper reflection

•Modification of Learning Logs: adding information to suit context

•PL: areas for further PL , anchored in the specific context of the school/team for short & long term planning & prioritising, generation of “problems of practice” & areas for observation

•Too many goals... achievable, manageable, realistic

•Goals: refinement, specific...linked to data/instruction

Shift of thinking...it’s what happens during the reading that is critical... there is a sense that all of our teaching is directed toward this...across all learning areas

Building on what students know and are able to do

Do we have the right level of challenge?Moving from ZPD to ZAD

Learning TheoryIts about transforming student attitudes,abilities & outcomes rather than transmittinginformation to be reproduced later. The transformation of participation &

understandingcarries a student into the next learningopportunity.

Instructional Model…

Explicitly teach strategies through anexplain/model/scaffold – practice – apply model( Palinscar & Brown, 1984 & Rosenshine, 1996)

Over time the scaffolding is graduallyremoved, releasing to students the responsibility for strategy use

Collaborate

&

Challenge

In a differentiated classroom, the teacher proactively plans & carries out varied approaches to content, process & product in anticipation of & response to student differences in readiness, interest & learning needs.

E5 Instructional Model, DEECD, 2009

•The Key Characteristics of Effective Literacy Teaching P-6 specifies the nature of first phase high quality differentiated classroom teaching for all studentsDEECD

Key Comprehension Strategies “... proficient comprehenders orchestrate a

range of flexible strategies making meaning. It’s much more than knowing individual strategies”

Dorn & Saffros. Teaching For Deep Comprehension.

Instructional strategies are the tools of effective practice. They are the deliberate acts of teaching that focus the learner in order to meet a particular purpose.Instructional strategies are effective only when they impact positively on students’ learning.

Many studies have established that effective teachers use a range of instructional strategies...teachers need a repertoire of strategies in order to help all their students meet the challenges of becoming literate.

Instructional strategies are directed towards to enabling students to build their expertise...their knowledge, strategies & awareness...enabling them to engage in the learning task, make connections and see how their learning is progressing.Effective Literacy Practice In Years 3 & 4

The Power of The TeacherRecent research shows that on average,regardless of a student’s home background & the school’s resources, 45 %-55% variation in an individual student’s learning outcomes relates to whatgoes on in individual classrooms. Review of Research in Education. Vol 28. 32. 2008