The Literacy Unit Standards’ Pathway: The experiences

and perspectives of two secondary ESOL teachers

Athlyn Watt and Angela Bland

Workshop Structure

1. Introductions 2. Background to literacy unit standards3. Literacy and EAL4. Planning and implementation5. Setting up6. Making it work7. Challenges and key lessons

Pukekohe High School

• Situated in Pukekohe, a rural town in the south Auckland area

• Roll of nearly 1,600 students, from year 9 to year 13

• Ethnicities: 55% NZ European, 19% NZ Maori, 7% other European groups, 5% Indian, 3% Tongan, 2% Chinese, 1.5% African, 1% Cook Isld Maori, 1% Korean, 1% other Pacifika, 1% South East Asian, and other ethnic groups represented in smaller percentages

• Decile 6

Pukekohe High School• ESOL staff – 1 full time teacher, one part time teacher, plus a

part time teacher aide; also two TESSOL-trained mainstream teachers

• ESOL classes – orientation where needed, withdrawal groups for junior ELLs (usually in the English option), three senior classes (4 one hour classes each per week), various short term visiting groups

• Students in ESOL classes – Pacifika (Tongan & Kiribati), also – Filipino, Cambodian, Indian, Chinese, Taiwanese, Korean, Japanese, South American, etc

• About 20 international students• About 30 students receiving ESOL funding

Riccarton High School

• Situated in Christchurch, in the north western suburbs with Only minor damage from the earthquakes. Difficult to measure the psychological impact on students and staff

• Roll of about 950 students, from year 9 to 13• There has been a shift from 52% pakeha in

2011 to 45% pakeha in 2012 • Decile 7

Riccarton High School• ESOL staff 1 full-time teacher (18 hours teaching/ HOD ) 1 full

time teacher (16 hours teaching / 2nd Yr PRT) 1 part-time teacher (4 hours)

• ESOL classes Intensive English (12), 9ESL(2), 10ESL(4), 1ESL1(4), 1ESN(4), 1ESL2(4), 2ESL(4) and 2/3 EAP (4)

• Students in ESOL classes Thai, Chinese, Japanese, Taiwanese, Filipino, Korean, Malaysian, Fijian, Fijian Indian, Samoan, Kiribati, Saudi Arabian, German etc

• 54 international students (August, 2012)• 50 students receiving ESOL funding (March, 2012) compared

to 39 (March, 2011) Only high school in Christchurch to increase ESOL funding after the Feb earthquake.

Sharing what we already know

Think, pair, share

The old system for achieving Level 1 literacy

• Prior to 2011, students could only gain their literacy credits through success in English standards

• English teachers were the ‘gatekeepers’ of literacy qualifications

The current system for achieving NCEA Level 1 literacy

From 2012 onwards students must achieve a minimum of 10 literacy credits through:either Unit standards –three literacy unit standards

(total of 10 credits each – all three required for literacy)

or Achievement standards – specified literacy achievement standards available through a range of subjects including English (minimum total of 10 credits)

Differences between unit standard and achievement standard literacy:

• The literacy achievement standards meet the demands of the NZ Curriculum at level 6 and provide the scope for students to demonstrate reading, writing, speaking and listening skills.

• The literacy unit standards reflect the written and oral language people use in everyday life and work. These can be demonstrated at level/koru 4 of the Learning Progressions for Adult Literacy.

NCEA reporting

The NCEA level 1 certificate indicates how literacy has been achieved:

Either ‘Literacy requirement met by

achievement standards’Or ‘Literacy requirement met by unit

standards’

So – what are the literacy unit standards?

1. Read texts with understanding (US 26624)

2. Write to communicate ideas for a purpose and audience (US 26622)

3. Oral - Actively participate in spoken interactions (US 26625)

Who are these standards intended for?

In a school setting, these standards are intended for three main groups of year 11/12 students:

1. Those operating below level 6 of the curriculum

2. Those who can work cognitively at level 6 but cannot yet gain literacy achievement standards because of the language demands eg ELLs

Who are these standards intended for?

3. Those whose subject choices provide them with insufficient opportunities to achieve literacy through

achievement standards

HOWEVER: They are not designed for use in year 10 as a backup option

Common features

• The standards must be assessed on the basis of ‘naturally occurring evidence’..

• From a ‘range of real contexts’ (ie part of the student’s everyday life and may include their classroom, workplace or other contexts)

• ‘Collection of evidence over time’ Assessment via portfolio

Literacy and EAL

What are they and how do they compare?

What is literacy?

• Traditionally defined as the ability to read and write

• Definitions have widened to include “computer literacy”, “driver literacy”, and “critical literacy” (Limbrick and Aikman, 2005, p.11)

First language literacy

Many people from migrant and refugee backgrounds arrive in New Zealand with literacy abilities in their own respective languages.

This needs to be celebrated and utilised for educational and economic gain. (Submission for the Tertiary Commission on the Adult Literacy and Numeracy Strategy Implementation, TESOLANZ, 2012, p.4)

Literacy in English

‘As language is central to learning and English is the medium for most learning in the New Zealand Curriculum, the importance of literacy in English cannot be overstated.’ (p.16, NZC)

Literacy in the NZC

‘For each area, students need specific help from their teachers as they learn:• the specialist vocabulary associated with that area;• how to read and understand its texts;• how to communicate knowledge and ideas in appropriate ways;• how to listen and read critically, assessing the value of what they hear and read.’ (NZC, 2007, p.16)

Literacy in the NZC

‘In addition to such help, students who are new learners of English or coming into an English-medium environment for the first time need explicit and extensive teaching of English vocabulary, word forms, sentence and text structures, and language uses.’ (NZC,2007, p.16)

What is EAL?

‘There are fundamental differences in the processes underlying first and second language and literacy acquisition.’ (Submission for the Tertiary Commission on the Adult Literacy and Numeracy Strategy Implementation, TESOLANZ, 2012, p.2)

The differences between English as a first and an additional language

Grabe and Stroller (2011) identify the three main areas of difference:

1) linguistic and processing 2) individual and experiential3) socio-cultural and institutional

EAL and the Literacy Learning Progressions for

Adults

‘These progressions have not been primarily developed for use by people learning English as a second language. They do not reflect all the elements of learning that are needed by second language learners’ (Learning Progressions for Adult Literacy, Tertiary Commission, 2008, p.45)

What does this all mean for our ESOL learners, ESOL teachers,

mainstream teachers, HOFs, HODs, senior management and

the principal?

Planning and Implementation

1. Setting it up2. Making it work

1. Setting up a literacy U.S. pathway

Questions to consider:• Is there a place for literacy unit

standards in your school?• Who is / could be responsible for

implementing them?• Which students do / would you target?• How are they identified?

Identification of students

Using a range of data, students can be classified into three groups:

1.Those who will definitely need the literacy unit standard pathway

2. Those who may need them (at risk)

Identification of students

3. Those who should gain the necessary credits through the achievement

standard pathway

Key points for monitoring

Essential for monitoring progress and checking predictions:

• Checkpoints during the year• Teamwork (where possible)• Knowledge of how to use student

information systems effectively

2. Making the literacy unit standard pathway work

Questions to consider:• How do you involve other staff?

• How can you encourage student ownership?

• How do you collect / store evidence?

2. Making the literacy unit standard pathway work

• Who is responsible for assessing the standards?

• What resources are available for assessment decisions?

Collection & storage of evidence

• Portfolios are commonly used and held in one central storage place

• Some schools are exploring the use of electronic systems

• Evidence for the oral US can be recorded electronically or in note form. (NZQA has available sample observation sheets)

Assessment and moderation

• A small group or single person may be responsible for the overall assessment

• Portfolios need to be checked for quantity and quality of evidence then assessed holistically

Assessment and moderation

• Decisions are based on:

Evidence requirements and standard clarifications

Exemplars

Learning Progressions for Adult Literacy, Koru 4

Points to note

• Using these standards should not require the development of new assessments specific to these standards

• The focus is on identifying evidence collecting opportunities within existing programmes

Points to note

• Evidence can and should be gathered across learning areas

• Literacy US raise awareness of ELLs across learning areas and develop teachers’ understanding of their language needs

Reflections on our experiences

Challenges and lessons

Lessons learned and continuing challenges

• Time frame – evidence can be carried over two years if necessary

• Literacy US credits are still counted, even if literacy is achieved by AS

• Assessment tasks can be evidence (double-dipping isn’t an issue)

Lessons learned and continuing challenges

• Writing, ER 1.4 – the importance of students editing evidence collected from other learning areas

• Reading – suitability of texts (opportunities for inference)

• Suitable contexts for spoken interactions – not speeches

Resources

NZQA (New Zealand Qualifications Authority) http://www.nzqa.govt.nz/qualifications-standards/qualifications/ncea/ncea-subject-resources/literacy-and-numeracy-level-1/

Specified achievement standards approved for literacyhttp://www.nzqa.govt.nz/about-us/our-role/legislation/nzqa-rules/secondary-schools-supporting-information/literacy-numeracy-2011/lit-num-subjects/

TEC (Tertiary Education Commission). (2008). Literacy Progressions for Adult Learners. http://www.tec.govt.nz/Documents/Publications/Learning-progressions-literacy.pdf

Interviews from schools using literacy UShttp://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/Ministry-curriculum-guides/Secondary-middle-leaders

References1. Limbrick, L., and Aikman, M. (2005). Literacy and English: A discussion document prepared for the Ministry of Education.http://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/content/download/529/3906/file/moe_limbrickpaper.doc (Retrieved 3rd October, 2012)

2. Ministry of Education (2007) The New Zealand Curriculum

3. TESOLANZ (Teachers of English speakers of Other Languages New Zealand). (4th July, 2012) Submission for the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) Te Amorangi Matauranga Matua on the Adult Literacy and Numeracy Strategy Implementation

4. Holden, T (2011) Implementing the literacy unit standards for NCEA level 1http://www.edplus.canterbury.ac.nz/documents/implementing_literacy_unit_standards.pdf

5. TEC (Tertiary Education Commission). (2012). Adult Literacy and Numeracy Implementation Strategy. http://www.tec.govt.nz/Documents/Reports%20and%20other%20documents/Literacy-and-Numeracy-Implementation-Strategy.pdf (Retrieved 2nd October, 2012).

Our contact details:

• Angela Bland, Riccarton High School, BN@riccarton.school.nz

• Athlyn Watt, Pukekohe High School,awatt@pukekohehigh.school.nz