Smarter Schools National Partnerships
Improving Literacy and Numeracy National Partnership
Victoria
Submissions to National Evidence Base
Registration details
*First name: / Bruce*Last name: / Armstrong
*Email: /
Confirm email: /
School/Organisation: / Bastow Institute of Educational Leadership (DEECD)
Role/Job title: / Director
Postal address: / P.O. Box 1063, North Melbourne, Victoria, 3051
State: / VICTORIA
Postcode: / 3051
*Phone: / (03) 8199 2900
Mobile: / 0448 314 300
Fax: / N/A
IMPORTANT NOTE: All fields or questions marked with an asterisk (*) must be completed or the strategy cannot be submitted for assessment.
Background information
*Submission TitleLeading Literacy Professional Learning Course
*Description
Please provide 2-3 sentences which capture the essence of your literacy/numeracy initiative.
The intent of this professional learning intiative was to support school leaders to build their knowledge and capacity in literacy learning and development to create the climate and conditions necessary to build the capacity of all teachers to develop high standards of literacy instruction to improve the literacy learning otucomes of all student cohorts in their school community.
A key innovative aspect of this initiative was blended learning opportunites for participants to individually and collaboratively explore and develop a deeper understanding of:
- contemporary literacy processing theories and research
- contemporary pedagogical practices to support differentiated curriculum design and implementation
- evidence-based leasdership capabilities supportive of improved and sustained teacher literacy
practices and pedagogy.
*State associated with the initiative.
(place X against corresponding state)
Australian Capital Territory
New South Wales
Northern Territory
Queensland
South Australia
Tasmania
Victoria
Western Australia
Secondary contact details:
*First name: / Chris
*Last name: / Dickinson
School/Organisation name: / Bastow Institute of Educational Leadership
Role/Job title: / Learning Designer
*Email: /
*Phone: / (03) 8199 2938
Associated organisation
Organisation Type (place X against corresponding groups)School
Organisation
Organisation name
Bastow Institute of Educational Leadership (DEECD)
Organisation contact details
*Email: / N/A
*Postal address: / PO Box 1063
*State: / Australian Capital TerritoryNew South WalesNorthern TerritoryQueenslandSouth AustraliaTasmaniaVictoriaWestern Australia
*Postcode: / 3051
*Phone: / (03) 8199 2900
CEO contact details
*Name: / Bruce Armstrong
*Email: /
Mobile:
Related publications
Associated publication, strategy or commercial product details.Is there a particular publication, strategy or commercial product associated with, identified or cited as central to the initiative in this submission?
Yes
No
If yes, please provide details.
Name or title of the publication or product:
The owner’s name:
The owner’s phone:
The owner’s email:
The owner’s address:
Website details:
Description of initiative
1. * Is this initiative aimed at school-aged children? (place X against corresponding groups)Yes
No
2. * Which skill(s) does the initiative target? (place X against corresponding skill)
Literacy
Numeracy
Literacy and Numeracy
Other (please specify)
3. * Indicate the target group for the project or initiative.
You may tick more than 1 option. (place X against corresponding groups)
Primary school students
Secondary school students
Special school students
Teachers of primary school students
Teachers of secondary school students
Teachers of special school students
Teacher educators
Principals of primary school students
Principals of secondary school students
Principals of special school students
Parents and caregivers of primary school students
Parents and caregivers of secondary school students
Parents and caregivers of special school students
Cluster of schools
4. * What was the size of the target group?
Please indicate how many students, teachers or principals this initiative was delivered to.
(Max 3,500 characters)
Two separate courses were implemented between August 2011 to November 2012. A total of 78 participants from 78 schools participated in the professional learning initiative representing both primary and secondary schools in both rural and metropolitan settings. Particpants included principals and school leaders.
It should be noted that as a significant aspect of the professional learning included the role of literacy leaders working with teachers in their school community, the actual number of teachers and their students directly impacted by the initiative has not been quantified, but is likely to be greater than the figures for actual attendance noted above.
Selected student literacy outcome data was progressively monitored at each school setting during the initiative, in response to identified students' literacy learning needs and whole school literacy priorities and targets specific to each school community.
5. * What year levels did the initiative target?
If the initiative targeted teachers or principals, indicate the year levels that best apply.
(place X against corresponding groups)
Prep/Kindergarten/foundation
Year 1
Year 2
Year 3
Year 4
Year 5
Year 6
Year 7
Year 8
Year 9
Year 10
Year 11
Year 12
Description of initiative (continued)
6. * Which student groups did the initiative target?If the initiative targeted teachers or principals, indicate the year levels that best apply.
(place X against corresponding groups)
Indigenous students
ESL students
Low SES students
Students with a disability
Students at or below the National Minimum Standard
Gifted and talented students
Other
New arrivals and refugee students
Initiative targeted students from all student groups or was not targeted to particular student groups
7. * What was the geographic location of the initiative?
(place X against corresponding groups)
Metropolitan
Regional
Rural
Remote
Very remote
Unsure or not clear
8. * Please indicate the total cost of the initiative.
Please describe, if possible, the costs associated with the implementation of this initiative. (if applicable)
Was a cost benefit analysis done for this initiative?
* Personnel costs / $112, 486.00
* Materials / $15, 901.00
* Administrative / $10, 395.00
* Capital costs
Other (please describe what this includes)
Venue, catering, travel, accommodation, CRT replacement, ICT infrastructures / $69,902.00
Total / $208, 684.00
9. * Where did the funding for this come from?
(you may check more than 1 option)
School/cluster funding
State or Territory Government funding
Australian Government funding
Privately raised funding
Other (please indicate the source)
(Max 3,500 characters)
10. * To what extent were in-kind contributions needed for the initiative to be implemented?
In-kind contributions refer either to staff and community volunteers or donated material resources or both. The response to this question provides an indication of the extent to which volunteers or donations may have been required for the initiative to have been implemented effectively
Not at allto a minor extentto a moderate extentto a major extent If either moderate or major, please describe.
(Max 1000 characters)
Schools nominated course participants and made a co-contribution of $330.00 per particpant.
Objectives and design of the initiative
11. * What factors prompted the adoption of the initiative?Local assessments of student performance
Student results from NAPLAN
Meeting the needs of a changing student demographic
Raising expectations of student performance
A professional learning experience introducing new ideas or research
Distributed leadership
Other (please describe)
12. * What were the main objectives of the initiative?
Specifically, what student capabilities were you trying to improve? [200-400 words]
(Max 3,500 characters)
The Leading Literacy Professional Learning course aimed to build the capacity of school leaders to work with teachers in their school community to develop sustainable improvement in student literacy outcomes.
The objectives of the intiative are to:
- increase leadership capacity to work with teachers to improve student literacy outcomes by developing a
deep understanding of literacy theories and practices to support collaboarative professional learning
- develop literacy leadership self-assessment practices and instructional leadership capabilities
- deliver improved student outcomes in literacy by evaluating existing school-based literacy practices and
collaborative teacher professional learning processes to identify students' existing literacy learning needs and
differentiate curriculum planning and instruction accordingly
- build sustained whole-school improvement in teacher capacity and student literacy outcomes by creating a
shared knowledge and understanding of evidence-based literacy theories and practices.
The initiative was designed to present school leaders with a broad range of literacy theories and approaches, to develop a discerning and evaluative knowledge of multiple theoretical perspectives and approaches to literacy learning, and to support school-based decisions regarding the implementation of the existing Victorian curriculum framework (Victorian Essential Learning Standards).
Notably, key fundamental and developmental aspects of student's literacy learning trajectories were incorporated into the professional learning to support school leaders in working with their staff to improve student capabilites in literacy. These areas of knowledge included: oral language competencies, phonological and phonemic knowledge, metacognitive knowledge, reading strategies and dispositions, and the explicit teaching of writing; spelling knowledges (phonological, visual, morphemic, etymological), grammar and text structures and linguistic features and patterns (range of genres and their schematic structures).
13. * In designing the initiative, how did you assess improvements in student performance?
Provide information on the links between the objectives of the initiative and defined performance targets.
You may tick more than 1 option.
Local assessments of student performance
Student results from NAPLAN
Other (please describe)
(Max 3,500 characters)
Assessments of improved student performance in literacy were selected and used at the school level to inform
and review a whole-school literacy improvement plan and inform classroom instruction.
These assessments included NAPLAN and local assessments within the classroom learning program to monitor and review improvements in student performance:
- standardised literacy assessments such as the Teaching of Reading Comprehension (ACER Press, 2003), An
Observation Survey of Early Literacy Achievement (Clay, 2006)
- diagnostic literacy assessments including the English Online Interview (Department of Education and Early
Childhood Development ) and student responses to literacy tasks in the National Assessment Program -
Literacy and Numeracy
- teacher judgements of student achievement against the English domain of the Victorian Essential Learnings
or the English as a Second Language (ESL) Companion to the Victorian Essential Learning Standards
- individual and small group literacy learning conferences
- systematic classroom observations of students' literacy behavoiurs to inform instructional decisions
- criterion-based student learning portfolios
- performance-based assessment tasks to monitor student progress towards identified learning goals.
At the school level, principals and school leaders selected and implemented strategies to assess the impact of learnings from the course on teacher's literacy practices, to support improved student literacy outcomes.
14. * Describe the key ideas and research that supported your selection of this particular initiative.
(Max 3,500 characters)
The Department of Education and Early Childhood Development has contributed to and learned from the national and international research base on school improvement, leadership and teacher practice.
To improve student learning outcomes and aspirations, defining what highly effective teachers do in the classroom remains a priority in the educational reform agenda in Victorian government schools; recognising the significant impact that school leaders have on teaching and learning in classrooms and acknowledging that school leaders require a deep understanding of quality instruction, to effectively support teachers in improving student learning outcomes (DEECD, 2006; 2007; 2012a).
The specific literacy focus for this initiative was informed by longitudinal statewide, national and international system performance data analyses of student outcomes, and the finding that performance across the system had not improved as expected (DEECD, 2012b). This, coupled with the imperative that students develop foundational literacy skills, knowledge and behaviours to support all future learning and the centrality of literacy learning in all other learning areas throughout the years of schooling, provided a contextual and evidence-based imperative for this initiative.
The research base for the course content of this literacy professional learning course for school leaders, presented a range of theoretical and philosophical approaches to provide schools with the flexibility to make locally-informed decisions and moreover, to develop insights into multiple theoretical perspectives to "… guard against the pitfalls and shortcomings of relying exclusively on any one perspective" (Gredelr, 2005).
In broad terms, the theoretical perspectives and teaching implications presented in the course included comparisons of:
- skills-based versus whole language
- print-based versus multiliteracies approaches
- cultural heritage versus critical literacy (DEECD, 2006).
The presentation and professional conversations about these multiple perspectives and approaches supported the course participants to draw on elements of each approach, separately and in combination, focusing on the identifed literacy learning needs of their students without the distraction of debates about varying and competing literacy approaches.
Implementation
15. * How were participants selected for the initiative?Self selection
Analysis of needs
Other (please specify) (Max 3,500 characters)
16. * Provide an overview or narrative of the project, sufficient for a teacher to have a general understanding of the initiative. Include the design and logic, the major stages and what participants did when in each part of the project.
(Max 3,500 characters)
The professional learning initiative focused on increasing the capacity of principals and school leaders to:
- develop a whole-school approach to literacy improvement
- support teachers to review and modify their literacy teaching practices to improve student literacy learning
outcomes.
The course was developed and delivered by literacy experts in the field.
The initative addressed five topics, each topic specific to one of five modules with specified goals of understanding to guide participation, and provide an explicit frame of reference for course participants in developing their knowledge and identifying the implications of the knowledge gained for working with teachers in their school community :
- Understanding the factors that create expert literacy teaching
- Understanding the components of a literacy curriculum
- Improving student outcomes through teacher professional learning
- Using assessment to identify student achievement and directions for further learning
- Leadership and the whole-school professional learning strategy.
The course was undertaken on a weekly basis over an eight month period and included blended learning opportunites and peer learning groups. Between workshops, the participants were supported by, and contributed to, online discussion forums that were facilitated by three literacy experts. Pre-readings were distributed to participants prior to each workshop, to develop a shared language for discussing the key ideas presented in the workshops.
A distinctive feature of the course was a school-based collaborative practitioner research project, for participants to apply the learnings developed throughout the course in their school community, so that theorertical perspectives and evidence-based literacy practices informed curriculum design, planning and instruction.
17. * How were data on the outcomes of the project collected?
Questionnaires
Interviews
Tests or other formal assessments
Other (please specify) (Max 3,500 characters)
Data on the outcomes of the project were collected at two levels, for three distinct cohorts:
Level 1 Course provider and course facilitators
- Questionnaires to course participants during and at the end of the course to monitor their learning and
the relevance of the course content to their local context and school literacy improvement agenda
- Interviews with course participants and facilitators to review the applicability and transfer of knowledge
developed in the school context.
Level 2 Course participants, teachers and students in their school community
- Interviews between course participants and teachers to review the outcomes of the project in shaping and
supporting school-based planning and implementation for improved literacy instruction
- Assessments of student literacy learning outcomes as selected and administered by the schools, to measure
the outcomes of the project on improving student's literacy achievement levels.
18. * Describe the extent to which participants and/or key stakeholders were involved in the design of data collection.
For example, you may have conducted consultations, focus groups, or interviews with parents and caregivers, or consulted teachers, in designing instruments to collect data.
(Max 3,500 characters)
To measure participant's understanding goals throughout the course, consultation between the course provider, course faciltators and participants occured to design and implement the data collection process and included:
- interviews
- online surveys
- focus groups.
At the school level, the design of the data collection process to investigate changes to teacher practice and improved student learning was negotiated between the principals, school leaders and the teachers they worked with, typically discussed at professional learning forums.
19. * What types of comparisons were made to assess the contribution of the initiative in lifting literacy and numeracy outcomes for school students?
Before and after comparisons
Comparisons with participants and non-participants
Both
Comparisons between different categories of participants or stakeholders
Other (please describe) (Max 3,500 characters)
The types of comparisons made to assess the contribution of the initiative in lifting literacy outcomes for students were the responsibility and the role of the course particpants, based on identified local student needs and the existing whole school literacy assessment schedule. As previously detailed, a range of standardised and diagnostic assessment tools were adopted for this purpose, as well as, a number of informal assessment tools including teacher professional judgements and observations of student's literacy behaviours in the classroom context.
Reporting of these student outcomes was not a course requirment, as one of the aims of the course was to empower principals and teacher leaders to lead sustained and significant change in literacy teaching and learning in their school community. However, evaluative reports of the impact of the course on the participants' extended understanding of researched best practices for literacy instruction, and their understanding of formative and summative assessment, indicated that the average response of the participants surveyed, strongly agreed that these had occurred.
20. * How many participants were in each of the comparison groups?
(Max 3,500 characters)
N/A
Outcomes