Better Literacy and Numeracy for Children and Young People Primary Perspective ...

2. Better Literacy and Numeracy for Children and Young PeoplePrimary Perspective... • Current Context • Key Points-Draft Plan • Good Practice

3. Literacy and Numeracy for Children and Young People (Draft 2010) • Introduction-National Targets • Improving teachers’ and ECCE practitioners’ professional practice. • Leadership • Language, Literacy and Numeracy in Early Childhood and Primary • Targeting resources on learners at risk of failure-(DEIS/EAL) • Fostering continuous improvement (Assessment) • Parents and Communities

4. Introduction: Centrality of Planning • Set realistic targets • Identify the steps needed to reach the targets • Put in place the necessary support measures to assist in reaching the targets • Monitor carefully how the targets are being achieved • Alter the targets in light of experience • Maintain a relentless focus on achieving the targets Pg 11/12

5. L&N DP pg 12 “We need to adopt this approach not only at national level but at the level of each school and classroom. Experience in implementing the DEIS strategy over the past three years has demonstrated clearly that whole-school commitment is essential to achieving change and improvement and that every teacher is a key agent of change.”

6. L& N Draft Plan: Targets • increase the percentage of primary children performing at Level 3 and Level 4 (the highest levels) in the National Assessment of Mathematics and English Reading by at least 5 per cent at both second class and sixth class by 2020 • reduce the percentage of children performing at or below Level 1 (minimum) in the National Assessment of Mathematics and English Reading by at least 5 per cent at both second class and sixth class by 2020 Pg 12

7. L&N DP: Targets • improve the oral-language competence of children in early childhood care and education (ECCE) settings, using baseline data from assessments to inform the planning of learning goals • ensure that each school sets and monitors progress in achieving demanding but realistic targets for the improvement of literacy and numeracy skills of its students

8. L&N DP: Targets • · Foster a better culture of reading among children and young people • · Promote better attitudes to mathematics among children and young people.

9. Section 2: Improving Teachers and ECCE practitioners professional practice • Recruiting for ITE • ITE • Support for NQTs • Ongoing CPD

10. Section 2: Improving Teachers and ECCE practitioners professional practice Topics for teacher CPD: • Explicit teaching of the structure and function of written and oral language, basic building blocks of reading, • curriculum based teaching • feedback to children • differentiation • effective use of assessment

11. Section 3: Leadership • Support principals in implementing robust school self-evaluation, focusing in particular on improvements in literacy and numeracy • Provide leadership development programmes for aspiring principals Pg 23

12. Section 4: Language, literacy and Numeracy in Early Childhood and Primary • All teachers to prioritise the development of language, literacy and numeracy • Seamless development of literacy and numeracy skills from early childhood to the end of compulsory education • Research has show that students experience significant and unwarranted changes in teaching approaches between primary and lower secondary education Pg 25-27

13. Section 4: Language, literacy and Numeracy in Early Childhood and Primary • Restructure the infant curriculum so that it builds seamlessly on the approaches to teaching and learning advocated in the Aistear framework • Ensure that children’s development of language and early literacy and numeracy skills are adequately assessed and monitored in early years education • Review the contents of the L1 curriculum at primary level to clarify the learning outcomes to be expected of children • Increase the recommended amount of time to be devoted to the teaching of literacy and numeracy Pg 28-30

14. Section 5: DEIS and EAL Enabling schools to target improvements in the literacy achievements of these students has been one of the key aims in the Department’s DEIS initiative. Early evidence from evaluations of DEIS are showing that some DEIS schools have made great strides in supporting the development of literacy. However, others have been less successful.

15. Section 5: DEIS/EAL • Continue to support enhanced literacy, numeracy and language development in DEIS schools • Develop and implement an oral language development programme in pre-schools that are linked to DEIS primary schools • Improve the targeting of EAL resources • Improve guidance to schools on best practice in teaching students for whom English (or Irish) is a second language • Enable schools to analyse achievement data for EAL students as part of their overall analysis of student achievement • Ensure that the literacy and numeracy needs of EAL students are addressed in initial teacher education and teachers’ continuing professional development

16. Section 6: Assessment • Variety of assessment methods • Using data to set school wide/class goals (complex challenge) • Reporting to parents • Learning outcomes/national standards • Aggregate data • Transferring data

17. Section 6: Use of Assessment “More than half of sixth-class pupils rated as good at reading by their parents could display only the most basic reading skills.”

18. The ‘National Plan’: 6.5. Assessment: Actions • Develop national standards of student achievement for literacy and numeracy to support teachers in generating and using assessment data on students’ learning • Support teachers and schools to use the national standards to assess and report on the literacy and numeracy achievements of students to parents and boards of management • Require all schools to implement standardised tests of reading and mathematics at fixed points, to report outcomes to parents and boards of management, and to use the outcomes to inform school self-evaluation and improvement

19. The ‘National Plan’: 6.5. Assessment: Actions • Collect national data on student achievement using standardised tests, and provide data to schools to enable them to evaluate the comparative performance of their students against national trends and standards • Use aggregated national data on student achievement in literacy and numeracy to support school self-evaluation, school inspection and school improvement pg 45

20. The ‘National Plan’: 7.1 Parents and Communities • Launch a national information campaign to build up awareness of the important role that parents and communities can play in supporting literacy and numeracy learning • Provide direct supports to parents to encourage them to support their children’s language, literacy and numeracy development • Ensure that parental engagement in children’s learning is integrated into each school’s teaching and learning strategy and development plan • Support existing initiatives to link home, school and community literacy and numeracy initiatives pg 49

21. Current Practices

22. Developing Equality of Opportunity in Schools (DEIS) p56 Individual three-year action plan. An assessment of the school’s current situation Locally developed targets under agreed indicators Agreement of targets at whole-school level

23. Template provided for schools

24. 5 Key Areas • Literacy First Steps Writing First Steps Reading First Steps Speaking and Listening Reading Recovery within the context of the PS English Curriculum • Numeracy Ready-Set-Go Maths Maths Recovery within the context of the PS Maths Curriculum • Attendance • Home school partnership • Links with local agencies

25. Good Practice: Literacy/Numeracy Planning • Get the picture-Start with the data • Targets-learning curve • Identify effective practice within the school-consolidate, promote, extend • Any ‘new interventions’ pilot on a small scale with advocates, review, extend • Communicate ‘new interventions’ to stakeholders • Get feedback from actors and stakeholders (record) • Affirm

26. Good Practice: Literacy • Texts suit reading level of child (instructional reading level) • Teach reading comprehension skills • Collaborative work for students e.g. Literacy circles • Teach cross-curricular writing skills • Station teaching for literacy (emergent reader) • Guided reading

27. Good Practice: Numeracy • Early Maths-concrete material with structured language practice opportunities • Station teaching • Maths games-explain and justify • Constructivist approach –shared staff understanding • Cross curricular • Maths rich environment

28. Other Resources • www.ppds.ie • http://www.primaryreview.org.uk/ • www.erc.ie