an introduction to the secondary literacy project

Woolf Fisher Research CentreThe University of Auckland

An introduction to the Secondary Literacy Project

November 25, 2009

SLP National Training Day

Aaron Wilson


Overview of the day Aims Adolescent Literacy Project design Effective intervention models


SLP overarching goal To increase the achievement of

underachieving Year 9 and 10 students in reading and writing, specifically targeting underachieving Maori and underachieving Pasifika students.


SLP aims to: Raise student achievement in

literacy; Increase leaders’ & teachers’

knowledge of evidence-based practice;

Enhance leaders’ & teachers’ knowledge of effective adolescent literacy practice;

Develop effective professional learning communities.


Underlying assumption

“Notwithstanding the influence of factors such as socio-economic status, home and community, student learning is strongly influenced by what and how teachers teach.”

(Timperley, 2009)

How might you rephrase this statement in conversation with teachers in your school about SLP?


‘average expected growth’

low

parallel

accelerated

Entry Intervention

Acceleration


Acceleration and distribution logic Acceleration is a developmental argument A 1:1 early intervention programme must

change the rate of acquisition / progress to faster than the cohort (Reading Recovery)

Over the brief but intensive period learner should come to function within the average bands required for their classroom

Same problem in schooling improvement but different outcome– Not all of the target students

functioning within the average band, rather distributions becoming indistinguishable from the national distribution


Balancing actThere are several potential tensions that need

to be balanced within the context of limited resources

shared vs. individual needs support vs. challenge autonomy (at every level) vs. a more

directive approach planned vs. flexible approaches addressing specific prioritised PD needs

but within a broader programme of literacy PD

SLP: A garish world of abbreviations!

MoE

WFRC

SSS

FG SMT

NC

LF

RF

LL

SLP


NC & MoE

Regional SSS

LLs & SMT

Teachers

Students

Intervention Layers


National Coordination Design overall shape of SLP Inquiry at national level, including

analysis of student achievement data Support RF/LF Advise MoE Develop key common tools and

resources SSS monitoring and feedback


Literacy & Regional Facilitator Roles Collaborate with LL and SMT to support needs-analysis,

plan professional learning, and evaluate intervention Strengthen LLs’ literacy pedagogical content knowledge Build capacity of LL to facilitate focus-group sessions. May

lead some PD sessions for purpose of modeling effective facilitation.

Build capacity to observe and give feedback to focus-group teachers

Co-facilitate some whole-staff sessions in collaboration with literacy leader

Support school to meet data-gathering and reporting obligations

Plan and deliver regional hui


Literacy Leader RoleLL will be supported by external facilitator and SMT to:

Support and challenge teachers and school leaders to implement more effective literacy practices

Carry out needs-analyses (at student, teacher and organisational levels)

Plan and deliver professional learning programmes Facilitate focus-group sessions Observe and give feedback to focus-group

teachers Lead whole-staff sessions Ensure data-gathering and reporting obligations are

met


School Leaders (SMT)

Promote and participate in the professional learning

Develop school structures and systems that support the ongoing effectiveness of the project

Assert the pivotal role of literacy learning in all aspects of the NZ Curriculum

Support and promote status of literacy leader Ensure that SLP aligns with school strategic

plan and all other initiatives Ensure that all contractual obligations are met Involve the BoT and school community in the

project


Literacy Leader LearningDeveloped through: National & regional hui In-school facilitation

3 key themes Adolescent literacy pedagogical content

knowledge Inquiry Leading literacy professional development


Layers of intervention within school

Whole-staff PD – all teachers Focus Group – about 12 teachers Individual Focus Group teachers School leadership & organisation

Adolescents entering the adult world in the 21st century will read and write more than at any other time in human history. They will need advanced levels of literacy to perform their jobs,run their households, act as citizens, and conduct their personal lives. They will needliteracy to cope with the flood of informationthey will find everywhere they turn. They will need literacy to feed their imaginations so they can create the world of the future. In a complex and sometimes even dangerous world, their ability to read will be crucial.

(Moore et al. 1999, p.99)


Focus of this project

Academic literacy Reading and writing Literacy in mainstream cross-

curricular classrooms Content-area discourse Developing literacy skills

students can use with increasing independence


We need to increase the:

Amount of reading and writing

Quality of reading and writing opportunities

Explicit teaching about reading and writing


Relationship of written to oral & visual language

LanguageModes

Receptive Productive

Oral Listening Speaking

Written Reading Writing

Visual Viewing Presenting


Reading and writing float on a sea of talk

(Britton,1993)


The New Zealand Curriculum Vision is for young people to be:

Confident Connected Actively involved Lifelong learners


Key Competency: Using language, symbols, and texts “Students who are competent users of

language, symbols, and texts can interpret and use words, number, images, movement, metaphor, and technologies in a range of contexts. They recognise how choices of language, symbol or text affect people’s understanding and the ways in which they respond to communications”


Links to other key competencies

Thinking: using creative, critical and metacognitive processes to make sense of information, experiences and ideas

Managing self Relating to others Participating and contributing


Where are the links between SLP and NZC? Vision Principles Values ‘Learning Areas’ introduction

(p.16) ‘Effective pedagogy’ (p.34/35)


Features of adolescent literacy Reading and writing demands are very

different from those placed on students in primary schools

Texts increase in sophistication Reading and writing demands in

content areas become increasingly specialised

‘Generalised’ literacy does not necessarily translate into content area/disciplinary literacy

(McDonald & Thornley 2005,T. & C. Shanahan 2008)


What is ‘text’ in a secondary context?

In content learning areas students need to be able to read texts such as:

information from subject textbooks graphs, diagrams or tables web pages assessment tasks extended texts word problems in mathematics sets of instructions


Secondary text complex ideas and information longer texts (or short & dense) sophisticated themes, complex plots and

relationships, unfamiliar settings ideas and information written for a general

adult (rather than specialist or technical) readership

academic and content-specific vocabulary that expresses abstract concepts


Secondary text contd. terminology, text structures and

conventions that may have different meanings or function differently in different curriculum areas

low-frequency vocabulary (words, phrases and expressions) e.g. glass ceiling,

non-sequential organisation that may include complex sections and graphics that are not clearly linked


Cross-curricular literacy texts Read the extracts from Level 2

external NCEA assessments Discuss the implications these have

for effective literacy teaching in your school.

Inadequate responses Leaving it to the English department Minimising opportunities for students to read independently Simplifying the texts that students read and write Summarising the text for students e.g. providing notes to copy Focus on (receptive) vocabulary only Scaffolding ‘in’ but not scaffolding ‘out’ Providing support - but not developing independence Providing isolated activities without a clear purpose and without

reference to evidence of need Remedial withdrawal programmes that do not focus on content-

area literacy demands Not evaluating the impact of literacy activities on literacy learning.


English language learners learn best when:

They are provided with meaningful, high challenge/high support tasks;

Language learning is amplified rather than simplified;

They are engaged in long term projects that help them connect their funds of knowledge with newly acquired concepts and language over time.

Based on Walqui 2003

Students in a particular class begin the year with lower reading

comprehension than their peers in another

class

In response, their teachers give them fewer

opportunities to read, and when they do, the texts are

simplified

Therefore, they get less exposure to rich and

authentic texts than their peers

So, the gaps in reading comprehension between the two groups get even

bigger

Scaffolding

Scaffolding is placed around the outside of a new building to allow builders access to the emerging structure as

it rises from the ground. Once the building is able to support itself, the

builder removes the scaffolding.

- Jennifer Hammond


Key Principles of SLP

1. Effective teachers have developed expertise.

2. Effective instructional decisions need to be based on quality evidence and ongoing inquiry.

3. Effective instruction provides a set of optimal conditions for content-area literacy learning. These optimal conditions are described in the guidelines below.


Literacy instruction is effective when it:

1. Provides students with extensive opportunities to engage with a wide range of appropriately challenging written text.

2. Is differentiated to address individual literacy needs, interests & experiences.

3. Clarifies and shares literacy learning intentions and criteria for success.

4. Provides students with specific feedback about the literacy aspect(s) of their learning.

5. Supports students to make effective use of how texts are organised (e.g. headings, different paragraph structures).

6. Develops students’ skills to make links to prior knowledge and/or build necessary background knowledge.


…and when it develops students’:

7. vocabulary and vocabulary-solving skills. 8. Use of key comprehension strategies.9. flexible use and integration of written, oral, and

visual modes.10. receptive and productive language use.11. skills to engage with text beyond a literal/factual

level.


Recommended Reading:

– McDonald,T. & Thornley, C., (2005). Literacy teaching and learning during the secondary years:Establishing a pathway for success to NCEA and beyond. Set:Research information for teachers 2:9-14

– McDonald,T. & Thornley, C.,(2006). Adolescent Literacy: A Review of Recent Literature. Dunedin: Education Associates

– Shanahan, T. & Shanahan, C, (2007). Teaching disciplinary literacy to adolescents: rethinking content-area literacy. Harvard Educational Review, 78,(1) 40-59.

an introduction to the secondary literacy project

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