This project has been funded with support from the European Commission.

This publication reflects the views of its authors only, and the Commission cannot be

held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained herein.

The European Framework of Good Practice in

Raising Literacy Levels

Christine Garbe

European Literacy

Conference

Amsterdam, 20-22

January 2016

Closing Session: Toward a

Literate Future in Europe

2

Our starting point: The CALL from the European Commission

“Identify good policy practices in raising literacy levels among children, young people and adults, particularly focusing on low achieving students and adults with inadequate levels of functional literacy.”

European Commission,

Call for a “European Policy Network of

National Literacy Organisations”,

May 2013

3

Our response in the ELINET application (project proposal)

“To gather, select, analyse and disseminate examples of

‘good practice’ in literacy policy from all involved

European countries in applying the criteria defined in the

EFGP.”

“To identify good policy practices in raising literacy levels

of poor achievers in all age groups by developing a

European Framework of Good Practice (EFGP) that can

be applied in all European countries.”

4

Our work process

In 2014 the teams

working on children

(2), adolescents (3)

and adults (4) worked

out a common

Framework of the

Country Reports

(published in the

Research Section of

the ELINET Website)

The original framework

evolved into the Frame of

Reference of the Country

Reports • Theoretical framework

for the 30 reports

• First version of the

“Frame of Reference”:

April 2015, 71 pp.,

published on the

ELINET-Website in the

section “Research”

5

Our work process

Teamleaders of teams

2-4 drafted a “start

version” of the

European Framework

and a “Call for Good

Practice” (Oct/Nov

2014)

The Call for Good

Practice and a Template

for submitting GP

examples were translated

into many languages and

disseminated within

ELINET countries since

December 2014 – and up

to today on our website.

6

CALL for good practice examples in different languages

7

CALL for good practice examples in different languages

8

CALL for good practice examples in different languages

9

What do/ did we consider as „GOOD PRACTICE“?

Our starting point was a distinction between

Good practice:

“should be supported by empirical evidence carried out in scientific evaluation”

Promising practice:

“should be based on research-based programme theory and proven practicability; but without evaluation”.

10

The structure of the European Framework I. AGE GROUPS

Adults (16 – 65 years and

beyond)

• tertiary education/

adult education

• adult literacy

• second-chance

education

• …

Adolescents (10/12 – 18 years)

• secondary schools

• vocational education

and training (VET)

• Adolescent literacy/

content area literacy

• multiliteracies/ digital

literacy

Children (0 – 10/12 years)

• Family literacy

(connected to adult

literacy)

• early childhood/

preschool education/

emergent literacy

• primary education/

acquisition of literacy/

learning to read and

write

11

The structure of the European Framework (EFGP)

II. POLICY AREAS

• The EFGP and the related examples cover 12 policy areas in three categories according to the framework of the High Level Expert Group´s Literacy Report.

• The three categories are:

i. Creating a literate environment

ii. Improving the quality of teaching

iii. Increasing participation, inclusion and equity

12

RELEVANT POLICY AREAS

i. Creating a literate environment

1. Familiy literacy programmes 2. Book gifting programmes 3. Emergent literacy 4. Reading (and writing) promotion programmes

for children and adolescents 5. Features of a positive literate environment for

adults

13

RELEVANT POLICY AREAS

ii. Improving the quality of teaching 1. Comprehensive literacy programmes

2. Programmes fostering digital literacy and

multi-literacy skills

3. Literacy curricula

4. Screenings / assessment tools for identifying

literacy lerners´ needs

5. Literacy instruction in schools

6. Teacher education and professional

development

14

RELEVANT POLICY AREAS

iii. Increasing participation, inclusion and equity

1. Closing the gaps: Programmes offering provision of literacy learning opportunities to disadvantaged groups

15

Our methodology: an iterative approach

Country Report

Frame of Reference

Analysis of

good practice examples

THE ELINET FRAMEWORK OF

GOOD PRACTICE IN LITERACY POLICIES

16

A European Literacy Communication Platform

www.eli-net.eu

17

WANTED: Submit your Examples of Good Practice to ELINET

18

Collecting Examples of Good Practice

Good Practice examples were collected by 31 March 2015

(preliminary deadline).

ELINET received by then:

examples targeted at children

examples targeted at adolescents

examples targeted at adults

Most popular areas:

Reading animation/reading for pleasure

Readers with special needs

19

Setting up a transparent Review Process

Appointing Peer-Reviewers

Teamleaders of teams 2 (children) and 3 (adolescents) appointed about 50 ELINET members as reviewers for the different areas, according to their expertise

About 20 of those reviewers were appointed to coordinate the reviews within one area / one age-group

We carried out pilot-reviews of two examples, in order to pilot our criteria and our review template

20

Setting up a transparent Review Process

Each submitted example (in teams 2 and 3) has been reviewed by:

Two independent ELINET reviewers

One area-coordinator

One teamleader (for final approval or – in case of non-agreement of reviewers – for appointing one more reviewer)

21

Proposed Criteria – agreed on the 2nd ELINET conference in Budapest (April 2015)

Eight general criteria were established (and later revised):

1. A clear focus on struggling readers/writers

2. A clear and sound conceptual basis

3. A clear definition of objectives

4. Documentation concerning the implementation of the

program

5. Transparent documentation of the evaluation

6. Transferability:

7. The information on outcomes and evaluations

8. Sustainability of project results

22

From reviews of GP examples to the European Framework:

• In case of approval: Final-editing of the examples (enriching them with fotos and additional material / information) and show-casing them on the ELINET-Website (currently: about 60 examples online)

• Further developing the Framework of Good Practice in bringing both approaches – top-down and bottom-up – together: Workshop with all review coordinators in November 2015 in Cologne

• Contribution of review coordinators to area-specific features of good practice in chapters 2 – 4 of the Framework

23

Acknowledgements to our contributors Valeria Balbinot, Italy

Viv Bird, England

JD Carpentieri, England

Henrietta Dombey, England

Reinhard Ehgartner, Austria

Rosie Flewitt, England

Maria de Lourdes Dionísio, Portugal

Lucia Kákonyi, Hungary

Jenny Litster, England

George Manolitsis, Greece

Nicolae Pellegrini, Romania

Jolana Ronková, Czech Republik

Ann-Sofie Selin, Finland

Janos Steklacs, Hungary

Sari Sulkunen, Finland

Eufimia Tafa, Greece

Giorgio Tamburlini, Italy

Anne Uusen, Estonia

Ariana Vacaretu, Romania

Esther Wiesner, Switzerland

24

Where are we now? The first complete draft is online!

25

How does the Framework look like? Example: „Comprehensive literacy programmes“

Features of good practice for children and adolescents:

• Literacy is approached on a life-wide and life-long front with cross-sectorial partnerships, i.e. literacy is addressed in diverse contexts throughout life.

• At schools, literacy is in the focus of comprehensive school development programmes engaging all teachers, parents, librarians and other staff; it may include volunteers as well.

• The support for the development of motivation and achievement in literacy is long-lasting or intensive enough.

26

How does the Framework look like? Example: „Comprehensive literacy programmes“

Features of good practice for children and adolescents:

• In programmes focusing on schools and developing teaching of literacy, training for teachers or professional development activities are provided.

• Diverse materials and methods combined with explicit teaching of literacy are used (in school programmes).

• Schools are offered commitment and support from communities and from school principals (leadership level), as well as active engagement and participation of teachers and staff.

27

Outlook

Next steps until the end of ELINET project:

• Finalizing the drafted version in cooperation / feedback with all contributors

• Finalizing reviews of good practice examples and presenting all approved examples on our website

Beyond the funding period of ELINET:

• Disseminating the EFGP to policymakers, researchers and practitioners

• Collecting, reviewing and sharing examples of good practice across Europe

• Further developing and updating the Framework of Good Practice („living document“).

Coordinator of the ELINET project:

University of Cologne

Prof. Dr. Christine Garbe

Institut für Deutsche Sprache und Literatur II

Richard-Strauss-Str. 2

50931 Cologne - GERMANY

28

Thank you. IM

PR

INT