Improving teaching practice

Much practice in New Zealand classrooms reflects many of the features set out in the diagram under Dimensions of effective practice. Some of it does not – hence the underachievement of particular groups of students. The Literacy Experts Group, for example, expressed the concern that teachers do not always select appropriate strategies, particularly when working with struggling readers: "For some struggling readers, teachers may need to place a stronger emphasis on the development of word-level skills and strategies" (Literacy Experts Group Report to the Secretary for Education, page 10).

As schools review their policies and practices during the annual planning and reporting process, they are identifying specific aspects of literacy to work on. This Curriculum Update describes some examples of schools' programmes; see Pilot study - Thames High School, A Kaipara success story, and Rosebank School's experience. Further case studies can be found at www.tki.org.nz/e/literacy

Targeted teacher professional development is producing good outcomes. For example, the Early Childhood Primary Links via Literacy (ECPL) Project report, Picking up the Pace, describes the positive results of concentrated professional development in literacy instruction with groups of early childhood professionals and teachers of new entrants in Māngere and Ōtara. By the time they were six, the children taught by these teachers were reading and writing at or near the expected levels achieved by six-year-olds across the country.

The Māori Mainstream Pilot programmes seek to build teachers' ability to engage with Māori students. Not every one of these pilot programmes focuses on literacy learning, but the data gathered from each uses literacy improvement as a critical measure of success.

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