The Literacy Leadership
programme for primary schools
| The Literacy Leadership programme for principals and literacy leaders in years 1 to 6 is a national professional development initiative to raise student achievement in literacy. In particular, it builds schools' capabilities for improving the achievement of students who are not performing to their potential. Some two thousand schools have entered the programme since it began three years ago.
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The Literacy Leadership programme has four key intended outcomes. It aims to:
- develop the knowledge and skills of principals and literacy leaders to help them enhance their literacy programme in years 1 to 6;
- foster good-quality teaching practice;
- reinforce high-quality, school-wide policies and practices;
- support effective communities of professionals.
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The programme supports teachers through goal-related, classroom-based initiatives. They identify a target group of students and gather baseline data on literacy performance before focusing on improving aspects of their teaching practice. They then collect comparative data to see whether they have met their goals.
Schools will find the programme's process of evaluating the class situation, setting student achievement goals, and monitoring progress towards them to be consistent with the new planning and reporting requirements for schools.
The
Enhancement Programme
This year has seen the third intake of schools in the Enhancement
Programme (the second phase of the Literacy Leadership programme), which
further examines literacy practices and the setting of goals to lift
achievement. Over 900 schools have now participated in this phase.
Feedback from schools indicates good results, particularly in the development of a learning culture in which teachers reflect on and talk about what they are doing and monitor how their teaching affects student achievement.
A
second-chance, entry-level phase
This is currently running for first-time principals and literacy leaders and for schools that have not yet entered the Literacy Leadership programme.
A new workshop will run in term 3 2002. This will give participants the opportunity to explore in-depth aspects of areas such as reading and writing; home-school partnerships; and effective transitions between teaching and learning contexts, both between and within schools.
Reporting
on Literacy Leadership
The Ministry of Education has recently contracted the University of Auckland to evaluate the effectiveness of the Literacy Leadership programme.
Schools have also been encouraged to write case studies to tell how they are meeting their goals for improved student achievement. Eight case studies have been distributed to all schools and can also be viewed at www.tki.org.nz/e/literacy
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What's happening for years 7 and 8?
An exploratory study is currently under way to investigate the literacy-related needs of principals, literacy leaders, and teachers at years 7 and 8. Some principals in full primaries have already been involved in the Literacy Leadership programme, and others have indicated that they would like to participate in the programme for secondary schools.
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