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Journal Article

Subject Area Literacy Instruction in Low SES Secondary Schools in New Zealand

01 Feb 2017-The Australian Journal of Language and Literacy (Australian Literacy Educators' Association)-Vol. 40, Iss: 1, pp 72
TL;DR: This article investigated patterns of student achievement and subject-area literacy teaching in a cluster of 22 New Zealand secondary schools that serve low-to mid-socio-economic-status (SES) communities.
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to investigate patterns of student achievement and subject-area literacy teaching in a cluster of 22 New Zealand (NZ) secondary schools that serve low-to mid-socio-economic-status (SES) communities. We describe patterns of students' reading achievement in high stakes assessments in English, mathematics and science as well as patterns of literacy teaching across 104 Year 12 subject-area classrooms. The wider context of the study is NZ's high quality but low equity compulsory education system (OECD, 2014). NZ students regularly rank well above the OECD average in mathematics, reading and science but there is a wider gap between high and low-achievers than most other countries (OECD, 2010; Vannier, 2012). Students from low SES backgrounds, Maori (indigenous) and Pasifika (first or second generation immigrants from Pacific island countries) are markedly overrepresented in the tail end of the achievement distributions (OECD, 2010). Maori and Pasifika ethnicities and low SES are also strongly positively correlated. We were interested in understanding how patterns of literacy teaching in subject-areas might contribute to historic patterns of low achievement for students from this group of schools and in identifying teaching practices that could be developed to be more consistent with practices identified as effective in the literature. The specific research questions were: 1. What are the patterns in low SES schools of student participation and achievement in high stakes English, mathematics and science assessments that have complex reading demands? 2. How does literacy instruction across different subject areas in low SES schools reflect increasingly specialised and sophisticated reading and writing challenges in the senior secondary school? 3. How does literacy instruction in low SES schools in different subject areas reflect currently known optimal practices? Internationally, over the past two decades, there has been growing concern about an 'adolescent literacy crisis'. The crisis consists of high school students' reading achievement stagnating or declining, relative to previous cohorts, at a time when the literacy demands of education, work and society are rapidly increasing due to technological, social and economic changes (Jacobs, 2008; Moore, Bean, Birdyshaw & Rycik, 1999) such as the expansion of information-based technologies, the internationalisation of labour markets, and the dramatic decline in the number of jobs that do not require (much) reading or writing (Biancarosa & Snow, 2006; Kamil et al., 2008; Shanahan & Shanahan, 2008). The increasing importance of reading means that, regardless of whether overall levels of reading are actually declining, as they appear to be in the USA (Brozo, Moorman, Meyer & Stewart, 2013), or merely stagnating, as they are in New Zealand (Telford & May, 2010), there is a growing gap between the literacy vision and the reality. Leaving high school without the literacy needed to fully participate in workplace and life situations constrains the life chances of the individuals involved but having large numbers of students leave high school without advanced forms of literacy is also concerning from a community and national perspective. Particularly troubling is that some groups of students -notably minority, indigenous and students from poorer communities --are markedly overrepresented in the lowest achieving groups. Ethnicity and socio-economic based disparities in literacy outcomes are persistent features of the educational systems of the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and other Anglophone nations. Given the importance of literacy--and clear evidence that quality teaching has the potential to improve student learning (Alton-Lee, 2003; Hattie, 2008)--it is unsurprising that much attention has been directed toward better understanding the role that teaching can play in improving literacy outcomes. …
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Dissertation
01 Jan 2019
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined the pedagogical strategies used by teachers and principals of high performing government schools that serve large numbers of students from low socio-economic backgrounds and examined teachers' perceptions of the efficacy of NAPLAN for informing learning and teaching.
Abstract: This thesis examines the pedagogical strategies used by teachers and principals of high performing government schools that serve large numbers of students from low socio-economic backgrounds. Individual interviews were conducted with 16 teachers and 4 principals from four low socio-economic status (SES) primary schools in Victoria, Australia that have higher than expected scores on the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN). Participants were interviewed about the strategies that they use to promote learning in their classrooms and as a school. A secondary aim was to examine teachers’ perceptions of the efficacy of NAPLAN for informing learning and teaching. Three main themes were identified from the data and the strategies discussed were categorised as Teacher Pedagogy and Practice, Engagement and Leadership. To extrapolate, these themes identify what was deemed as most important by the participants when improving academic outcomes. The suite of strategies identified by the participants centre around identifying and overcoming the obstacles to students’ learning, using strategies to address and at times remove the obstacles, while fostering relationships and learning as a school community. All the schools considered themselves “student-centred”, underpinned by an ethos of accountability as educators, driven by the leadership of the schools. Participants believed that NAPLAN was useful for tracking performance gains over multiple years but it was unanimously viewed as an irrelevant tool for supporting learning or teaching. Teachers noted that they did not devote much time to preparing students for NAPLAN, nor did their school give it much emphasis either. Implications for practice suggest the importance of providing students from this cohort with a holistic educational experience coupled with strategic intervention in order to address the obstacles that are deemed prevalent for this student demographic.

8 citations

Posted Content
TL;DR: It is found that ethnic group differences in entropy are moderated by high school SES, such that sub-populations at higher SES schools had lower entropy, an observation that may be explained by increased enrolments in key science and mathematics standards.
Abstract: The current study uses a network analysis approach to explore the STEM pathways that students take through their final year of high school in Aotearoa New Zealand. By accessing individual-level microdata from New Zealand's Integrated Data Infrastructure, we are able to create a co-enrolment network comprised of all STEM assessment standards taken by students in New Zealand between 2010 and 2016. We explore the structure of this co-enrolment network though use of community detection and a novel measure of entropy. We then investigate how network structure differs across sub-populations based on students' sex, ethnicity, and the socio-economic-status (SES) of the high school they attended. Results show the structure of the STEM co-enrolment network differs across these sub-populations, and also changes over time. We find that, while female students were more likely to have been enrolled in life science standards, they were less well represented in physics, calculus, and vocational (e.g., agriculture, practical technology) standards. Our results also show that the enrolment patterns of the Maori and Pacific Islands sub-populations had higher levels of entropy, an observation that may be explained by fewer enrolments in key science and mathematics standards. Through further investigation of this disparity, we find that ethnic group differences in entropy are moderated by high school SES, such that the difference in entropy between Maori and Pacific Islands students, and European and Asian students is even greater. We discuss these findings in the context of the New Zealand education system and policy changes that occurred between 2010 and 2016.

3 citations

Journal Article
TL;DR: In this article, a case study that investigated literacy teaching practices in a Year 7 mathematics classroom and specifically, the practices around teaching mathematical reportwriting and the conditions that might have enabled or constrained them.
Abstract: Nationally and internationally, teachers are being held increasingly accountable for student achievement, particularly in light of high stakes literacy and numeracy tests. Policies have been implemented that are designed to improve educational outcomes through raising student literacy levels across all school years in all subject areas. This has resulted in all teachers being seen as teachers of literacy. Research around the teaching of literacy in mathematics supports the view that focusing on the language of mathematics will assist students to move from the concrete to the more abstract understandings required in the older year levels (Schleppergrell, 2007). However, this can be challenging for teachers who might be subject, but not language, specialists. In this paper, we report on a case study that investigated literacy teaching practices in a Year 7 mathematics classroom and specifically, the practices around teaching mathematical reportwriting and the conditions that might have enabled or constrained them. Findings suggest that while teaching the general writing required in mathematics might be part of teaching practice, if practices are to change, school leaders need to provide both time and money to enable teachers to develop their knowledge of specific disciplinary writing practices.

3 citations