Making a shift

One of my five Maori learners has met our school credit protocol. The sharing, discussing and analysis of achievement data with my learners on a regular basis has not had the desired effect as learners are well aware that they are not achieving across all 5 learning areas. I have failed in my attempt to use data to shift academic achievement. What now?

I will now shift my focus (although still share and discuss data with learners) to build student efficacy and get learners to believe in their ability as much as I do. Building efficacy will be done quite deliberately and explicitly and learners will be aware that this will be our focus for the remainder of the year.

Our plan of attack will be:
- discuss subject-specific terminology in an introductory lesson
- provide more choice of activities for the day
- implement focused literacy strategies for the standard being taught
- use learner interest to complement contextual learning
- buddy up peers to hold each other accountable

Does confidence breed success?

Trends across all learning areas show that NCEA Level 1 Maori learners are underperforming and not meeting the 4 credit per subject per term protocol.

43% of our NCEA L1 Maori learners across all 5 maths classes have 0 credits to date, 67% are in my class.

Nine NCEA Level 1 Maori learners were on my roll at the start of the year: I now have 5.

Learner 1

0/40 credits across all 5 subjects by July

0% attendance

Transferred to another maths class in term 3

Learner   2

0/40 credits across all 5 subjects by July

Enrolled in alternative education

Learner  3

3/40 credits across all 5 subjects by July (0 in maths)

15% attendance

Late enrolment in term 1

Left midway through term 2

Learner 4

4/40 credits across all 5 subjects by July (0 in maths)

71% attendance

Late enrolment in term 1

Learner 5

4/40 credits across all 5 subjects by July (0 in maths)

85% attendance

Relocated with family mid-term 2

Learner 6

92% attendance

8/40 credits across all 5 subjects by July (0 in maths)

Learner 7

69% attendance

14/40 credits across all 5 subjects by July (0 in maths)

Stood down for 3 days

Learner 8

58% attendance

15/40 credits across all 5 subjects by July (3 in maths)

Learner 9

80% attendance

Exceeded the 40 credits protocol with 51 credits across all 5 subjects by July (7 in maths)

Stood down for 2 weeks

Learners were aware of their achievement or lack thereof, so building efficacy is our next focus so that confidence can breed success.

Do Learners Respond favourably to Google Calendar?

Google calendars are one of the many ways that we promote visible teaching and learning at our college. The use of basic coding (if I can do it, anyone can...... trust me......) is used to hyperlink resources and learning activities so that learning is one click away and can be accessed at any time giving learners the flexibility to:
- backtrack to either complete missed work or to reinforce learning
- plan ahead if they will not be at school
- access learning whether they are at school or home.

Learners struggle to use this excuse "I don't know what to do" feasible because Calendars are learner-friendly and easy to use.

Scanning

There was a general consensus that learners did not like maths and neither did their older siblings or whanau when they were at school.

None of the learners met the college’s termly credit protocol of 4 credits per subject per term.

Learners showed a lack of confidence verbalising prior knowledge and could not articulate the support that they needed for success.

Intervention

A template was created outlining

Achievement criteria in “student speak”, Literacy strategies and Teaching strategies

Learners became more fluent and explicit when seeking assistance/support and the use of  literacy strategies seemed to build learner confidence as they were engaging more with their learning with regard to quality and quantity. Mathematical thinking was more visible and students responded more favourably to written and verbal feedback as they managed their learning. A few learners however still struggled to settle into a routine.

Various responses from whanau were;

“I have tried talking to my child and her response to after-school classes is not favourable”, “I don’t know what else to do, my child does not listen to me”, “Thank you for your support, I will have a chat with my child” and “Thank you for letting me know, it is good to know that my child has a caring teacher”.

Despite learners engaging more with their learning only 1 was confident enough to sit the final assessment at the end of term 2. Building learner confidence and efficacy will be our next step.