I am having more success by doing less and I love it

 In 2024, NZQA introduced new standards for NCEA L1 and maths was hit hard as 13 achievement standards worth over 40 credits in total were reduced to 4 worth a total of 20 credits. The workload was unmanageable for most learners as they struggled with both the quantity and quanlity of evidence needed to meet the standard.

I created CHEAT sheets for each standard with:

*achievement criteria in "student speak" so that learners could interpret and understand the standard 

*research-based literacy strategies to equip learners with the necessary skills for the standard

*learning strategies to assist them with learning and understanding  

The programme for each standard had a selection of:

*rewindable learning resources

*apps to draw graphs and/or do calculations

*online quizzes with immediate feedback

*exemplars 

In the first term of 2024, only 2 learners were able to complete the 5 NUMERACY credit standard, so I reviewed and redesigned the course slightly in the second term and had a similar result which was quite alarming. 

What I noticed was that I had to sometimes go as far back as curriculum level 3 to help fill the gaps so that learners could work their way with more confidence to work at curriculum level 6. That was my mistake as my programme was too long and learners were giving up before completing the course.

When the revised progamme did not have the desired effect, I shifted my focus from "what can I do" to "what can my learners do" and that made all the difference. At the end of 2024, I set a goal for myself to turn students into curious learners, where they would check online for resources (either videos or images) to complement already-existing resources and take more responsibility for their learning, as opposed to being so reliant on me.

Below is a visual of student engagement using a tracking system.

                          2024 after 10 weeks                                           2025 after 5 weekes

                                          

standard met (move on to the next activity)

standard not met (work is incomplete or needs some editing)

 no evidence of learning 

standard met due to prior knowledge. 

My learners are engaging more with their learning by taking more responsibility. I am having more success by doing less and I love it.