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    

I love it when a plan comes together

I have been trying to maximise learners potential through the use of MASTERY and VICARIOUS EXPERIENCES.

MASTERY (move forward at one's own pace as they master knowledge/skills) and to date every student in my 11MAT and 12MAT classes have gained NCEA credits as they felt at ease with their learning journey which was done at a pace as determined by them.

VICARIOUS EXPERIENCES (gain self-confidence while watching others successfully performing). I had a new student recently join my 11MAT class and he has already completed 2 assessments and has moved onto a third standard. One of his friends who has been working at a leisurely pace all term has suddenly come to the party and as soon as he walked into class this morning, he asked me for feedback on work that he had done overnight. 

Now.....let me pause a while............there is no expectation for our learners to engage with their learning after school hours, and this student has never done so in the past, so when I checked version history on GSheets, true enough ...... he was engaging with his learning till 11.15pm. I love it when a plan comes together.

THANK YOU Manaiakalani and Tamaki College

Following on from my previous post about a learner who moved to the South Island and wished to continue her academics with me......she continued to engage with her learning while working from home by accessing all the resources online via my teacher-created Google site which gave her access to the programme, tracking sheet, CHEAT Sheet, exemplar, rewindable videos and practice test. We met online a few times, at her request, while she worked through her NCEA L2 Probability standard and I am pleased to say that she successfully completed the summative test as well.

This remote teaching and learning was only possible through Manaiakalani and Tamaki College investing time, expertise and support when we went digital circa 2010. The rewindable teaching and learning resources created by me, were a great help as my learner was not totally reliant on me and it encouraged her to "self-manage", one of the key competencies from the NZC and one of my goals this year.

She is now keen to attempt another standard and has already reached out to set up an online meeting for tomorrow. Hopefully I can keep up with her as she tries to gain NCEA L2 this year

Going against the grain

Early in the term, we were advised to work from home as our community was hard hit by Omicron. My principal went against the grain and made the call for our campus to remain open for business as he felt our learners do better when teaching and learning is done onsite. Despite our attendance being low due to staff and students either isolating as close contacts or as a result of testing positive or for other reasons, we have managed to justify going against the grain and remaining open. I have done an analysis of term 1 attendance and data and we still have 2 more weeks to go.

11MAT Lowest attendance is 26% and highest attendance 85%

7 of the 9 students have sat at least one assessment (78%)

12MAT Lowest attendance is 44% and highest attendance 97%

6 of the 11 students have sat at least one assessment (55%)

11ELE - Physics Lowest attendance is 38% and highest attendance 46%

All 3 students have sat their assessment (100%) 1 has already completed an additional maths standard which was not part of the programme, the other 2 are still working on an additional standard. Attendance in this class defies success.

Culture of success: the numbers don't lie

 

After consistently bringing my learners back to our "Culture of success" focusing on what success LOOKS, FEELS and SOUNDS like, I have some data to share:

There is an overwhelming increase in the number of learners who were successful in completing their course in term 1 and then took on additional NCEA standards.

11MAT - additional stds 1/15 = 7%

12MAT - additional stds 1/17 = 6%

11ELE - additional stds 3/12 = 25%

12ELE - additional stds 1/8 = 13%

It is evident which class was used to pilot our "Culture of success". That's right .....11ELE.....the numbers don't lie.

Brief update on our Culture of Success

 After my previous post about modelling and celebrating what success LOOKS, SOUNDS and FEELS like, I have a brief follow up to share:

Level 1 Physics 

67% of my Pasifika learners and 50% of my Maori learners have sat their assessment long before the due date and 100% of them have gained NCEA L1 credits. One of my learners stopped by after school today to let me know that he was going to sit his assessment later this week...not sure if he had an inkling that I was analysing his class data

Level 1 Algebra

100% of my Pasifika and 75% of my Maori learners have sat their assessment before the due date and 100% of them have gained NCEA L1 credits. A few learners have sat 2 assessments and have been successful

Level 2 Networks

33% of my Pasifika learners 100% of my Maori learners sat their assessment before the due date and 100% of them have gained NCEA L2 credits. A few learners have sat 2 assessments and have been successful

After their success, I was pleased to hear them ask for an additional standard to attempt. I am going to be bold and say that they know what success looks, feels and sounds like.

Review of term 2 data

My Physics Elective class in term 2, 11ELE B outperformed both my term 1 class , 11ELE A and national data as shown above

My term 2 Algebra class,  11MAT B had maximum success with 100% achieving. 11MAT A whom I taught in term 1 achieved higher that national data. The Probability data for both classes 11MAT A and 11MAT B has 100% success, once again outperforming national data as shown above.

The standards taught in term 1 were repeated in term 2 to a different cohort. My term 1 cohort, 12MAT A outperformed my term 2 cohort, 12MAT B.

Maori A (term 1 students) outperformed both Maori B (term 2 students) and national data; whereas Pasifika A (term 1 students) and B (term 2 students) both outperformed Coordinate Geometry National data - shown above

100% of Pasifika students in both terms 1 (Pasifika A) and 2 (Pasifika 2) achieved maximum success and outperformed national data

My reluctant learner is no more

I have a somewhat reluctant learner who gets bored/distracted quite easily so I had him work on an Algebra standard worth 3 credits for a while, then switched to Probability, another standard worth 3 credits. That continued all term and seemed to give him more confidence as his prior knowledge was fairly recent each time he switched standards. He was also armed with a teacher-created
 CHEAT SHEET, subject-specific LITERACY STRATEGIES as well as LEARNING STRATEGIES

Well it has paid off big time.....my learner sat his Algebra assessment on one day and gained 3 credits and then sat his Probability assessment the next and gained another 3 credits.

The 6 credits within 2 days seems remarkable, but I am more impressed by my learner's new-found confidence in his ability and he now knows what SUCCESS feels like........ My reluctant learner is no more

11MAT Student voice

As we near the end of a busy term, students are focusing on finishing standards and assessments and teachers are reflecting on the term that was.

Below is some student voice from my 11MAT class for their Linear Algebra standard worth 3 credits.

Something NEW (I learned...)-

Everything

How to automatically get the SUM of each question, how to group, how to read across the line,

how to remotely do algebra

how to use the laptop. and how to do algebra

Algebra

everything

how to work out the line graph

solving

how to form an equation

I learnt a faster way to calculate the equations

Value	Count
-	2
A friend taught me how to form an equat…	1
Nothing	1
how to graph my work	1
how to merge cells	1
i taught Sam how to merge cells and als…	1
nothing	1
nothing i did it by myself	1
to create a graph and properly format i…	1
use the computer	1

Something BLUE (I struggled with...)11 responses

-

Solving the equation

getting the SUM in the correct order according to the forming equation order

how to format a graph and not make mistakes

i struggled with the computer

naming the line graph

nothing really

ask for help

codes

nothing really

How to solve the equation

What STRATEGY/STRATEGIES helped you with this standard11 responses

chunking

Asking the teacher lol

grouping and using SUM to automatically get the answers for questions

chunking and reading on the line

chunking secret words

idk

Chunking

by understanding and focusing

by writing my work out than doing it

the chunking part

The solving equations part. =sum( )

By the end of this topic, my confidence level was11 responses

Value	Count
1	0
2	0
3	1
4	2
5	8

What can your teacher do differently to assist you to become successful?11 responses

-

feed me

encouraged us and helped when we were stuck.

keep on being an amazing teacher

im not sure

nothing keep doing what she's doing

shes a very good teacher, she does everything she can to help you even if shes busy. so shes already met my standard.

helpful and understanding

nothing

nothing

Nothing much really because she has already helped me

What can your whanau do differently to assist you to become successful?11 responses

-

nothing

feed me more

keep on encouraging me

give me money

Nothing

Give me 1million dollars

by doing my work

Nothing

What can your friends do differently to assist you to become successful?11 responses

stop being annoying

Not distract me

stop being annoying,

not distract me

not anoy me

Help me when asked

Help me when i ask for help.

advice and helping me

nothing

stop distracting me

Nothing

What can YOU do differently to assist you to become successful?11 responses

remove myself from any distractions

Stay on task, distance myself from my friends

focus a bit more, not lose any focus when people talk to me

be more concentrated

i an be smarter

Do as asked

change my attitude towards learning because i get distracted easily

focusing , work hard

stay on task

focus more

Come school daily

What support or encouragement has your teacher given you for this Standard?11 responses

EVERYTHING

Moral and mental support

everything

by giving me constructive feedback and helping me improve and stop making mistakes by teaching me to do it correctly

helped me

Everything.

she basically taught me everything

helping

asking me if im alright

a lot of support and encouragement

Helping me understand how to do this standard in a easier way

Managing self leads to academic success

My Level 2 Maths class have trialled the use of a Tracking sheet to help them self-manage (one of the 5  key competencies) their progress this term.

64 % of the class attempted their assessment before the due date and 100% of them were successful and gained 2 credits.

The tracking sheet is a visual way for students to see whether they have met the standard (green) for each activity and gives them the confidence to move onto the next one. Orange means that the standard has not been met either because work is incomplete or there are errors. Red indicates that there is no evidence at all for that activity. My L2 tracking sheet is shown below.

A few generous students gave me feedback on the use of the tracking sheet as it was their first time being exposed to one.

 

The final analysis

As I sum up my two-year inquiry on "Raising Maori Achievement", I noticed an increase in engagement as well as an increase in the quality and quantity of work produced.

The evidence that I have, shows that in 2017, 39% of my students got numeracy from achievement standards compared to one of my classes this year where there was a significant 77% increase from the previous year. My final analysis showed that in one class 94% got numeracy and 100% in the other. Particular mention needs to be made for the quality of grade for a Statistics achievement standard worth 4 credits that has both a literacy and numeracy component.

National statistics show that 27% of the students who sat the assessment got a merit grade, national decile 1 statistics was 17% and in my class, 85% of the students got a merit grade.



What did I do to make this happen?
Well, we started with the basics to build up learner confidence.
Maths is like a foreign language so each standard had a list of subject-specific vocabulary which learners had to explain AND in most cases, find an appropriate image to reinforce their understanding.

Achievement criteria and Teaching/Learning Strategies were explained in “student speak” and each standard had an accompanying CHEAT SHEET with Achievement Criteria, subject-specific LITERACY STRATEGIES and learning strategies needed for success.

Prior to any learner evidence being gathered, goal-setting was done where learners had to choose an achievement grade; either Achieved, Merit or Excellence so that they had something to work towards.

Whole class teaching was replaced with conferencing which was done at the learner’s request and
questions were answered with questions to promote independent thinking and proactive learners

Academic achievement was celebrated with phone calls and/or postcards sent home and the use of a wall of fame in the classroom.

The bottom line

I am in the process of reviewing my NCEA L1 Maori achievement data and because I had the benefit of teaching two NCEA L1 maths classes this year, I have evidence to show that the most successful Maori students this year were the ones who arrived at the college in year 9 at curriculum L4 and were in smaller classes in year 11.

The bottom line is that a firm foundation in maths and class size matters for our Maori learners.

Best gem of all

A follow-on from my previous post about digging deep to find gems, well.......I have saved the best.
for last.

This 4 credit Statistics standard worth 4 literacy/numeracy credits shows that 85% of my students attained a MERIT grade compared to 27% nationally and 17% across Decile 1 schools. This standard is NOT commonly taught at all schools to all students as it is deemed as too academic for some.


Possible reasons for this impressive result could be a combination of:

Teacher belief in the student's ability
Goal setting
The deliberate use of Literacy strategies
Teacher-created teaching and learning strategies
Contextual Teaching and learning
Easy access to all online resources via Google Calendar/Sites
Use of Tracking sheets to "manage self" and monitor progress

Digging deep to find gems

In the table below there is a comparison of my 2017 Data with my two 2018 classes this year. A huge improvement is noted in 11MAT 4 where 69% of the class have numeracy compared to 39% the previous year and 45% in my other class.

Credits	2017	2018 MAT 4	2018 MAT 5
0 credits (Maori)	0%	0%	70%
1 std away from Numeracy (Maori)	0%	0%	0%
Numeracy (Maori)	100%	100%	30%
Numeracy (Whole class)	39%	69%	45%
Numeracy cross curricula (Whole class)	47%	69%	48%

I dug a little deeper into the data and found a few gems which I am happy to share.

In my y11 class, for Algebra worth 3 numeracy credits, 50% got a MERIT grade compared to 27% Nationally and 19% across decile 1 schools.

For Bivariate statistics worth 3 literacy/numeracy credits, 36% of my students got a MERIT grade compared to 27% Nationally and 19% across decile 1 schools. Quality of grade is definitely on the increase and is a result of goal setting prior to learning about each standard. Most students chose to work at a merit grade and they have reaped the rewards. In addition, the deliberate use of literacy strategies and teacher-created teaching and learning strategies have all helped reach this success.