As promised.........

  In my last post I compared SSTS data with National data and I made a promise that this post would show an analysis comparing Maori and Pasifika achievement. As promised..................... below is a breakdown of ethnic data for learners who classify themselves as Maori and Pasifika. The first graph focuses on learners in my 11MAT class and covers the Algebra and Probability Achievement Standards. The graph shows that for both the Algebra and Probability Achievement Standards, Maori and Pasifika learners in 11MAT outperformed Maori and Pasifika nationally.

In a similar vein, 12MAT students who identify as being Maori and Pasifika in my 12MAT class also outperformed Maori and Pasifika nationally, as shown below.

With Auckland being in lockdown and at alert level 3, our goal will be to maintain these statistics. But how is this possible when learner uptake of distance learning is so low? We have just had 3 school days in lockdown and only 1 student from 11MAT and another from 12MAT have made an attempt to engage with their learning thus far. A few learners in each class were meant to be sitting assessments this week while the rest were either continuing with their learning programmes or starting new standards. The latter had sat assessments a day or two before we went into lockdown. All learning resources are available online including rewindable screencast resources and I have availed myself via Google Hangouts for those who need that one-on-one instruction. I have to be mindful that learner wellbeing is paramount at this time and academics, secondary. We will get through this and will find a way to maximise learning opportunities.

Providing opportunities for SHIFT

My NCEA L2 students have not had any academic success in mainstream schools, let alone maths classes, so I had to be a point of DIFFERENCE if we wanted different outcomes. So what did we do differently?

On day one of each term, I gave my learners a mini whiteboard to write down one thing they wished their teachers knew about them. These are some of the responses from students in all my classes:

- My Name
- I am dyslexic
- I don’t focus when I don’t understand
- I work better if I am left alone and listening to music
- I like to be alone
- I tend to get mad really easily and don't like sitting still too long
- Some days I don't feel like doing anything and some days I want to finish all my work
- I have manners
- I am hard to teach.

When I set up my 12MAT course I had to be mindful of my clientele. None of my learners had had any NCEA L2 maths credits from their previous school, so we were starting with a blank slate which I used to my advantage.

Each term our learners get new timetables as they change courses/teachers, so we usually begin with introductions.
My attempt with my NCEA L2 class failed miserably as learners were not too keen to share anything about themselves except their name. I let them know it was OK and immediately moved on. I sought their permission about attempting some critical thinking activities using de Bono's 6 Hats and they were willing to give it a go. They loved it and when I suggested taking a short break after a few challenges, they all begged for more...... music to my ears........mission accomplished. They seemed to get the message, loud and clear, that they were very capable if they tried and they were beginning to trust me as their teacher.

When it was time to move on to academics, I had to tread carefully and told my learners that I had prepared a CHEAT Sheet for each standard and it was going to help them taste academic success in maths. Each CHEAT Sheet included
- Achievement Objectives rewritten in "student speak"
- Evidence needed to meet the standard
- Research based literacy standards
- Teacher-created learning strategies

After a discussion about the CHEAT Sheet all learners seemed keen to get on with their learning journey which they could monitor on a tracking sheet. The tracking sheet forced learners to self-manage, one of the 5 key competencies of the NZ curriculum. Learners were competing with themselves and not each other as they progressed through the course as they all worked at their own pace. To their surprise, some of them completed the programme and practice test ahead of the deadline and sat summative assessments before moving on to the next standard. In all 3 terms thus far, most learners have completed additional standards as they were not bound by a structured timeline set in stone. All it took was for one learner to set the pace before the others followed. "Nothing breeds success like success". My 12MAT results are shown below together with a comparison with National data.


You will notice that for each of the 4 standards, my learners' success data far exceeds national data. My next post will analyse Maori and Pasifika achievement.

Post Lockdown Student Achievement Data

My previous post focused on academic achievement of learners in my mentoring class, most of whom I did not teach in terms 1 and 2.
I would like to follow up on academic achievement of learners in my core subject, Maths

In a nutshell term 1 had 8 weeks of on site instruction and term 2 had 7 weeks.

One would predict that....
......academic achievement would be similar between the two terms as there was only a 1 week difference  or             
......term 2 academic achievement would be lower as teachers and learners had to deal with the impact of Lockdown, both physically and mentally and implement distance learning which was a first for most.

My Maths course had standards ranging from 2 - 3 credits; some students sat one assessment, others sat 2 or more assessments and a few did not finish the programme so did not sit an assessment within that time frame of  8 weeks (term 1) or 7 weeks (term 2).
Below is a comparison of academic achievement data of learners who gained 4 or more credits during term 1 (8 weeks) or term 2 (7 weeks) which means they sat 2 or more assessments.

                                                    11MAT                   12MAT               
                                 Term 1:    3/14 = 21%            2/5 = 40%             

                                 Term 2:    7/9 = 78%              5/6 = 83%         

There was a significant shift in achievement data between the 2 terms. So what did we (me, students, school, community) do differently?

For starters, I created additional rewindable learning resources during Lockdown which my term 2 students seemed to appreciate immensely. It was like having multiple mini-me's in the room as I would hear my voice pop up as students accessed the resources which were about 2 minutes long, long enough to get the message across and still keep learners engaged.

I had more deliberate learning conversations with individuals after they had attempted a few activities and if they felt confident enough, they would sit the practice test and summative test without working through the entire programme. At first, I was a tad bit uncomfortable with that approach, but soon realised that quality of learning evidence had to trump quantity of learning evidence and I had to maximise learner enthusiasm and engagement.

The community donated food.

My school prepared the donated food and fed learners throughout the term with hot wholesome lunches with plenty for seconds.

My take away (no pun intended) is that the hot wholesome lunches had the most impact.

Post Lockdown data of menteees

After an abrupt end to term 1 due to COVID-19 and an attempt at distance teaching and learning for all staff and learners for the first half of term 2, we were all keen to get into a familiar routine when schools reopened. Our learners did not adjust well to distance learning as we were in unchartered territory, so how did that impact learning and academic achievement? I will share term 1 and 2 data from my mentor class who seemed to do remarkably well post Lockdown.

Each term our learners select courses that are different from the previous term; so term 2 learners did courses that were offered to their peers in term 1. Teaching and learning resources were similar and allocated timetabled periods were the same. A few teachers created rewindable learning resources in the form of  videos during Lockdown which term 2 learners could access. The marked differences in term 2 post Lockdown were:
the reduced time spent onsite and
students being fed hot meals DAILY.

Well what a difference a satiated belly makes


Student:                           A         B         C        D        E         F        G        H
Term 1 credits gained:    18        3          4         0         7         0        24       5
Term 2 credits gained:    24       21       32        17       24       30       34       2
Credit shift:                   +6     +18     +28     +17     +17     +30     +10     -3

7 of my 8 mentees (88%) gained more credits post Lockdown compared to credits gained in term 1.

Where are we after COVID-19?

Term 1 ended quite abruptly on Monday 23 March 2020 due to the outbreak and spread of COVID-19 and weeks later, in May we were back on board. First day back was a teacher only day where the staff discussed our new norm of
social distancing
sanitising hands
sanitising surfaces
sanitising devices after each use
signing in and out for contact tracing
eliminating the need for students to leave campus by providing them with morning tea and lunch
setting up a roster to supervise our smokers during both breaks and of course
rearranging our teaching spaces and staffroom to suit.

Week 1 began with student briefing at the start of each day and again at the end to reinforce expectations of our new norm and by week 2 we only had student briefings in the mornings. Our students adapted remarkably well to the new norm.

What a difference feeding our students........
 Quantity of work produced and quality of learning evidence was impressive. It certainly helped that during the lockdown period I had created a variety of screencasts for all standards so that learners could self manage and have rewindable resources at their fingertips.
By week 1:
50% of my 11Elective class had passed their Physics assessment worth 4 credits
By week 2:
63% of my 11MAT students had passed their Algebra assessment worth 3 credits and immediately immediately moved onto Probability.
100% of my 12MAT students had passed their Networks assessment worth 2 credits.

Only ONE student in all 3 classes worked online during lockdown, so it is impressive to see that after such a long break, my students returned to school ready to learn. Below are a few examples of  bite-sized rewindable learning resources which students have been accessing.

Probability                    Physics         Algebra          Networks Cheat Sheet

Nothing breeds success, like success

Tis a bit of a long story, so please bear with me. I taught student K last year when he was in year 11 and it was an uphill battle as any attempt at Maths was accompanied by a whinge and moan and then some. He let me know in no uncertain terms that he HATED maths. This year student K transitioned to year 12 and was attempting NCEA L2. He was timetabled to do maths only in terms 2 and 4, so after a lockdown period of 7 weeks due to COVID-19, student K walked smack bang into maths. While a few students had accessed their learning online during the lockdown period, student K had not; he was starting afresh while others had covered a decent amount of work. It is normal practice in my classes for students to work through their learning programme at their own pace, sit assessments when they feel super-confident and self-manage (one of the 5 key competencies from the NZ curriculum) their progress. Students also had access to a variety of  rewindable learning resources which they could access at any time.

The 12MAT students were making remarkable progress and within the first week back after lockdown, some sat their summative assessment and were successful and immediately started their next standard. Student K was amazed at the pace at which his peers were progressing particularly when one of the boys was finishing his second standard by week 2.  He soon realised that everyone around him was on the road to success and that success seemed to impact him greatly as out of the blue, in week 2 after lockdown, student K asked if I could share the assessment with him. By then he had covered sufficient work and had a good grasp of the standard. I continued conferencing with the class while student K sat his assessment and by the end of that period he had completed and was successful. When I asked him how he found the assessment, he complained (unsurprisingly) so not much has changed, but the success of those around him definitely spurred him on. So now, fingers crossed, it is onward and upward. Nothing breeds success, like success

Let the data tell the story

As we near the end of the year, I decided to take a closer look at published NCEA L1 and NCEA L2 Maths data for a few standards taught this year.
Below is NCEA Level 2 Simulation, worth 2 Literacy/Numeracy credits and
NCEA L2 Networks, worth 2 Numeracy credits.
The highest achievement has been for our Pasifika students where 100% of them achieved for both Simulation and Networks compared to national data for the same standard, where achievement was  74% and 76% respectively. Our Pasifika NCEA L2 maths students have clearly outperformed national data.

Overall 91% of the cohort gained credits for Simulation compared to 80% nationally and  93% gained credits for Networks compared to 80% nationally.

Below is a similar comparison with NCEA L1 Maths published data. Probability seems to be a strength for both Maori and Pasifika students.

The data shows that overall, 100% of our cohort gained credits for the Probability Achievement Standard compared to 94% nationally, 100% Maori gained credits compared to 85% nationally and 100% Pasifika gained credits compared to 81% nationally.

This strength in Probability is carried through to the NCEA L2 Probability Simulation standard as discussed above where 100% of our Pasifika learners gained credits.

NCEA L1 Algebra also proved to be successful as overall achievement was 94% compared to 86% nationally. 

Students deserve all the success because throughout their learning journey they showed that they could manage self, one of the 5 key competencies, track their progress while working at their own pace and sat assessments when they felt confident. Most of these students had had unpleasant experiences in maths prior to 2019, so I created a "CHEAT SHEET" for each standard taught just to build their efficacy in the subject and this has resulted in a huge shift in their achievement.

Patience is a virtue

Earlier this year, one of my Y12 learners struggled to commit to their learning. They completed one of two NCEA L2 standards, moved on to another course for term 2 and then transitioned to a nearby tertiary institution in term 3.

To my surprise, my learner returned in term 3 to complete unfinished work from term 1. He would set himself up every Friday and managed his learning by working through his unfinished term 1 programme.

Today (week 4), my learner finished his assessment and gained NCEA L2 Maths credits. While chatting to him he mentioned that he had set himself a few goals; one of them was sitting his driver's test next week. I am going to be bold and say that sitting his maths test was another of his goals.

Without patience and persistence, my learner would not have gained his L2 credits today. Patience is a virtue.