Investigation: How do our current structures, culture and teaching practices support of inhibit numeracy improvement for all

students?

Numeracy Review
Kasey Browne

Investigation: How do our current structures, culture and teaching practices support of inhibit numeracy improvement for all students?

SITUATION
Our Leading Numeracy Team consists of Kasey Browne, Nick Mammoliti and Nicole Schoch. Melba College is a two campus school located approximately 30 kilometers east of Melbourne. Currently we have a Junior (7-9) campus and a Senior (10-12) Campus, at a distance of 4 kilometers apart. The college was formed at the start of 2012 with the merger of Croydon Secondary College and Maroondah Secondary College. The current enrollment is approximately 875 characterised by a low but increasing proportion of students with a language background other than English (LBOTE) currently at approximately 17%. A relatively stable SFO density of 0.54 exists for the school. Improving numeracy outcomes are a priority for our school and is well supported by the principal class and those whom are in leadership roles. Melba College has received funding from the government, which has enabled our school to employ a project officer for 6 months. The project Manager has a focus to oversee numeracy and literacy projects.

TASK
1. What are the current numeracy policies and procedures in our school? a. We are going to complete an audit of our Numeracy Strategies and Policies. This audit will include: i. School Annual Implementation Plan (AIP) ii. School Pillars of Learning (numeracy strategy document) iii. Conversations with the Principal and Project Manager regarding processes and plans currently in place 2. How do teachers in our school currently view mathematics/numeracy practices? What is the collective teacher collateral in regard to mathematics/numeracy education? a. We are also going to complete a Teacher Perceptions and Beliefs Audit by surveying teachers at our school.

ACTIONS
Our team met to plan and review the task and potential data we could collect. Together we prepared and conducted the surveys for mathematics and non-mathematics teachers. We met again to analyse and prepare the results. Discussions were had with the Principal and also the Project Manager, to investigate other numeracy processes and plans being implemented currently. Together we analysed the data using the School Numeracy Audit provided at the Bastow Numeracy course. To implement our audit we firstly gained the approval and support of the principal team, although they are supportive of our aims it became apparent that there is overlap between the Project Managers work, the Literacy Teams work and our own work. Therefore our

Investigation: How do our current structures, culture and teaching practices support of inhibit numeracy improvement for all students? survey was put on hold until we finally went to the Principal to say we only had 2 weeks left to have our work completed for assessment. We decided that two separate surveys would be the best way to gain a true understanding of the attitudes of staff from all key learning areas. Surveying teachers at our school allowed us to gather data on teacher beliefs and perceptions of numeracy. It was important for the survey to be succinct and to the point to encourage teachers and short in length to encourage teachers participation. Teachers had access to the survey via an email; this allowed us to be able to explain why we were gathering data. Teachers were very receptive to completing the survey once they knew why we were conducting the audit to enable us to find the weaknesses and strengths of a staff in regard to our perceptions and use of numeracy in our teaching. Once the survey was completed we collected and analysed the data into a graphical representation. We then released this data onto our website www.melbabastow.weebly.com for teacher access. Our audit encompassed two distinct areas staff perceptions and beliefs on numeracy and an analysis of policy documents.

RESULTS: ANALYSIS OF THE RESULTS AND IDENTIFICATION OF KEY FOCUS

AREA FOR 2014 Melba Colleges annual implementation plan contains specific targets for numeracy improvement by 2016 our targets are: 40% growth of same cohort yr 7 to yr 9, Increase to 15%of Yr 9 students in the top two bands, Reduce to15% of students in bottom two bands.

The Pillars of Learning (appendix 1) provide a basic outline of how numeracy can be implemented across the curriculum in every classroom. This document assumes all teachers are aware of and know how to include numeracy activities in their lessons, and provides examples such as using graphs, percentages and number lines in your class. This once again is a statement that doesnt include strategies on how we can effectively implement such into the classroom. The second part of our audit was examining the numeracy and mathematical beliefs and understandings of teachers at our College. We created two surveys (Appendix 2) for mathematics teachers and non-mathematics teachers. This survey looked at the depth of knowledge from teachers quality teaching, lesson planning, subject knowledge, learning environment and understanding of numeracy. Teachers were asked to complete the survey as honestly as possible. Thirty six teachers responded to the non-maths teacher numeracy survey. The first question teachers were asked how they define numeracy. The overwhelming response was the use of few key terms those being the use of number, practical, mathematical, ability and

Investigation: How do our current structures, culture and teaching practices support of inhibit numeracy improvement for all students? understanding. To sum up most teachers believed that numeracy was having the ability to use and understand numbers in a practical/real life situation. An interesting aspect of the non-maths teacher survey is the use of numeracy in the classroom. It's become evident there was accidental numeracy versus planned numeracy (appendix 3). This is fraught with danger as non math teachers implementing numeracy sporadically is dangerous for producing misconceptions.This is signifying that teachers attempting to use numeracy but not in a planned manner. This is where more professional development on implementing numeracy into the classroom may allow for teachers to be more confident to plan it into their lessons. Seventeen teachers responded to the math teachers survey. This survey was more detailed and required greater reflection by math teachers. 65% of our maths teachers believe that they arent working together with students to identify numeracy targets. Diagnostic data such as on demand testing isnt being utilised as well as it could be. Teachers and students often do not receive or see the individual breakdown of results. This could be a powerful tool that both teachers and students could use together to promote improvement. As Melba College moves towards becoming a visible learning school, the use of this data should become more effective because one of the Hatties key messages is to use data to impact on improvement. As leadership encompasses Hatties message there will be an increased focus on using data effectively as a whole school. 65% of responses from maths teachers disagreed with the statement a clear direction is set in numeracy, so that we all understand and know what we are trying to achieve. It is evident that maths teachers arent using common planning and assessment as much as they should be. There is a divide between teachers whom believe they are aware of intervention strategies and then can effectively implement them. 47% of teachers agree with this statement, whilst 53% disagreed that they are aware of effective intervention strategies. Melba College has specific strategies to support students at risks at present this includes Quick Smart an intervention program for students in year seven and eight working on grasping the basics of numeracy. Our school has recently employed a part time staff member to work with year nine students to build their mathematical confidence and address their gaps in knowledge. At the classroom level students have the opportunity to work through differing levels of math, as we have introduced foundation, standard and advanced work programs, to compliment individual teacher differentiation.

Investigation: How do our current structures, culture and teaching practices support of inhibit numeracy improvement for all students?

RESULTS: WHAT STRATEGIES WILL WE USE TO IMPLEMENT THE KEY FOCUS

AREA? SITUATION, STAKEHOLDERS, TASKS, EVENTS AND OUTCOMES. What Development of a clear numeracy plan Role descriptions and policy made available to all staff Reintroduce Learning pillars to raise awareness of numeracy Introduce numeracy as a component to every Common Assessment Task (CAT) using the pillars of learning Professional development for staff to enable inclusion of numeracy in CATs related to pillars of learning Data Teams teams of teachers discuss student achievement after analysing pre and post testing. Measurable progression. Visible learning - staff student conversations for increased understanding of success criteria. Who Principal class/Project Manager Project managers/ Principal Class Principal class/ Bastow Numeracy Leaders Curriculum Committee Bastow Numeracy Leaders All staff Bastow Numeracy Leaders All Staff Teaching Teams; Year 7 Math Year 8 Math Year 9 Math All staff When Nov 2013 Feb 2014 Nov 2013 June 2014

Term 1 2014

June 2014

June 2014

LEARNING: WHAT IMPACT HAS THIS TASK HAND ON MY LEARNING AND

FUTURE ROLE AS A LEADER OF NUMERACY AND STUDENT LEARNING? This process has allowed me to time to reflect on the numeracy practices within our school. It allowed me to further investigate the culture and direction we should be headed toward. My involvement in this process has highlighted a new direction for numeracy that our school needs to adopt. It's become evident that I needed to promote and model good practice that would enable teachers to support the acquisition of numeracy in the classroom. This learning curve has allowed me to develop an understanding of the need to improve education and learning through enhancing and supporting the professional development of teachers. A personal concern of mine is the effective use of data to shape the curriculum and student learning. We have multiple points of data that arent used effectively to improve the progress of students. There is an opportunity to use this data to affect the quality of learning our students experience. Use of this data in a positive manner is vital for progression and implementation of change. There have been many challenges. As a team, we faced time constraints to complete the audits required. School protocols dictated our ability to complete the survey in a timely manner. The process felt rushed as there were challenges to complete this task within the time restraints. This was overcome by ensuring the Principal class has a clear understanding of the components and requirements of this course.

Investigation: How do our current structures, culture and teaching practices support of inhibit numeracy improvement for all students?

APPENDIX 1

Investigation: How do our current structures, culture and teaching practices support of inhibit numeracy improvement for all students?

APPENDIX 2 Non Math teachers Survey Results

Investigation: How do our current structures, culture and teaching practices support of inhibit numeracy improvement for all students?

APPENDIX 3 Math Teachers Survey Results

Investigation: How do our current structures, culture and teaching practices support of inhibit numeracy improvement for all students?