Richard George Principal of Parnell District School, Virginia Kung Deputy Principal of Newmarket School and Champion of Mathematics/Pāngarau, Jill Farquharson Principal of Auckland Normal Intermediate and Lead Principal of Auckland Central Community of Schools (ACCoS), Wendy Kofoed Principal of Newmarket School.
Behind are the teachers working collaboratively from the three schools.
They are sharing their inquiries with each other.
Background
Our ACCoS Kāhui
Ako Mathematics/Pangārau Initiative was initially formed at
the end of 2017 when Auckland Normal Intermediate, Parnell District School
which is a full primary and Newmarket Primary School which is a contributing
primary, identified Mathematics as
a focus for professional development in 2018 which was part of the schools
strategic plans, as a way of
working together across schools. The principals and members of their leadership
team met with the Across School Leaders and the Champion who had been allocated
to identify, plan for and help drive the Across Schools Collaborative Inquiries
in a more direct and explicit way.
Within the three
schools there are 77 teachers and in total there are 1,450 students.
Across the three schools the achievement data is
generally above, when based on National Standards.
As agreed by all
schools taking part in the mathematics initiative the focus is around Teacher
Pedagogy (Building on Content and Knowledge). In order to measure the
effectiveness of the initiative student attitude
data is used as a comparison indicator to gauge how successful the initiative
is in strengthening teacher pedagogy knowledge and content knowledge when
teaching maths in our schools.
The Across School
Leaders highlight pedagogies that motivate and engage students and identifyeffective strategies that support teachers in unpacking their content knowledge
in mathematics. They look at the effect size using John Hattie's research.
They ensure that links
are made with school directions and goals and ensure that achievement challenge
5 which is parent engagement and participation have been included as part
of the process.
All schools agreed to
share their strategic plans for 2018 and their assessment data for 2017 as a
starting base for the ACCoS Kāhui Ako Mathematics/Pangārau
Initiative inquiry.
With the purpose
of the collaboration is to improve outcomes, our Auckland Central
Community of Schools Mathematics/Pāngarau Initiative, the three schools
involved work collaboratively for school improvement and student achievement.
When the schools in the initiative hold meetings or sharing of teacher
practice, the three school principals are often seen and are visible in the
initiative. Included in the above photo is our Mathematics/Pāngarau Champion
who supports and guides the initiative lead Across school Leader (ASL) in
her role as AcrossSchool Leader.
In addition to this
photo the deputy principals from the three schools are also visible by working
together, across schools to help unpack the data gathered from the initiative
and sit behind the ASLs and In School Leaders (ISL) within the initiative
to help guide and steer direction so that all members involved are focussed on
the same goal. The effectiveness of the initiative will be measured using
the effect size tool to measure progress and not achievement.
Alongside this
initiative, there is a support ASL who helps with organisation and five ISL who lead the
Professional Learning Groups/Communities within their own schools and share
back school happenings when the team meet twice each term. The ISL analyse data
for improvement by tracking historic data and analysing attitudinal data to
unpack a correlation in achievement. To improve the quality of teaching and
learning across the schools they access and run professional development that
is aligned with their schools’ priorities which have been identified in the
school’s strategic plans.
Key Drivers
Together the
Mathematics/Pāngarau team have identified key drivers
such as developing teachers
pedagogical knowledge with a deep look at content knowledge to help
prioritise what is taught, ongoing analysis of learners needs to ensure that a
focus on learners remains the purpose of our work and a focus on parent engagement and participation.
Our long-term outcomes
are:
● Teachers working together across schools
● Identified teaching strategies that have the greatest effect in mathematics
● Increased positive attitudes of the learners towards Mathematics/Pāngarau.
● Contribute to an increase in total assessment data
● Reduce the level of not achieved in each school
● Greater awareness about Achievement Challenge 5 Parent Engagement & Participation
● Teachers working together across schools
● Identified teaching strategies that have the greatest effect in mathematics
● Increased positive attitudes of the learners towards Mathematics/Pāngarau.
● Contribute to an increase in total assessment data
● Reduce the level of not achieved in each school
● Greater awareness about Achievement Challenge 5 Parent Engagement & Participation
Transparency in the
team
As an initiative
within ACCoS, the work is transparent by sharing with everyone within this
Kāhui Ako. This work is accessible online via the ACCoS Team drive that is
hosted in Google Apps for Education. Regular updates are shared via
our ACCoS blog so that what we do is visible to the rest of Kāhui Ako
in New Zealand. The shared expectation for our ISL is consistent in the
initiative, each term all ASLs report initiative progress and 'where to next'
with all the principals within ACCoS. ASLs also report what we do with our
Boards of Trustees both in school and across schools.
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Our ISL planning an across school event.
Masina from Parnell District School.
Andy and Emily from Auckland Normal Intermediate,
Ainsley and Belinda from Newmarket School
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Students and teachers across the three schools at the end of the aMathing Race.
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Recently trust and honesty have bubbled to the
surface as teachers within the initiative have worked together to achieve
several goals such as teachers and students sharing and collaborating across
the three schools. This step in the process has been exciting as it has helped
bond members across the schools. Some of the collaborative work has included
creating an overview
of Mathematics/Pāngarau across the three schools, planning for some of our students to work together using
some of the effective strategies learnt in class, sharing professional learning group inquiries
across the schools, and unpacking, analysing and sharing student
attitudinal data gathered within school with Boards of Trustees and celebrating
Mathematics/Pāngarau Week.
Highlights from our Maths Week
The lead ASLs of the initiative is currently undergoing peer
review and have the opportunity to analyse feedback with our across
school’s mentor and use this to further drive improvement in the
Mathematics/Pāngarau Initiative. In School Leaders within the initiative will
go through their own reviews as part of the cycle of collaborative inquiry.
This process and documentation have been agreed to by the principals in ACCoS
so the process is consistent across all schools.
As an initiative the team has worked to embrace more than
just school leaders, teachers, and students but also parents and other leaders
in the field. This final part exemplifies the original ACCoS AchievementChallenge 5 which
is the focus on Parent Engagement and Participation.
The teachers in the Mathematics/Pāngarau Initiative have
evolved from getting to know each other, to collaboration and working together,
and soon to be co-responsible and accountable for results as data is gathered
and analysed for the next phase of inquiry because ultimately the work that
happens is for school improvement and student achievement.
Sharing at National Level
Soon members of the team have the opportunity to share at
Ulearn, therefore, contributing to the national system where other Kāhui Ako
come together to share. This will also be a chance to hear the voices of our
ISL as they share the highlights and challenges they have encountered when
working together across the schools. They welcome scrutiny and feedback from
peers and the chance to make connections with other Kāhui Ako in New Zealand
and to hear about their learning journeys.
Where to next for the
Mathematics/Pāngarau Initiative
- Our In
School Leaders will be sharing our journey at Ulearn 2018 .
- There is another across
schools sharing session planned for term 4 for all teachers involved in
the initiative from the three schools.
- Coaching strategies have
been identified as an area for further development.
- An opportunity to share
student voice has also been
identified.
- The effectiveness of the initiative will be measured, analysed and shared with the schools and their
communities involved and then with ACCoS.
References
ACCoS (Ed.). (2015). Auckland Central
Community of Schools Shared Achievement Challenge Plan 2015. Retrieved August
19, 2018, from https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4XtRuzP2QPMUHRjMTcyNVdiWEk/view
ERO (Ed.). (2016).
SCHOOL LEADERSHIP THAT WORKS. Retrieved August
19, 2018, from http://www.ero.govt.nz/assets/Uploads/School-Leadership-that-Works-Nov-2016.pdf
Killian, S. (2016, July 13). How To
Know Thy Impact Using Effect Size. Retrieved August 20, 2018, from http://www.evidencebasedteaching.org.au/know-thy-impact-using-effect-size/
