One in three Australian school students is not meeting literacy and numeracy benchmarks, and more than one in ten need additional support, the 2024 NAPLAN results show.
"In plain English, one third of Australia's children are not on track with their learning," the Grattan Institute's education director Jordana Hunter said.
These were the opening sentences from the ABC report on the recent release on the 2024 NAPLAN data.
On reading this, I could picture schools in deep conversations with their Literacy and Numeracy committees looking at the data and then assessing the effectiveness of the current programs. Following from this conversation will be an investigation and review of other programs that might be more effective in improving the 1 in 3 results.
Don’t waste your time.
Before you go down the “What is wrong with the programs” pathway ask your committees this question,
“On a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being ‘Not at All’ and 10 being ‘With perfection’, how would you rate the fidelity of implementation of the program/s?”
You see, your school has the correct program, it just hasn’t been implemented with 100% fidelity as per the program specifications.
This is the “F” word. FIDELITY.
So, before you throw the baby out with the bath water, spend some time investigating the areas of the program which were and were not meeting the needs of the students or educators. What Worked Well – Even Better If.
“Hey that is more time.” I hear you say. Consider this, how long will it take to implement a new program with fidelity? It will always come down to fidelity. You already have spent a period of time with an existing program, it just needs some serious time dedicated to how it could improve.
I believe the following is great start:
1. In POLT meetings, ask the educators to submit their issues for why the program is not working? What do they need to implement with fidelity? This consolidated information will create a list of barriers to fidelity.
2. Professional Development will play a big part on the list, but don’t get drawn into the “more full day PD’ trap. Refine the Professional Development to what area of the program are we not confident in? I can guarantee that there is a very proficient educator at your school who knows this space and can do a focused PD during a meeting to improve fidelity.
3. Observe, observe and feedback. Fidelity requires a checklist of language and behaviours of a program being taught well. Once these are established, (usually supplied by the program) then observation is required by a peer. I only know what I know. An observer sees the nuances that make a difference. Like entering the classroom first as students come in from outside.
If you are about to commit to a new program to tackle the poor results, have you investigated the barriers of the current program?
It is not the program. It is the implementation. Aim for FIDELITY.
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