Registration details *First name: Bruce *Last name: Armstrong *Email: armstrong.bruce.s@edumail.vic.gov.au Confirm email: armstrong.bruce.s@edumail.vic.gov.au School/Organisation: Bastow Institute of Educational Leadership (DEECD) Role/Job title: Director, Bastow Institute Postal address: P.O. Box 1063, North Melbourne, Victoria, 3051 State: VICTORIA Postcode: 3051 (03) 8199 2900 Mobile: Fax: N/A IMPORTANT NOTE: All fields or questions marked with an asterisk (*) must be completed or the strategy cannot be submitted for assessment.
Description of initiative * Is this initiative aimed at school-aged children? (place X against corresponding groups) Yes No * Which skill(s) does the initiative target? (place X against corresponding skill) Literacy Numeracy Literacy and Numeracy (please specify) * Indicate the target group for the project or initiative. You may tick more than 1 option. X against corresponding groups) Primary school students Secondary school students Special school students Teachers of primary school students Teachers of secondary school students Teachers of special school students Teacher educators Principals of primary school students Principals of secondary school students Principals of special school students Parents and caregivers of primary school students Parents and caregivers of secondary school students Parents and caregivers of special school students Cluster of schools * What was the size of the target group? Please indicate how many students, teachers or principals this initiative was delivered to. (Max 3,500 characters)
The Leading Numeracy professional learning course aimed to build the capacity of school leaders to work with teachers in their school community to develop sustainable improvement in student numeracy outcomes. The targeted improved student capabilites of this initiative included: - increased levels of student engagement - increased student understanding and application of key ideas and concepts in numeracy to promote independent problem-solving and metacognitive processes to enhance their learning (DEECD, 2009). The course objectives for school leaders were to increase understandings of: - strategies to review current student outcomes in numeracy and instructional practices to identify and plan for a renenewed school numeracy improvement plan - the stages of students' numeracy development and related evidence-based implications for scaffolding student learning in numeracy (DEECD, 2009) - implementing models of collaborative teacher professional learning to teacher capacity in using student assessment data to plan for and implement differentiated numeracy instruction. The initiative was also designed to present school leaders with an overview of recommendations from national and international research and reviews of effective school contexts for numeracy teaching to investigate, and at the school level, the range of factors related to effective numeracy teaching and improved student achievement, including: - teacher quality and teaching styles - an academic school climate reflected through student behaviours, broad aspirational levels of student achievement and student views on teachers and the school - identified factors and strategies for effective numeracy teaching within the classroom, throughout and beyond the school including: - language as a focus for learning - assessment to identifiy and accommodate student difference - purposeful pedagogy - a school commitment to, and a shared vision for, numeracy teaching and learning - reporting and communication protocols to support parents' understanding of school-based numeracy practices and strategies to support their child's progress in numeracy learning at home (Department of Education, Science and Training, 2005, DEECD, 2009). * In designing the initiative, how did you assess improvements in student performance? Provide information on the links between the objectives of the initiative and defined performance targets. You may tick more than 1 option. assessments of student performance Student results from NAPLAN Other (please describe) (Max 3,500 characters)