Re-defining the process of tracking our Priority Learners
Self Review 2016
What – currently happens with priority learners at St Joseph’s School?
So What – is the problem with the status quo?
In terms of tracking the achievement of students within the annual targets, the current process (re-developed in 2013) includes most of the essential elements outlined within the Ministry of Educations document “Charters, Ananlysis of Variance and Reporting: Guidance for schools using National Standards to monitor and understand the achievement of all students, in particular students or groups of students that are not making expected progress.
However, the 2015 ERO Review identified:
- The school has yet to embed systems and processes to sustain and improve its performance. A coherent, cohesive approach to school wide development, review and evaluation is required to determine which factors are impacting on outcomes for students.
- Leaders and teachers need to continue to develop their use of information to address specific student and curriculum needs.
- Deeper analysis of school wide, syndicate and year-level data is required to:
- identify specific learning needs
- sharpen targets
- inform planning and teaching to accelerate learning and progress
- regularly report progress and achievement to the board.
Whilst disappointing, the ERO review highlights the need for greater rigor and urgency from all stakeholders, including board of trustees, senior leaders, classroom teachers, parents, whānau and students, in lifting the academic achievement of the learners at St Joseph’s School.
In order to address points above, and to improve the school wide processes relating the accelerating student achievement, the full staff reviewed the report developed by ERO in December 2015 titled “Raising Student Achievement through targeted actions”. As a result of the reading, the staff developed a new set of expectations for senior leaders, syndicate leaders and classroom teachers that we will be implementing during the 2016 school year.
Now what can we do to improve the process and systems we have in place?
The expectations produced with the staff make very clear the roles and responsibilities that each of the school based stakeholders have in accelerating the progress of our students. Whilst some of the expectations are not directly related to the priority learner tracking process, they do relate to the wider conditions and practices that successful schools demonstrated within the ERO report.
These expectations, along with increased urgency and rigorous review by senior leaders within the school, add the depth to the new process below.
Accelerating student achievement at St Joseph’s Primary School
Creating targets and tracking our Priority Learners
Next Review Date: 15th May 2016
andrewherrick 
Reads well Andrew, it is clear that there was a system in place prior to 2016 but needed that extra rigor and focus on data, along with ownership by the teachers and senior management.
I am always a little sceptical of ERO and their relationship with the Minister of Ed. and their quest to meet their own targets. They are totally focussed on National Standards data and this is often flakey with huge variations year by year teacher to teacher. If this is the measure by which our effectiveness as teachers are being measured then it is sad day.
Back to St Joes … the senior leadership team will be playing a major role in ensuring the focus on student achievement is maintained along with the introduction and rigor around the new initiatives.
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Interesting information and insight into the way of tracking target students.
Am currently having the problem that target students are not yet identified and the general T&L is not based around data or evidence!
I think this looks like a good step in the right direction and is an insightful and critical post.
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