SPARK MIT's final hui

I cannot believe this is the final SPARK MIT16 hui. Wow time flies when you are riding the learning wave (cheesy I know).

This year has been amazing thanks to the support from SPARK and Manaiakalani. As a result of their funding I have grown as a professional, developed an inquiry that I can see building into a whole school focus and built some fantastic learning networks. I still remember feeling star-struck at our first hui because I was sitting amongst so many phenomenal educators and I could say that I knew teachers from Pt England School (had only seen their amazing work but never met any of the staff in person, until SPARK MIT16).

Today I created a ‘Thinglink’ to give you access to the different dimensions of my inquiry.

I would like to thank Lynne LeGros and the SPARK Foundation for their ongoing support this year. They are amazing people who have students at the heart of their intentions and are always willing to fund innovation and creativity to support our students. Their initiatives are based on the here and now to serve all communities...watch this space.

I would like to extend another thank you to Dorothy, Juanita and the Manaiakalani Education Trust for the opportunity to create a focussed inquiry with funded supports. As part of this programme I was funded to attend ULearn 16 and present my ignite talk which allowed me to gain recognition for my efforts and extend my personal learning networks. Thank you again.

So is SPARK MIT for you?
If you are innovative, committed to raising student achievement, open to feedback, willing to take risks and delve into the unknown… then yes this is for you. SPARK and Manaiakalani funded twelve release days so I could inquire into raising student achievement in reading. The allocation of these twelve days was flexible and allowed me to continue my inquiry whilst teaching full time. They gave me the opportunity to research the importance of oral language and gather data to drive my inquiry. Along with these funded release days I was lucky enough to meet once a term with the SPARK MIT16 group at SPARK HQ. Having the opportunity to meet with like-minded educators and bounce ideas off each other was fabulous. The feedback I received from Dorothy and Juanita was clear, constructive and well informed. I highly recommend applying for SPARK MIT17. If next year isn’t your year to inquire then keep this in mind for 2018!

SparkMIT Focus group and data

Focus group:

Year 4 and 5 students identified as Samoan.

Control group:  

This year's Year 5 students (who initially went 1:1 chromebooks with me last year).  I have chosen to have a control group as it will increase the validity of my data by minimising the opportunity for people to question any successes and link them to my teaching style and not my innovation. For instance if the data shows evidence of progress within my focus group, I could use my control group as comparative data to support the effectiveness of my innovation.

Priority learners are groups of students who have been identified as historically not experiencing success in the New Zealand schooling system. These include many

Māori and Pacific learners, those from low socio-economic backgrounds, and

students with special education needs.             ERO (August 2012)

We have Ka Hikitia as effective strategies to enable and assist our Maori learners, which we have seen has an impact on all learners.  The Pasifika Education Plan (PEP) works to address achievement, participation and engagement of our Pasifika learners.  I want to peel back the layers and focus on our Samoan learners. I've tried to capture these layers in a simple mindmap made via bubbl.us  

Data:

Data collected 2015 Term 1 and Term 4.  Endpoint data collected 2016 from Term 1 and Term 4. Supporting OTJ’s used to identify movement across the entire cohort.

Baseline Data:2015 Reading and Writing Achievement levels (Year 3-4 Samoan Students)

Baseline Data
Student names	Year 3 2015					Student names CONTROL GROUP	Year 4 2015
	Term 1		Term 4		EOY Writing		Term 1		Term 4		EOY Writing
	Reading OTJ	Writing Sub-level	Reading OTJ	Writing Sub-level	Sub level Movement		Reading OTJ	Writing Sub-level	Reading OTJ	Writing Sub-level	Sub level Movement
HPS A	AT	1A	ABOVE	3B	4	HPS G	BELOW	1A	AT	2P	2
HPS B	BELOW	1P	ABOVE	1A	1	HPS H	BELOW	1P	AT	2P	3
HPS C	BELOW	1A	AT	2A	3	HPS I	BELOW	2B	AT	2P	1
HPS D	BELOW	1P	AT	2B	2	HPS J	BELOW	2B	AT	2A	2
HPS E	BELOW	1P	AT	2B	2	HPS K	BELOW	1P	AT	2B	2
HPS F	BELOW	1A	ABOVE	2B	1	HPS L*	n/a	n/a	WB	1B	n/a
						HPS M*	WB	1B	AT	2P	4
						HPS N	BELOW	1A	AT	2A	3
						HPS O	BELOW	1P	AT	2P	3

*  students entered NZ directly from Samoa

This is baseline data I have collected for reading and writing. However my innovation will be centered around reading. It would be a bonus to see if there is any correlation between accelerated progress in reading and their writing (for this particular group). I am still refining the data and analysing the specifics. For example, this baseline data doesn't highlight vocabulary as needing improvement. I'll post about this again at a later date.

References

Ka Hikitia Documents

http://www.education.govt.nz/ministry-of-education/overall-strategies-and-policies/the-maori-

education-strategy-ka-hikitia-accelerating-success-20132017/

Education Review Office, 2012

http://www.ero.govt.nz/publications/evaluation-at-a-glance-priority-learners-in-new-zealand-

schools/background/