Week 3 Term 1 - Teacher Practice: Inquiry Framework for NCEA English Data (February 12 - February 16)

Investigating and unpacking data is an important part of our teaching practice. More recently in the last 5 year I have taken a deep dive into this space where I am unpacking the achievement for NCEA English and it is a space that I am still learning and growing into. At the beginning of the year the NCEA English results were released for our NCEA Level 1, 2 and 3 English students. Initially I was surprised by the results and I found myself logging in and out of the NZQA a few times to make sure that what I was seeing was not just my imagination. 

Overview of NCEA Level 1 + 2 English Results

My first response to the results was shock and disappointment. Across each year level the (Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3 English) our students did not perform well in their English exam. 

Overview of Internal Assessment Results for NCEA Level 1, 2 + 3 ENG

Our internal assessments results were on track and I am really happy with how these results worked out. Overall we had a number of endorsements across NCEA Level 1, 2 and 3 English that we are really proud of. They are as follows: 

• NCEA Level 1 English Endorsement: 34 Achieved Endorsement + 2 Merit Endorsement
• NCEA Level 2 English Endorsement: 12 Achieved Endorsement + 6 Merit Endorsement
• NCEA Level 3 English Endorsement: 3 Achieved + 1 Merit

INQUIRY: noun,plural in·quir·ies. a seeking or request for truth, information, or knowledge. an investigation

Now that I have had some time to reflect on the results, I have decided to launch into a mini inquiry for Term 1 focusing on the achievement data for our NCEA Level 1, 2 and 3 English students (2023). For my inquiry I have used a framework that enables me to identify all the key drivers to the successes and the failures for our NCEA English results. From here it is all about finding the solutions to the gaps and organizing the next steps to action the solution. I have found that this type of inquiry framework useful so that I can keep myself accountable and also track the progress (or lack thereof). 

My Inquiry Framework - Term 1 

• Identifying our key drivers (reasons for achievement and non achievement)

English Department @ Careers Expo 2023

I have already started to identify the key drivers for the successes and failures for our NCEA English results. I believe that our successes are connected and rooted in the following drivers: 

1. Good Relationships - Good relationships with the students, where the student's understand the expectation and the purpose for their learning is clear is integral. Having a good relationship with the student (knowing who they are, communicating with them etc) helps to settle and foster the learning. I am so grateful for the team who put this at forefront in their teaching practices. 
2. Feedback - Providing robust feedback where it is constructive but also affirming the student's work has been an important part of how we work with our students. 
3. Flexibility - Working with our students means that we have to be flexible with how we teach. There were some cases in 2023 where some of the staff were teaching outside of school hours online to help get students through internal assessments. This type of flexibility is definitely a sacrifice but the return is positive for both the teacher and student. 

• What is the solution to the problem and What are our next steps?

This is where creativity comes into play. Problem solving involves a lot of creativity and this is a stage where I am figuring out what are some meaningful steps I can put in place that will impact change and what steps do I need to make in order to get there. 

In this part of the inquiry I want to see: 

Quick Wins - Where are our quick wins (short term goals) that we can achieve that will help build momentum?

Long Term Goals - What are some long term goals that we can leave on the board and timeline it (things we can achieve in 3 months, 6 months, 9 months etc). 

Next Steps: 

• I want to interview my current Level 3 English students and see what they believed contributed to their success and what they believed contributed to their failures. 
• I want to collate the information from my interviews and see what the trend is and find a way to support/address the trend. 
• I would like to start to see what the possible solutions are for low achievement and find the next steps to shift this trend. 

I look forward to reflecting on the next phase!