Literacy programme helps students most at need

A pilot literacy project has shown dramatic results for youngsters who struggle the most with their reading and writing.

By the end of the two-year programme, about 4800 Year 1-8 students involved had shown "significant improvements", said Ministry of Education senior adviser Denise Arnerich.

The project, run in 80 schools, saw specialists working with teachers to develop tailor-made literacy programmes for their students.

About half of the schools concentrated on reading and the other half on writing.

Students who studied the reading comprehension were achieving half a level higher than others without the project. In the writing, the improvement was one and a half times.

But the largest improvement came in students whose academic performance put them in the bottom 20 per cent of the programme. The readers were achieving more than a level above what would have been expected, while the writers were at almost four times the expected performance.

Ms Arnerich said a short-term impact was expected and it was a significant lift from the bottom up.

It is now hoped that rolling out the project can help solve the long tail of underachievement in schools.

International studies show that the top-performing New Zealand students are among the best in the world but, at the other end of the scale, low-achievers are among the worst in the OECD.

Waterview School was one of those that took part. The decile one, 166-pupil school is made up of mainly children from Samoa, Tonga and other Pacific Islands, where English is often the family's second language.

Principal Brett Skeen said the results came as "a real surprise" after the first year and continued to get better. The programme had worked to improve teaching as well as the abilities of students.

"And that had a flow-on impact in all areas of the children's work," he said.

The Literacy Professional Development Project cost $3.8 million of Government money. There will be more investment to extend it to 172 more schools over the next two years.

Announcing the results at Hutt Intermediate School yesterday, Education Minister Steve Maharey described the programme as "hugely encouraging". The results showed it was possible to lift literacy standards for all New Zealand students.

"As well as seeing improvements in literacy across all of the schools involved, we have seen the highest improvement among students that were previously the lowest achievers."

The approach focused on supporting teachers to enhance their skills and develop programmes that meet the diverse needs of their students.