Publication Date

2005

Abstract

This paper and the paper by Dr. Lawrence Ingvarson are companion pieces to Rosemary Cahill’s account of the intentions of the Getting it Right Literacy and Numeracy Strategy, and the model of professional development on which the strategy is based. In these papers, we present some findings from the ACER evaluation of Getting it Right. We provide detailed results from the surveys of principals undertaken in 2003 and 2004, including findings of the use of data to improve planning.These results provide evidence of the impact of the initiative, and evidence of an increase of the impact of the strategy over time.We identify key features of the model of professional learning that underpin the strategy, and link this to other research findings on effective professional development. The main purpose of the Australian Council for Educational Research’s evaluation was to provide the Western Australian Department of Education and Training with information about the effectiveness of the Getting it Right Literacy and Numeracy Strategy (GiRLNS) in developing expertise relating to the teaching of literacy and numeracy. The evaluation was focused on the impact of the GiR-LNS professional development, on changes in school practices and on changes in classroom teaching practices. Principals, Specialist Teachers and their classroom teacher colleagues were surveyed in Term 4 2003 and again in Term 4 2004. Other important evaluation information was collected from visits to a selected number of schools, and from observations of the training sessions for the Specialist Teachers. A review of the data collected from principals presents a positive account of an initiative that provides ongoing expert help to teachers in the school, as they work ‘shoulder to shoulder’ in planning, and in classrooms.

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