Abstract
In recognising the need to develop skills in numeracy teaching in a regional primary school, this paper examines a case study of one school response. The Principal of the school instigated the development of professional learning communities, to assist all the teachers, who are not numeracy specialists, to develop appropriate classroom skills. This study describes the early stages of this development, using the beginning of a planned action research approach to reflect on the processes and success of the development. Through staff feedback and participant observation, a general satisfaction with the process and its outcomes is recorded. A benchmarking exercise against a published case study in an American middle school setting identifies where that success originates from—the adoption and articulation of key concepts and principles, the role of deliberative leadership, the creation of a safe working environment, and a number of practices considered crucial to the success of professional learning communities. However, the benchmarking exercise also identifies weaknesses in the case study, which helps explain some misgivings that some staff express about the process, in particular a default assumption about staff recruitment, and a weakness of managing time to account for existing staff time demands.
Highlights
In the last decade, there has been an increasing level of concern in Australia about decreasing numeracy levels for Australian students (HCWG, 2008)
This paper reports on the outcomes of the first stage of research arising from this project, in which a professional learning community (Koellner et al, 2011) was formed in a school to improve numeracy outcomes for students
There are five most frequently expressed concerns related to Australian students (HCWG, 2008: p. 2): students are not learning what are regarded as the “basics”, with the result that they are not adequately equipped for future study or employment; relative to other countries, Australian students do not perform well; at the lower end of international tests, Australia has a long “tail” of poor achievement; particular socio-economic, geographical, cultural and racial/ethnic factors can be an indication of low achievement; and at both the senior secondary and tertiary levels, enrolments in mathematics are declining, which, it is claimed, will have grave consequence for the future places
Summary
There has been an increasing level of concern in Australia about decreasing numeracy levels for Australian students (HCWG, 2008). This paper reports on the outcomes of the first stage of research arising from this project, in which a professional learning community (Koellner et al, 2011) was formed in a school to improve numeracy outcomes for students. The context of this study is the development of a professional learning community in a school to support teaching staff in addressing numeracy education needs. 2): students are not learning what are regarded as the “basics”, with the result that they are not adequately equipped for future study or employment; relative to other countries, Australian students do not perform well; at the lower end of international tests, Australia has a long “tail” of poor achievement; particular socio-economic, geographical, cultural and racial/ethnic factors can be an indication of low achievement; and at both the senior secondary and tertiary levels, enrolments in mathematics are declining, which, it is claimed, will have grave consequence for the future places. We examine this question through a case study approach (Yin, 2009)
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