Tuesday, 7 April 2015

Literacy with a capital “L”

So what are the requirements? Are teachers fully 'aufait' with the literacy requirements for NCEA? here is a quick recap (thanks to my awesome colleague, Cynthia Orr for putting together the following)







Requirements for Level 1 are:

Minimum of 10 credits through either:

Specified assessment standards - specified achievement standards available through a range of subjects and English for Academic Purposes unit standards (minimum total of 10 credits), or

Unit standards - package of three literacy unit standards (total of 10 credits
 -
all three required).
 The Level 1 literacy and numeracy requirements must be met to achieve NCEA Level 1, NCEA Level 2 from 2013 and NCEA Level 3 from 2014
 

Literacy achievement standards  
A wide range of achievement standards (approx. 550 across Levels 1-3) have been identified as eligible to meet the requirements.
The standards have been selected using the following definitions:

"Literacy to meet the demands of the New Zealand Curriculum at Level 6. These standards provide the scope for students to demonstrate reading, writing, speaking and listening skills.


Literacy unit standards  
These standards have been designed to be used in schools, tertiary and workplace programmes and support the principle of embedded literacy.
The standards have been designed using the following definitions:

"Literacy is the written and oral language people use in their everyday life, learning and work. It includes reading, writing, speaking, and listening. Skills in this area are essential for good communication, active participation, critical thinking and problem solving.




University Entrance Literacy

University Entrance (UE) is the minimum requirement to go to a New Zealand university. To qualify for University Entrance students need:

    1. NCEA Level 3

    2. Three subjects - at Level 3, made up of:

        14 credits each, in three approved subjects

    *3. Literacy - 10 credits at Level 2 or above, made up of:

        5 credits in reading

        5 credits in writing

    4. Numeracy - 10 credits at Level 1 or above.

(Once a student has met the requirements for University Entrance it will appear on their Record of Achievement).

*UE Literacy
For standards that meet both reading and writing requirements it is possible to split the standard to fulfil the literacy requirement.  For example, Art History 3.1 (91482) can contribute 2 credits to the reading requirement and 2 credits to the writing requirement. 


Achievement Standards that contribute to the Reading requirement:
42 Level 3 External standards
51 Level 3 Internal standards
15 Level 2 External standards
17 Level 2 Internal standards http://www.nzqa.govt.nz/qualifications-standards/qualifications/ncea/subjects/literacy-and-numeracy/level-1-requirements/lit-num-subjects/

* Please note that this is the basic requirement for University Entrance, it does not guarantee entrance on to a course, as Universities often have further requirements that need to be met. 




So what does that mean for you as a Technology teacher? 

Lifting Literacy Learning in Secondary School ClassroomEach learning area has its own language. As students discover how to use them, they find they are able to think in different ways, access new areas of knowledge, and see their world from new perspectives (NZC, p.16)
  • Teachers need to ensure their students develop the literacy expertise that will enable them to engage with the curriculum at increasing levels of complexity and with increasing independence.It cannot simply be assumed that because students can read and write all the teacher needs to do is deliver the content. As they progress through schooling, students need to be able to read and write increasingly complex texts and to engage with increasingly complex tasks. At the same time, the subject matter that they read and write about becomes more abstract and specialised. 
  • Teachers need to ask at every stage what demands the curriculum is making on students in each learning area and what specific language-related knowledge and skills they need to be aware of, or to teach
Here are some links to Literacy resources on the Technology wiki https://technologynz.wikispaces.com/Literacy
 and to Developing Student Technological Literacy in New Zealand on the Technology online website http://technology.tki.org.nz/Technology-in-the-NZC/Research

I would also suggest having a look at the Literacy learning progressions http://www.literacyprogressions.tki.org.nz/


No comments:

Post a Comment