From Training to Teachingearly Language and Literacy

From training to teachingearly language and literacy

The effectiveness of training to teach language and literacy in primary schools

Age group: 3–11

Published:November 2012

Reference no:120031

Contents

Executive summary

Key findings

Recommendations

Characteristics of the best new teachers of language and literacy in this survey

Common features of the most effective initial training and induction

Common barriers facing trainees and new teachers

The key elements of initial training and induction

A well-defined curriculum within initial teacher education

Precise audit of the trainees’ skills

Early and ongoing experience of effective assessment

Providers know the quality of language and literacy provision in their partner schools

Good-quality mentoring at every stage

Well-managed involvement of the literacy coordinator

Observations, monitoring and giving feedback

Promoting speaking and listening

Opportunities for teaching all aspects of language and literacy

Making provision for pupils who have special educational needs

Making provision for pupils at an early stage of learning English as an additional language

Access to best practice

Further information

Annex A: Providers visited for this survey

Initial teacher education providers visited

Schools visited

Telephone call interview

Executive summary

‘We need to renew our national drive for higher standards of literacy… I am committed to Ofsted playing its part in that campaign to raise standards.’

Sir Michael Wilshaw,Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector,March 2012.

All teachers, including new teachers coming into the profession, need to be well trained. New teachers in the Early Years Foundation Stage and Key Stages 1 and 2 must know how to teach early language skills, reading and writing effectively.

This survey set out to evaluate how well new teachers are trained to teach language and literacy, including phonics in primary schools. Inspectors followed 50 trainee teachers from their final training placement to the first and second terms of their first teaching posts. Forty-four of these trainees from 10 different initial teacher education providers took part from the start to the end of the survey.

Inspectors found variation in the quality of initial training and induction andconsiderable differences in the depth of knowledge and level of skills of the new teachers in teaching early language and literacy. Twenty-one of the 44 new teachers had good or better skills. Fourteen of these had received at least good training at every stage of their training and induction with sufficient focus and in-depth learning.However, the survey also found that not enough new teachers had consistent high-quality training during initial teacher education and induction to ensure that they developed good teaching skills,underpinned by a deep understanding of language development and the acquisition of literacy skills.

The following factors were found to be most important in ensuring that trainees and new teachers have the best possible chance of developing the necessary knowledge and expertise for teaching language and literacy well.

Initial teacher education programmes need to ensure that every trainee has a good understanding of how children develop language and literacy skills and a good understanding of the prerequisite early developmental experiences children need to ensure later success.

There must be ongoing rigorous evaluation of the knowledge and skills of trainees and newteachers,specifically with regard to the teaching of language and literacy;training opportunities must be adapted accordingly.

Trainees and new teachers must receive clear, robust and objective feedback on their performance,specifically about theteaching of language and literacy.

Trainees and new teachers must be provided with many early opportunities to work alongside skilled colleagues inassessing, planning and evaluating pupils’ learning,in order to ensure that from the outset, planning and teaching meet the different needs of all pupils.

Key findings

Twenty-oneof the 44 new teachers were teaching language and literacy well and ensuring that good progress was being made in this area by nearly all of the pupils in their class. Nearly all the 44 new teachers were teaching at a satisfactory or better level by the spring term 2012.[1]

Fourteen of the 44 new teachers did not have sufficiently in-depth training in assessing pupils’ skills and knowledge in language and literacy to be able to use their judgements effectively to plan lessons and decide how to give extra help.

All but three initial teacher education providers gave trainees at least a reasonable start in understanding how to teach phonics effectively, but nearly half the trainees were not sufficiently aware of how learning in one age group related to pupils’ previous and subsequent learning in language and literacy.

In the best initial teacher education programmes, trainees developed a good understanding of how language skills underpin literacy, and how the development of phonic skills relates to reading and writing across the age groups from the Early Years Foundation Stage to Year 6 and beyond. The most successfultraining and induction occurred in schools where there was a whole-school focus on improving the teaching and learning of language and literacy.

The survey found that it is possible for a trainee to become a successful new teacher even when aspects of their initial training have been weak, where the gaps in their knowledge and skills are picked up and addressed by the provider, subsequent school placements or the induction school. Similarly it is possible for a new teacher to be effective when induction is weak if they have had good strong training and experience in good or better placements.

Too oftentraining and induction in the teaching of language and literacy did not take sufficient account of trainees’ and newly qualified teachers’ different starting points. This survey found that, although not a guarantee of success, an initial degree in English, other language-based subjects or child development usually provided a stronger foundation of understanding for teaching language and literacy.

On leaving training, newly qualified teachers were not always sufficiently skilled in adapting their teaching to meet the needs of pupils at an early stage of learning English as an additional language, the needs of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs.

Trainees rarely had sufficient training and guidance on how to work with other colleagues to ensure:that they received information about the pupils in their class who were taught in different ability groups by other staff;that they were able to monitor the quality of the input of, and provide feedback to, other staff working with pupils in their class in developing language and literacy skills.

Recommendations

The Department for Education,including theTeaching Agency, should:

ensure that initial training and induction develop trainees’ understanding of how to teach language and literacy, including phonics,from the Early Years Foundation Stage to Year 6, regardless of the age range for which they are being trained;they should be taught what to teach,as well as how to avoid gaps in pupils’ learning, knowledge and skills as they move through the school

publicise the expectedstandards and training in these areas so that they are available for anyone considering training

use the full range of evidence, including inspection evidence, about the quality and effectiveness of trainees’ and newly qualified teachers’ teaching and the outcomes for the pupils they teach, when evaluating the effectiveness of any initial training provider

provide every trainee and newly qualified teacher with clear information about what their trainer and induction schools should provide in relation to the teaching of language and literacy and what they are expected to know and understand by the end of their course and induction;trainees should understand how they can challenge the quality of their training and induction if it is weak, and they should also be provided with accessto excellent practitioners – for example, those schools identified as ‘Leading Partners in Literacy’and current‘Teaching Schools’.[2],[3]

Initial teacher educationpartnerships should:

use information about the prior knowledge and experience of trainees to plan their programmesand ensure that trainees with less experience of,or knowledge about, language and literacy have additional input in these areas

rigorously evaluate the quality of provision, progress and attainment in language and literacy for pupils in all the partner schools so that centre-based training and future placements can be adjusted to complement the trainees’ experiences more effectively

ensure that the development of languageskills from the Early Years Foundation Stage to Year 6 and the relationship these have with literacy skills are fully understood by all new teachers for primary aged pupils

ensure that trainees have opportunities to observe and learn about the teaching of literacy and language across the key stages so they become aware of how their work fits withpupils’ literacy and language learning over time

provide more opportunities for trainees to assess, plan and evaluate pupils’ learning from an early stage so that their planning meets the different needs of the pupils more effectively

ensure that trainees are given clear information about current age-related expectations of pupils’ progress and attainment in language and literacy

support trainees in evaluating their own performance in the teaching of language and literacy.

Schools that provide induction should:

carry out an early assessment and ongoing evaluation of newly qualified teachers’ knowledge and skills when teaching language and literacy and use this information to plan further training opportunities;assessments should includeformal and informal observations,analysis of pupil tracking and looking at pupils’ work across the curriculum.

ensure that every newly qualified teacher is given support from the school’slanguage and literacy coordinator and the induction tutor[4]

haveclearly defined lines of accountability and responsibility for all professionals working within an induction programme

ensure that newly qualified teachers evaluate their language and literacy teaching so that they understand the impact that this has on pupils’ progress

help newly qualified teachers to identify what may be preventing some children from learning as quickly as others and where they should be providing more challenge.

Ofsted will:

evaluate trainees’ and newly qualified teachers’ preparedness for teaching language and literacy, including phonics, and their ability to assess and support the progress of all pupils regardless of their attainment levels

ensure that inspectors review the quality of induction, where relevant, when evaluating the effectiveness of performance management systems.

Characteristics of the best new teachers of language and literacy in this survey

The best new teachers had been well supported and consequently they had:

a deep understanding of children’s language development and understanding of the links between language skills and literacy skills

sufficient knowledge of language and literacy skills across the age groups, so thatthey were able to adapt their teaching for different age groups as well as pupils with a range of abilities and attainment

good questioning skills which helped pupils develop their thinking skills through talking and listening

a good knowledge and understanding of phonics and how this supports reading and spelling; they understood how to help pupils use their skills learnt throughout the curriculum

a good understanding of how to help pupils use the skills they have learnt throughout the curriculum.

They also had an ability to:

create interesting experiences and activities that promoted the use of language and children’s listening skills

assess learning in language and literacy accurately and understand what to teach next to enable pupils to progress quickly

provide good models of spoken as well as written language

use accurate and precise pronunciation

blend and segment words when teaching phonics

use a wide range of well-considered resources to help extend vocabulary and create an enthusiasm for writing

assess pupils throughout lessons and target their questioning, providing sufficient challenge and support for different pupils

understand how to support pupils with special educational needsand those who are at an early stage of acquiring English

be proficient in teaching language and literacy skills across the curriculum

be highly reflective practitioners.

Common features of the most effective initial training and induction

A well-defined initial teacher education curriculum that included:ways of teaching language skills through modelling and skilful questioning;tutoring about the links between language skills and literacy; ways of teaching reading and writing; the use of systematic synthetic phonics and the links with spelling strategies, grammar and higher-order comprehension skills.

Precise audits and subsequent monitoring of trainees’ skills; adjustments to tutoring in order to meet trainees’ needs.

Opportunities for trainees to develop a good understanding of effective assessment and how to use this to inform accurateplanning.

A good understanding of the quality of teaching of language and literacy and achievement of pupils in partner schools. This enabled the providers to plan good future placements and centre-based training for trainees.

The induction of new teachers into effective staff teams; this facilitated good informalmonitoring, joint planning and assessment.

Well-trained school-based mentors withthe necessary skills to assess the skills and knowledge of the trainee or newly qualified teacher, and offer well-targeted support and challenge.

School literacy coordinatorswith a high profile within training and induction,with clear lines of support and accountability.

Well-planned observations of literacy teaching during initial training and induction, including observations of phonics and skills tutoring sessions.

Effective feedback about pupils’ learning for trainees and new teachers from tutors, mentors and other school staff. This helped them to reflect on their teaching skills and evaluate how much pupils were learning in their lessons.

An understanding of the correlation between the performance of newly qualified teachersand the progress made by all the pupils in their classes.

Good opportunities within initial training and induction for observing practice in different key stages within a range of schools.

Common barriers facing trainees and new teachers

Too few opportunities to teach all aspects of language and literacy,and ways of teaching literacy skills across other subject areas.

Too few opportunities to teach pupils of different ages and those with different needs.

Observations of trainees and new teachers which do not focus sufficiently on specific areas of language and literacy, including phonics, and feedback which is not precise about how pupil’s learning could be improved.

Poorly defined, and often too many, areas for improvement in feedback which do not build upon existing skills.

Schools which do not have an accurate enough view of the quality of their own provision or the skills of different staff. Often they struggle to identify what the newly qualified teacher needs to learnwhich leads to overly narrow, inward-looking induction.

Insufficientexpertise or capacity to support the newly qualified teacher in developing their teaching of language and literacy.New teachers in these situations are often isolatedand lack experience of different approaches in order to reflect upon and evaluate their own practice.

The key elements of initial training and induction

This section considers some of the constituent parts of initial teacher training and induction. It sets out important ‘dos and don’ts’ for providers and schools, and provides case studies to illustrate good practice and identify how weaker practice can be improved.

A well-defined curriculum within initial teacher education

After gaining a degree in English and History, one of the trainees followed the Postgraduate Certificate in Education route into teaching. His initialtraining gave him a good grounding in the knowledge and skills to teach language and literacy characterised by:

an effective audit of his subject knowledge that included phonics, early reading and spelling strategies, which was used to shape the training he required

explicit input on the simple view of reading, early writing and systematic synthetic phonics[5]

taught elements for developing speaking and listening across the curriculum, and using speaking and listening as the first steps to successful writing