The Literacy Unit publishes new book
The Literacy Unit of the University of Malta, in conjunction with the Education
Division and the National Foundation for Educational Research of the UK,
has published Literacy for School Improvement: Value Added for Malta.
This publication reports on the National Year 5 Literacy Study conducted
with all Maltese 10 year-olds in 2002, which was a follow-up to the National
Year 2 Literacy Study of the same children conducted in 1999. It presents
also the Value Added Study which compares these two national studies.
Furthermore it draws on best practice to outline some important strategies
for feeding back information to schools and teachers. It also offers
a series of searching questions schools might usefully ask themselves about
their current practices.
Based on the work of an international team from Malta and the National
Foundation for Educational Research of the UK, and drawing on the now well-established
tradition of research on school improvement, this innovative study applies
the approach for the first time to Malta’s primary schools. It seeks
to demonstrate how aspects of pupils’ home backgrounds facilitate or inhibit
their literacy progress between Years 2 and 5. It also highlights
the particular challenges the cumulative effects of social disadvantage,
language difficulties, special educational needs and location can pose for
a minority of pupils, families and their schools.
Professor John Gray of the University of Cambridge, a leading expert in
the area of school improvement, has lauded this pioneering work. As
other educational systems have found to their benefit, high-quality data on
pupil performance in combination with a continuing commitment to self-review
can provide a powerful catalyst for school improvement.
Copies of this publication may be obtained from all Agenda Bookshops and
other leading outlets.
To access a review of the above publication written by
Professor John Gray
Professor of Education and Dean of Research
University of Cambridge
click here