What could be the focus of my 2021 inquiry?

Our Manaiakalani cluster data for 2020 painted a very clear picture as to what we need to focus on this year: Reading and Maths. While our writing data continues to show accelerated progress, we are making the expected years progress in a year in maths and reading.  This would be perfectly fine if our students were achieving at the expected level, but this is not the case.

  When I completed my honours dissertation I had a focus on maths and had strong results. Unfortunately the next year we had Maths PD which meant I had to stop using the intervention and try a different approach. This year I am able to go back to my original intervention and while I will modify it and add the new things that I have learnt to it, I am confident I will be able to increase my students achievement data.

Therefore, it makes sense for me to focus on reading this year. A problem that our cluster has had consistently is that the rate of achievement progress slows over time, particularly in years 7-10. Another issue is that our students consistently get 'stuck' at a reading age between 8 and 9.5. The progress for these students stalls considerably, and we usually see them at this level as they come into year 7.

As such, this year my reading focus could relate to the students in my class who are stuck at this level. An aim should be to accelerate their learning so they achieve more closely to what is expected at their age. I have talked to my team and other intermediate teachers who all recognise that this is an issue. I have been able to move these students in the past, but this movement hasn't always been significant enough to change their PAT stanine or move them out of the 'problem zone'.

Last year I ran an inquiry that started to show potential as it raised the PAT scores of my target group. However, due to Covid and a change of classes, I was only able to run the intervention over a short period of time. This is something that I should consider when developing my 2021 inquiry.