Reading gains at Waikato Institute of Technology (Wintec) for 2018

This report tracks reading gains achieved by targeted 2018 students at Waikato Institute of Technology. In collating the data set, we applied the multi-year testing requirement referred to by the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC, 2012, 2017a, b) as the sequence concept. To be able to compare initial and progress assessment scores, we were required to set up a multivariate layout manually. We report on learners’ step-based progress to exemption levels for reading. Of the targeted reading cohort (N=666), 48.8% of learners (n=325) progressed to exemption level (step 4 or higher). We used cross-tabulations to report on reading progress by ethnicity and Centre of Study at the institute. To establish whether learners showed statistically significant gain in reading, we used a matched-pairs t-test to compare initial and progress scale scores for the full cohort, followed by repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) to investigate gains for within-subjects differences for two fixed factors, ethnicities and Centre of Study. To explore between-group and between-Centre differences, we performed a two-way ANOVA on Initial and Progress Scale scores for the two fixed factors. To complete the picture, we replicated TEC’s (2012) algorithm for calculating gain to illustrate that these results under-reported learners’ reading progress. The findings showed that within-subjects gains were statistically significant, while between-subjects differences in reading scores for ethnicity and Centre of Study were, for the majority of comparisons, not statistically significant - where statistically significant results were found these were marginal and could not be corroborated by either post-hoc tests or pairwise comparisons. Replicating the TEC’s (2012) algorithm, we found that approximately 21.8% of learners who had achieved step 4 (or higher) on reading were classified as not having achieved statistically significant gain. We continue to view the TEC’s algorithm as having a disparate impact on describing learners’ reading progress. We concluded that current embedded reading instruction practices, though successful, could still be improved. We recommend that findings on reading progress be considered within a joined-up system of organisational practice that takes literacy and numeracy (LN) progress data, classroom observation analyses and module completions into account. The challenge will be to develop innovations for reading development that align with changing approaches and practices in vocational pedagogy. A whole-of-organisation approach would require that the LN team pursue close ties with other support teams such as Student Learning Services, Te Kete Kōnae and the Wintec learning coaches