The Canadian challenge
Nancy Watson, senior research associate, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto  

The National Literacy Strategy and the National Numeracy Strategy are ambitious ventures intended to raise standards in all primary schools in England; challenging targets have been set and substantial resources allocated to the task. The Strategies are highly comprehensive and well-developed. Putting good ideas into practice is complex, particularly when the goal is not just to establish large-scale change, but to sustain it.

Our team has developed a framework that recognises the importance of both central mandates and local action. It will guide our work over the next year or two as we follow the National Literacy and Numeracy Strategies at the national level and also in primary schools across the country.

In our first annual report for the DfEE, we identified both strengths and challenges for the Strategies. Noteworthy strengths include strong leadership, a high degree of policy alignment and coherence, an appropriate balance of support and pressure, adequate resources, and considerable responsiveness to feedback from the field. The challenges relate to teacher skill and knowledge, as well as the need to engage in constructive debate, drawing on the experience of teachers and the findings of researchers. Embedding and sustaining change over time depends on how such challenges are met.

The 1999 improvements in key stage assessment results are likely due to the focused time on literacy and numeracy in the classrooms. For continued improvement, educators need ongoing access to high quality professional development and resources, as well as opportunities for practice and discussion with their colleagues. They also need to understand performance data and use such data to bolster pupil learning. Regional directors have been appointed with specific responsibility for initial teacher training to ensure those entering the profession are equipped to teach literacy and numeracy.

The Strategies are off to an impressive start, but if they are to be sustained, local educators must continue to increase their understanding of literacy and mathematics and must also feel a sense of ownership. Teachers with a good understanding of the principles behind the Strategies, working together in supportive professional communities, will be better able to alter their practice to meet changing pupil learning needs. In schools and in the wider educational community, including higher education, challenge and debate will help to clarify ideas and ensure that the Strategies continue to develop.
 

Reference  For the full report, see Earl, L., Fullan, M., Leithwood, K., & Watson, N. Watching and learning: OISE/UT evaluation of implementation of the National Literacy and Numeracy Strategies. Toronto: Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, 2000 available on the DfEE standards site at The full report is available on the DfEE standards site at www.standards.dfee.gov.uk - this is a direct link to the document. (If you have difficulty - go to the standards site, then to publications within either literacy or numeracy)  Elmore, R. F. (1996), "Getting to scale with good educational practice", Harvard Educational Review, 66(1), 1-26  Fullan, M. (2000), "The return of large-scale reform", Journal of Educational Change.  Leithwood, K., Jantzi, D., & Mascall, B. (2000). Large-scale reform: What works, Unpublished manuscript. Toronto: OISE, University of Toronto.

 
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