The main aim of this report is to track reading gains achieved by targeted 2019 students at Waikato Institute of Technology (Wintec). Tracking is required by the Wintec LN Policy (Revised, 2018) to ensure we meet Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) funding requirements. We generated a composite data set, applying the multi-year testing requirement referred to by the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC, 2012, 2017a, b) as the sequence concept. To compare initial and progress reading assessment scores, we manually set up a multivariate layout. We report on learners’ step-based progress to exemption levels for reading. Of the targeted reading cohort (N=557), 40.4% of learners (n=225) progressed to exemption level (step 4 or higher). We used cross-tabulations to report on reading progress by ethnicity, school/centre of study at the institute and enrolment type. To establish whether learners achieved statistically significant gain in reading, we used a matched-pairs t-test to compare initial and progress scale scores for the full cohort. To complete the picture, we replicated TEC’s (2012) algorithm for calculating gain to illustrate that these results under-reported learners’ reading progress.
Our findings showed that the full cohort achieved reading levels at or above the Tertiary Education Commission’s (TEC’s) targets (TEC, 2015). We replicated past reports (Greyling, 2017; Greyling & Ahmad, 2019) showing that the TEC’s LNAT algorithm under-reported progress. Instead, we argued, cross-tabulations of initial and progress step scores provided a far more positive account of students’ reading progress. Our findings also showed that Pasifika learners performed at levels significantly below those of other ethnicities. Waikato Trades Academy (WTA) and Māori and Pasifika Trades Training (MPTT) students performed at lower levels than other groups yet achieved significant progress. We concluded that current LN practices continued to yield consistent and positive results. Outcomes could be improved by pursuing a more joined-up system of teaching, learning and support as suggested in the report on the 2018 cohort’s progress (Greyling & Ahmad, 2019). Specific attention has to be paid to
• Pasifika ways of being, doing and learning to improve outcomes for them following a collaborative approach with stakeholders responsible for teaching, learning and support.
• Waikato Trades Academy (WTA) and Māori and Pasifika Trades Training (MPTT) who have performed at levels slightly below other enrolment types, specifically to improve the proportions of learners who achieve exemption-level scores.