The NIELNS program has generated creativity, enthusiasm, breakthroughs and improved outcomes for its providers. The Commonwealth has the opportunity to harness this momentum and achieve even more improved outcomes by staying with the strategies that work
The National Indigenous English Literacy and Numeracy Strategy (NIELNS) was launched by the Prime Minister in March 2000 with the objective:…
“To achieve literacy and numeracy for Indigenous students at levels comparable to those achieved by other young Australians”…
NIELNS was a $63 million Commonwealth Government program representing approximately 10% of IESIP funding for the quadrennium 2001 – 2004. A further $13.3m was allocated to national projects and included as part of the NIELNS Program. These national projects were evaluated separately by the Department.
The outcomes achieved through NIELNS have been classified as follows:
- intermediate outcomes – necessary achievements, including social and behavioural outcomes, which are pre-requisites to achievement of readiness to learn or literacy and numeracy
- readiness to learn outcomes – those conditions that have to be achieved so that a child is at school and is able to concentrate on and participate in learning
- literacy and numeracy outcomes – usually assessed levels of literacy and numeracy and course completions or grade progressions.
NIELNS continued the strategies and areas of focus found to be successful in the Strategic Results Projects ( 1998-19990. A number of these strategies were aimed at achieving intermediate outcomes such as increasing the confidence of children or improving eating habits while others were focussed on achieving readiness for learning outcomes such as improved attendance, behavioural readiness for learning and better equipped teachers. Still others were contributing to literacy and numeracy outcomes.
The NIELNS Program is more a readiness for learning program than a literacy and numeracy program, acknowledging that the latter cannot occur without the former. It is helping to lay foundations for improved outcomes in literacy and numeracy over the coming years as long as the initiatives undertaken are sustainable and/or replicable.
The six elements of NIELNS are:
- Element 1: Achieving Attendance
Lifting school attendance rates of Indigenous students to national levels;
- Element 2: Overcoming Hearing, Health and Nutrition problems
Effectively addressing the hearing and other health problems that undermine learning for a large proportion of Indigenous students;
- Element 3: Preschooling Experiences
Providing, wherever possible, preschooling opportunities;
- Element 4: Getting Good Teachers
Training sufficient numbers of teachers in the skills and cultural awareness necessary to be effective in Indigenous communities and schools and encouraging them to remain for reasonable periods of time;
- Element 5: Using Best Teaching Methods
Ensuring that teaching methods known to be most effective are employed; and
- Element 6: Measuring Success, Achieving Accountability
Instituting transparent measures of success as a basis for accountability for schools and teachers.
The evaluation was conducted from November 2001 to December 2003. Given that the evaluation is reporting before the end of the Program itself it can be seen as both a formative and a summative evaluation. The formative nature can be seen through the feedback provided to DEST and its State/Territory offices that allowed improved reporting. The summative nature can be seen through the assessment that has been given to each project as to whether it is on track to show improved outcomes and the overall assessment of the value of NIELNS.