MultiLit partners with National Centre of Indigenous Excellence
In December 2011, MultiLit and the National Centre of Indigenous Excellence (NCIE) entered into a Pathway Partnership Agreement with the objective of achieving significant literacy outcomes for young Indigenous Australians. The aims of the partnership are to create a best-practice, innovative literacy program based on research-informed and proven methodologies, evidence-based impact measurement and a sustainable operations model that significantly improves the literacy competency of Indigenous young people.
The NCIE literacy program adopts an innovative approach with partners (including MultiLit) that are passionate about Indigenous literacy. Other partners include Indigo Express and the Australian Literacy and Numeracy Foundation (ALNF). Components of the NCIE program include:
- Literacy assessments and individual reports for Indigenous young people
- Online one-on-one literacy tutoring for two to three times per week for individual Indigenous young people with identified literacy needs
- Literacy support as a part of the NCIE After School Program
- Training of early childhood educators and tutors in ALNF methodology
- Training of teachers and tutors in MultiLit’s approach
- Literacy assessment of Indigenous young people enrolled in early childhood education centres
Under the partnership agreement, MultiLit has been invited to undertake the literacy assessments and reports and deliver the Online Reading Tutor Program in a pilot study that seeks to improve the literacy of Indigenous children across Australia including those in rural and remote communities.
The project commenced in May 2012, with 22 high school students from Tempe in Sydney being given a full MultiLit Literacy Assessment at the NCIE located in Redfern. Assessments were conducted with students from Years 7-11 over two days.
The results were then used to identify the eight students who would be the first group to have access to the Online Reading Tutor Program, delivered online twice a week by the tutors at the MultiLit Literacy Centre. The MultiLit sessions ran over 20 weeks, on a rotating basis during school-time to ensure minimal impact on the student’s timetable.
The second group assessed was from Palm Island, located off the Far North Queensland coast. Eighteen students visited the NCIE in early June 2012 and literacy assessments were conducted. MultiLit, in conjunction with the program partners, then identified the students with the highest literacy needs prior to the students’ departure at the end of the week. Students were selected to enter the Pilot Project and commenced their Online Reading Tutor Program classes in early July. Their 20-week program was completed before the end of the 2012 school year.