Literacy can be defined as students' ability to interpret and create texts with appropriateness, accuracy, confidence, fluency and efficacy for learning in and out of school, and for participating in the workplace and community.
A strong foundation in literacy is vital for every child and young person, and underpins their ability to engage in education, reach their potential and fully participate in the community.
Using High Impact Teaching Strategies (HITS) to support literacy learning
The first step to implementing HITS in the classroom is to understand your current impact on student learning and how to best support students in their learning journey.
Consider undertaking a self-reflection of your practice, using the Practice Principles for Excellence in Teaching and Learning reflection tools. The Peer Observation Guide for Teachers also provides useful information on self-reflection. For more information, see:
Practice Principles for Excellence in Teaching and Learning reflection tools (pdf - 1.12mb) and
Peer Observation Guide for Teachers (pdf - 583.09kb)
Undertake a self-assessment using the relevant HITS continua of practice to identify strategies to improve the delivery of high quality teaching and literacy learning. For more information, see:
HITS (pdf - 6.88mb).
If you are already using HITS, consider how you can continue to evaluate the impact of your practice on students' literacy learning. For more information, see:
Evaluate the impact of your teaching.
Benefits for teachers
Improve your teaching practice
Effective literacy learning occurs when schools embed high impact strategies in literacy programs. This includes teachers reflecting on their practice, identifying an area of improvement focus, applying the teaching strategy and evaluating their impact.
Make a difference
Today, more than ever before, we need to focus on the effective literacy learning of our students. The ability to tell opinion from fact, to understand a changing environment, to connect with others within and beyond our community, and to do meaningful work in a global and increasingly automated economy – all require a citizenry with higher levels of literacy.
Case study: Drysdale Primary School
Drysdale Primary School Literacy specialist Nicole Alonso explains how her school has been able to effectively use three of these HITS: Setting goals, Explicit Teaching and Feedback in order to effectively support their practice across the school and create consistency in their literacy teaching.
To read this case study, see:
Focusing in on high impact teaching strategies to support literacy learning
Resources for teachers
Relevant tools and resources include:
Feedback welcome
For more information, or to share your feedback, email:
professional.practice@edumail.vic.gov.au.