At the monthly school board meeting held on June 14 Sandra Jones, who is the acting director of instruction, presented the District Achievement Contract to the board which contains a variety of different school based data and objectives to help ensure students in the district are successful in their learning.
Jones first presented data for the younger grades, starting with kindergarten students. The data showed that for the 2010-11 school year, kindergarten students meeting expectations were higher than the previous year, which is impressive considering the both the basic skills and phonological skills were above the district’s target. Kindergarten students in the district are said to be on par with the provincial average.
In the FSA reading results it states that grade four writing continues to improve for all students, but in particular Aboriginal students. However, the number of grade four students meeting expectations in reading and numeracy decreased by just under 10 per cent in both areas from all students and Aboriginal students.
Grade seven writing results did increase by a few percent with among all students and
Aboriginal students. But once again, the numbers for all students and Aboriginal students decreased in both reading and numeracy.
In terms of graduation numbers in the district, there is still work to be done. The five-year completion rate, from 2005 to 2010, of grade twelve students is still only 50 per cent for all students, which is well below the provincial average of 76 per cent, and 25 per cent for Aboriginal students. The six-year completion rate is still well below the provincial average of 80 per cent, with 58 per cent of all students getting enough courses to graduate after returning for a year. 35 per cent of Aboriginal students are able to graduate after an extra year of learning.
School District 52’s vision is to be a community of learners, and their mission statement is to “learn, to achieve, and to strive for excellence”. The district’s long-term goal is to “ensure that every student will successfully complete his or her educational program with a sense of hope, purpose and control”.
There are four objectives included in the Achievement Contract to help ensure the district’s vision, mission and long-term goal are achieved. These objectives consist of identifying students who are at risk of not completing their program by holding district wide assessments, preventing students from dropping out by keeping the learning material engaging, intervention to avoid students from discontinuing their educational careers and reclaiming students who have previously not been successful to complete their educational programs.