This spring, John Paul II had its highest on-time graduation rate ever. Light of Christ Catholic School Division's superintendent of learning says Kelvin Colliar says the education sector plan for the province is looking for grad rates to be 85 per cent for all students across the system.
"This year we reached that number," he said. He also says, with First Nations, Metis and Inuit learners making up almost a third of the student population, the division knew that without their being successful, the overall graduation numbers weren't going to make the gains expected.
At the end of the 2013-14 school year, 125 students graduated on time, that is completing Grade 12 within three years of starting Grade 10. Of those, 27 were First Nation, Métis or Inuit students, about 21.6 per cent of the class.
Principal Carlo Hanson estimates this coming year's graduating class will number 120, out of which he expects 35 to 40 will be FNMI students.
It should prove to be another step on the journey to increasing the number of FNMI students graduating and reducing the gap between the number of FNMI and non-FNMI graduates.
JPII's graduate statistics have been consistently higher than the provincial average for several years. The 2013-14 overall rate was 85 per cent, as compared to the provincial average of 74.7. Non-FMNI graduation rate was 89.7 per cent, more than three per cent above the average.
The FNMI graduation rate, however, approached double the provincial average, at 70 per cent, as compared to 40.3 per cent.
The provincial average has climbed by only 8.5 percentage points over the last six school years, while JPII's has risen by a whopping 30 points.
The improvements date back to 2004 and some disappointing math scores. The provincial Assessment for Learning in mathematics saw the division scoring at or near the bottom.
"For many kids, when they get to Grades 10, 11 and 12, mathematics hold the key to whether they graduate or they don't," says Colliar.
So they set on a course to change the results they'd been getting, and he and fellow superintendent Karen Hrabinsky have been tracking it.
Colliar says they found students' persistence levels were weak and they didn't have the multiple strategies necessary to solve problems in real world applications. By being presentied problems only in an isolated environment, the value of taking a risk to solve something, failing at it and learning from that failure was missing.
"We forgot to understand how important failure might be in the learning process."
Meanwhile, a provincial survey of teachers also revealed gaps in the application of best practices in the instruction of mathematics.
"It's like anything," says Colliar. "You can make a change with a program and it will bump up achievement for a short time, but unless you change those foundational pieces in your classroom, instruction and assessment, across the board so it's not just one classroom and not the next one, it's not sustainable."
So, they threw out all the textbooks and teaching manuals and started over again, applying best practices across the division and hiring a facilitator and mentor.
In the assessments that followed in 2006, 2007, 2009 and later in 2011, every incremental increase in teachers using best practice saw a corresponding growth in student achievement, says Colliar.
In the next couple of years, they went from near the bottom to near the top in provincial math achievement scores.
When they saw the math achievement improving, they said, "Now let's look at reading and writing."
Again, teachers were given best practices to use in their language arts classrooms as well as support in establishing them, resulting in further improvements in student achievement and their understanding of the strategies they were using.
After the last seven or eight years, says Colliar, the division now has a group of kids in their high school years with the strategies and persistence levels to allow them to move successfully through curriculum areas that used to pose barriers.
"We now have a group of students who feel more confident," says Colliar, "and numbers have grown remarkably."
Building relationships has been and continues to be an integral part of the process.
Colliar says there needs to be "at least one adult in the building who knows them and understands them and knows they have hopes and dreams for their futures."
By establishing Grade 8 home rooms four years ago and Grade 9 home rooms last year at John Paul II Collegiate, an 8-12 school, they are working at creating relationships between home room teachers and their students in those important middle years.
"I really believe two areas we need to have our most gifted, talented and compassionate teachers are in the primary years, K, 1, 2 and 3 where they are learning to read, and the middle years, 6, 7, 8 and 9, when they are so vulnerable as learners," says Colliar.
It's also crucial to establish reasons for students to be successful in school, he says.
"So often subjects in the past have been taught in isolation. 'Why do we take English? Because it's in the curriculum.' But there are so many reasons to know how you are going to use it. As a lawyer, doctor, auto mechanic, language is important."
Grad Coach Program
Improving graduation rates of FNMI students has been mandated by the provincial government, and the three high schools in North Battleford are taking part in an innovative new program.
The funding comes from the provincial Ministry of Education through the Treaty 6 Education Council. Although FNMI issues are generally in the federal government's jurisdiction, Colliar says the provincial government is recognizing movement of FNMI students from reserve schools into the provincial jurisdiction and how that impacts the province overall.
Light of Christ School Division, Living Sky School Division and the joint Sakewew High School board put together a proposal and applied for $300,000 per year for three years to embed a high school graduation coach into their systems.
At JPII, grad coach Shalen Fox will work with all kids, says Colliar, but right now the focus will be on Grades 9 and 10 and the transition into high school.
Central to having a graduation plan in place each student is making sure they understand what credits they need, when they need them by, and what happens if you miss out on one. Setting up the pathway is key, says Colliar.
Students need 24 credits to graduate, but they could have 25 credits and still not graduate if they missed out on even one compulsory credit.
With a grad coach, students will also have the knowledge that they have an advocate who will be there to celebrate their successes with them, says Colliar.
