Oct. 5 was World Teacher Day and students, teachers and administrators were celebrating.
The Light of Christ Catholic School Division has reason to be cheery. Collaboration with other school divisions has increased dramatically, to the point where the school division has seen more collaboration in the last half-decade than in the previous 30 years, division officials say. The school division has updated curricula and teaching resources, a challenging process involving everything from increased professional development to new textbooks.
But most importantly, the school division has also seen some dramatic improvements in performance in the past decade, a change that is, for the first time, backed by "very specific, quantitative, analytical data," according to Superintendent of Learning Kevin Colliar.
In 2004, the LOCCSD's results on achievement tests were far from encouraging. Described by as "dismal," by Colliar, the school division underperformed in all categories on math tests relative to the rest of the province. The results were dramatic enough that they could not be considered a mere statistical blip.
Understandably, the results were not due to a single factor. Studies have identified around 130 different factors as affecting student achievement, and a school division has no control over many of them. All aspects of the home environment of a student, for example, can be large factors in their ability to learn.
But, out of the 130 factors identified by researchers, teachers and school divisions can control 115. They set out, Colliar said, using the best research in the field, to make differences at the level of instruction. The results have been dramatic, so far. Assessment for Learning scores, based on a standardized provincial exam involving problem solving, multiple choice and computation, have shot up, from significantly below to at or significantly above provincial scores.
Opportunity to Learn assessments have been similarly positive. The OTL tests are for teachers and students, and ask students about their preparation and commitment to learn, persistence in difficulty, home support for learning and home support for learning math. For teachers it asks about the availability and use of resources, instruction and learning and approaches to problem solving. Though students have not seen a dramatic increase in OTL numbers, teachers have seen large, consistent increases. In 2004, for example, only 40 per cent of teachers thought they were adequately prepared in terms of professional development (the category of instruction and learning). As of the most recent tests, in 2011, that number is 95 per cent.
The numbers are significant because many parents might not recognize the serious flaws that existed in their own education. Rosy memories notwithstanding, students who went to school in the 1950s, '60s or '70s today have, on average, a sixth-grade understanding of math. Furthermore, modern classrooms are nowhere near as culturally or linguistically homogenous as they were even a few decades ago. The numbers of both English as an additional language (EAL) and First Nations students have increased dramatically over the last several decades, with EAL student numbers increasing by a factor of 10 in the last 10 years.
Besides the strict numbers that the test results show, Colliar points to other indicators that suggest students are doing better. Teachers, for example, are asking different questions of administrators than they were when the process began, reflecting the fact teachers are now working more on "finesse" in their approach than just communicating the basics. Students, too, are trying harder on challenging questions and giving up less often, just one small, non-measurable outcome that suggests the new approaches are working.
Despite the significance of the changes implemented, the school division is emphatic it has no desire to "experiment" with its students. They can't afford to be wrong. Colliar emphasizes that all of the decisions the school division has made have been based on hard data and the best studies available, unlike previous decisions around education that relied largely on "gut feeling." The school division, furthermore, has been collaborating closely with other school divisions and working proactively with teachers on an individual basis, to tweak their approach to the vagaries of each individual classroom.
Though much of the discussion revolves around math, the school division's similar approach to language arts has produced equally shocking rises in performance.
Part of the school division has reason to celebrate, Colliar said, but he also wanted to emphasize the important role parents play in the education of their children, and share this success with them. After all, everyone from the students, to school administrators, to school community councils, to teachers, to parents played an important role in the dramatic increase in performance the school division has seen in the last seven years.
By increasing the transparency of the process as much as possible, Colliar says administrators hope to develop a relationship with parents that is honest and forthright.
