Submitted by Norm Park, Contracted Reporter for SECPSD
The Southeast Cornerstone Public School Division has reported positive results from two of their school division’s goals, which focus on early learning and high student achievement levels.
Lynn Little, director of education and Aaron Hiske, superintendent of education, provided a detailed report on both of the system’s goals. In a presentation showing high achievement in the school division, Leah Macfarlane and Claire Larson, two Carnduff School science students who recently captured a bronze medal at the Canada Wide Science Fair during the past academic year, spoke about their experience. Their teacher Jessica Morland accompanied them.
Little explained the high level achievement monitoring experience took the recorders beyond traditional test scores and included many other school-related activities, beginning with Kindergarten programming.
Previous examples of high achievement, she pointed out, included integrated projects in various schools, entrepreneurship classes and provincial and national successes for those participants. There have been high achievement levels experienced by Cornerstone music/choir students and others have achieved higher levels in reading and mathematics and English as Another Language experiences while others have gone beyond expectations with Skills Canada medals.
She noted that when it came to traditional accounting, Cornerstone students scored above the province average in 18 of 20 categories and the division’s self-identified First Nations and Métis students also scored above provincial averages in seven of nine subject areas.
Early years evaluations, brought forward by Hiske, in the latter part of the school board’s monthly general meeting, outlined how co-ordinators and consultants played a valuable role in developing strategies for action plans to assist the youngest students gain success.
The educator/administrator pointed out how 90 per cent of the Cornerstone early learners are fully prepared for learning experiences at the Kindergarten level thanks to the observations and early intervention observances and activities.
He explained that Level 2 students exiting Kindergarten will be scoring in an appropriate range in four of the five domains, one of which must be in the language and communication domain as measured by the Early Years Evaluation tests. Level three, he explained, means achieving grade levels in reading, writing and mathematics with strategies being supported by school community councils, with plans formulated to reach out to parents and the community in regards to the important roles they play within the overall plan.
The goal, it was explained, is to have 80 per cent of students reading, writing and completing math assignments at or above grade levels by 2020. To that end, the target is to have 80 per cent of Grade 3 students at grade level (or beyond) by 2019 and 80 per cent of Grade 4-8 students also at the 80 per cent level by 2020.
Writing levels for Grade 1 to 9 students should be at 80 per cent by 2020, Hiske pointed out and the same target is set for writing skills measured by the provincial writing rubric while Grade 10-12 students will achieve a mark of 75 per cent or higher in the compose and create strand of high school English Language classes.
Similar targets have been set for math with 2020 again being set as the culmination year.
With these goals in sight, Hiske said the graduation rate in Saskatchewan should be at 85 per cent and should reach 90 per cent using a five-year high school experience pace.
He pointed out by 2020 the graduation rate for Cornerstone students should increase from the 84.9 per cent that was measured in 2015 to at least 90 per cent using provincial measuring standards, with an expectation of a graduation success rate of 95 per cent or above.
