What research have you considered in selecting your chosen strategies and structures?
We have used the Ministry of Education's document "Developing and Supporting K-12 Student Self Reflection and Self-Assessment of Core Competencies" and Core Competency descriptors from our Education Plan as well as from the Ministry curriculum documents. We have also consulted webinars provided by the Ministry of Education on Assessment (Tom Schimmer) and other articles and information from Solution Tree including "Student Self-Assessment" (Katie White). Other research consulted has been Dive into Deeper Learning (Joanne Quinn et al.) and Ripple Effect of Resiliency (Monique Gray Smith).
What strategies and structures are currently working in your school?
Entry and exit surveys through the math department
School wide shift towards self-reflection holding space in all courses
Indigenous School Based Team
School Based Team
At-risk Graduation Tracking
Self-Efficacy course (SSA)
Summative self-assessment of core competencies (Outreach)
Daily circle for check in (Self-regulation), plans & goals for the day (SSA)
What new strategies or structures do you plan to use? Why?
New reporting order requirement to include student self-assessment for grades 10-12. This will include creating a new structure that allows students to collect evidence of core competency development in order to self-assess during reporting periods.
Refocussing/defining the language used to describe core competencies to enhance self-reflection in all courses. We noticed that there remains a superficial understanding of core competencies (particularly critical thinking and create and innovate) amongst our student population. In reestablishing our shared language, students will know what to expect no matter the course they are in.
Sharing and creating self-reflection strategies to continue to build students repertoire
Broadening our understanding of student surveys by interviewing students one on one and using focus groups. We find that in taking time to hear students voices through interviews we are able to learn more about the data from our surveys.
What new strategy or structure are you most excited about? Why?
This year we are most excited about learning from each other as teachers share and collaborate on the strategies and structures they are using to bring student self-reflection to life in the classroom
How do you monitor strategies and refine them as required?
This school year we have built a baseline understanding of what our students understand about core competencies and self-reflection and what our staff believe to be our students' strengths and stretches in these areas. We are now at the stage of creating learning opportunities for both staff and students. We will continue to monitor our progress by gathering anecdotal feedback from our staff and students. As the reporting order comes into effect next year, we would like to see our students be able to articulate the value of self-reflection as it impacts their learning in the larger context, as they plan for life beyond high school.
What is your professional learning plan for staff?
Use Department Head time to discuss and create learning opportunities for larger staff.
Use staff meeting time to collaborate on the following topics: common language, strategies for self-reflection & self-assessment (including platform for reporting order) and shared tools for classroom teachers.
Provide release time for staff to build new tools to be shared amongst staff
Several staff participated in the school based Pro D with Katie White in September
How is your budget aligned with this School Learning Plan?
This year's school budget has been targeted towards staffing:
Additional counselling time to provide ample opportunities for students to seek support as they plan for graduation, working opportunities, additional school or social emotional needs.
Youth Care Worker who works collaboratively with our counselling department to support students reconnect to school.
Additional CST time in our math classes so that we could expand additional support to our Foundations of Math 10 classes.
At SSA we have changed the administrator structure and added additional teaching time to increase the number of adult support in the building.
How does the school goal address achievement for specific groups of at-risk students? Most able students?
The strength of the goal for both HSS & SSA is that all of our students, from at-risk to most able, will benefit from taking a school wide approach to self-assessment.
For at-risk students at HSS, building skills for self-reflection will address barriers to attendance and engagement.
For students who find more success at school, building skills for self-reflection will address concerns of the relevance of school and how it relates to life beyond high school.
At SSA, the self-efficacy course takes a personalized approach to addressing the achievement of each student. Through conferencing, students and staff use self-reflection to identify barriers to success at school and collaborate to find solutions including: outside agency support and barriers to cross-enrolment at HSS.
How does your school plan to monitor student success and intervene when students struggle with their learning?
We have a number of mechanisms in place to monitor the progress of our students. Our School based Team meets after reporting periods to plan proactive interventions with our staff. This could look like family meetings with staff and students to identify barriers, additional support from our YCW, potential credit recovery, options for SSA or Outreach, addition of learning support blocks, counselling support or outside agency support. Admin track interventions and the staff responsible as well as the outcome. Additionally, we meet as a SBT weekly for HSS students, monthly for HSS students of indigenous ancestry and bi-weekly at SSA. Self Efficacy at SSA provides regular adult guided reflection on student's progress during which time barriers to success can be identified and possible solutions and interventions provided.
How are you using Collaborative Models of Support to differentiate for students’ needs?
We focus the majority of our CMOS time in our Math, Science and English classes. CMOS is used to support the diverse needs of our students in a number of courses required for graduation. This year, additional CST time was allocated in our math classes to support students progress from Workplace math to Foundations. This meant that CST was no longer only allocated to WP math but additional math classes in an effort to provide a more inclusive math class.
What authentic classroom information is being used by your teacher teams to support planning for responsive instruction?
Learning Services Department
Our learning services department gathers evidence from IEP meetings, report card data, SBT and staff input to work with students to build plans that will support the various needs of our students. This could look like course changes, credit recovery, learning support blocks and/or classroom adaptations.
Math Department
Our math department works collaborativley as a team to gather input from students through entry and exit surveys. This has enabled the department to allocate resources where they are needed to better serve students. This has also impacted the courses we offer. Last year we receved feedback through math surveys that indicated students might benefit from a full year math course. This plan was put into place but unfortunaltey our students didn't select it in the end. Although this course didn't run, this is an example of how our math department gathers input and data from students and develops a responsive plan.