What process is used to review and revise your goal or inquiry to ensure a focus on areas of need?
HSS
While we worked through our SLP in 2021/2022 we began to focus our attention towards self-reflection as we monitored student responses in surveys and looked for opportunities to grow as a school. Our process for 2022/2023 began with our Department Head Team in September when we chose an area of focus for learning for the year. Department Heads gathered input from Departments and as a group we selected where we wanted to focus our learning for staff and students. Self-reflection has become our area of focus moving forward as we strive to create a culture of self-reflection at Howe Sound Secondary and at Sea to Sky Alternate. The creation and presentation of the school learning plan in 2022/2023 marked the beginning of work that will continue for the foreseeable future. We will continue to reflect on the learning of our students and staff, collecting and analyzing evidence in order to measure our progress. For the 2023/2024 school year we are taking tangible steps to bring student self-reflection to the forefront of all courses. The process utilizes Department Heads as a structure to gather feedback and make plans for next steps while staff meetings and professional development opportunities are used to implement new plans and share resources. In the Fall of 2023, staff began making the language of core competencies more visible, explicitly naming which core competencies students are developing during a particular lesson. This work will continue as we implement student portfolios through the Spaces platform in the Winter.
SSA
Students take a 4-credit Self Efficacy course which provides flexible and personalized learning supports for students who are experiencing academic and/or social-emotional challenges. Self-Efficacy as a means to increasing student engagement and success was the goal of last year's SLP and remains a focus for the current year. Self-reflection is a key aspect of Self-Efficacy. Furthermore, self-reflection takes place during the development of resumes and portfolios in CLE/C and other courses. The revised goal provides an opportunity to continue the focus on student engagement and success, while incorporating self-reflection linked to core competencies. We will continue to reflect on the learning of our students and staff, collecting and analyzing evidence in order to measure our progress.
How are your staff, students and SPC engaged in working on the School Learning Plan?
We have a small working group of staff who prepare the learning opportunities for staff and parents related to the school learning plan. Each staff meeting and department head meeting has some form of learning related to our school goal and we take these opportunities to also gather feedback from our staff. Last year our plan began with empathy interviews (Safir 2021) with our students. These interviews were conducted with a random sampling of students, providing us with baseline data related specifically to our goal. The information gathered from the empathy interviews has also been compared to the survey results from the OurSchool Survey. In the Spring of 2023 we met with our parent group to share how student self-reflection plays a role in our math classes and we continue to use the structure of Department Head and staff meetings to make progress towards our goals. In the Fall of 2023, a group of HSS & SSA teachers and EAs participated in a full day workshop with Katie White specifically targeted towards goal setting, student driven assessment practices, and student self-assessment.
How does the school goal address achievement for ALL students?
The new reporting order has created an opportunity for the school to refocus on the development of core competencies and students’ ability to reflect on their learning in these areas. As self-reflection becomes further integrated into student learning processes, the learning itself becomes more personalized and relevant to individual students.
What reasons do you have for selecting this area for school improvement?
The Ministry reporting order
Data related to purpose & preparedness
Staff/student feedback on empathy interviews/staff meeting survey
Triangulated Evidence
What did the data tell you about the achievement of ALL students in your school?
There has been an increase in student sense of belonging as compared to the 2018/2019 school year (Student Learning Survey)
Students in grade 10 indicate an increase in planning based on goals (Student Learning Survey)
Grade 10 students report feeling better prepared for life post secondary then grade 12 students (Student Learning Survey)
Students report an increase in collaborative projects and report being able to collaborate well (Student Learning Survey)
Students report a lack of opportunities to apply their learning outside of school (Student Learning Survey)
Our grade 12 students report and increase in learning to be a critical thinker (Student Learning Survey)
Students report a small increase in receiving feedback to improve their learning (Student Learning Survey)
Grades 10-12 report below Canadian average for valuing school outcomes (Ourschool Survey)
Less than 60% of students grades 10-12 report that school is relevant to their everyday lives (Ourschool Survey)
Students indicate a greater range of experiences in all core competency areas - significant shift from last year (Ourschool Survey)
Grade 11 students report a 10% increase in opportunities for skill development - from 12% agree a lot to 22% agree a lot (YDI)
46% of grade 11 students report medium to high abilities to problem solve
How are you comparing the various sources of data to shape your thinking and/or confirm your actions?
We compare similar questions and their responses from the variety of surveys our students take during the year. This year we also conducted interviews with students to provide them an opportunity to articulate their understanding of core competencies and self-reflection.
Specific Groups of students of most concern
When selecting your goal, which specific groups of students were of most concern?
The goal was selected based on a universal approach to self-reflection on core competencies.
We did notice that student capacity to articulate the competencies and to meaningfully self-reflect tends to increase as students age and mature and have more experience in our school community.
Our grade 10 students seem to feel better prepared for the life after high school then our grade 12 students.
What data did you use to determine this?
Externally gathered:
Student Learning Survey
Our School Survey
Youth Development Index
Internally gathered:
Reporting data
Student interviews/internally developed student survey
Anecdotal evidence
Disaggregated Evidence
How are you separating your data to gain a deeper understanding of particular groups of students?
by grade, gender, Indigeneity, Ministry designation
How are you tracking data over time to follow specific cohorts of students and/or trends in information?
School surveys occur on an annual basis. This allows us to track grade cohorts on specific questions over time.
Empathy interviews and student focus groups will occur on a more regular basis.
What are the desired skills or areas of knowledge that students should be able to demonstrate through your learning plan?
Ability to articulate the core competencies at a deeper level
Ability to engage in a meaningful process of self-reflection in an ongoing way
Reflect on the concept of "preparedness" after high school
Reflect on the concept of "relevance" of learning
Identify the value of self reflection as it relates to learning and communicate growth to meet the requirements of the reporting order
Connect core and curricular competencies to curriculum with evidence of their own work
What are the desired skills or areas of knowledge that staff hope to be able to show through this plan?
Creating authentic and purposeful opportunities for self-reflection
Expanding the understanding of self-reflection for learning and being able to incorporate it at multiple points throughout the learning process
Being able to link self-reflection to Core Competencies through a shared, common framework across all courses
Refocus and reframe the purpose of assessment to include assessment for learning