The South East Cornerstone Public School Division on June 17th included what is called a Data Wall Walk. This is a review of data that focuses on student outcomes. The walk covered a variety of topics, including support for students in Grades 4 to 6, Indigenous student achievement, and the well-being of the students overall.
One area flagged in the data was the continued lag in growth for students in grades four through six. While there has been progress in both instructional reading levels and math, Devon Dempsey, Superintendent for West Area Schools, noted the growth is not as strong as in other age groups.
“At this point, we’re focusing on those grades with levelled literacy interventions, math supports division-wide, and continuing to offer supports and resources to our schools,” she explained. “We also want to make sure that we’re helping the students fill any gaps there may be and continued professional development for teachers around math and reading in particular.”
Dempsey also spoke about the implementation of Thinking Classrooms, a strategy aimed at transforming math instruction by deepening students’ conceptual understanding.
“The work that we do on building Thinking Classrooms and the math app resource helps to support a deeper understanding of math concepts,” she highlighted. “That understanding we find is essential to be successful in more complicated mathematical concepts as students transition into the later high school material.”
Positive gains were also highlighted for Indigenous student outcomes across the division. Dempsey credited this to work happening both at the system and local levels.
“Teachers are teaching and reporting on treaty outcomes across our system. Schools are focusing on this in their school goals that align with the division priorities,” she said. “There are many local initiatives and activities across our system where staff and students are engaging with First Nations communities. And we have community education liaisons in our schools that are close to the three nations that we have within our school division.”
This year also marked the first time the OurSCHOOL survey was conducted twice during the academic year, once in the fall and again in the spring. Dempsey said the division anticipated a slight decline in responses at year-end, which is common in perception surveys.
“We did note, however, that in advocacy, the student results were consistent from the start of the year to the end of the year,” she pointed out. “And we also saw some increased data in a year-over-year result.”
To support students as they transition through the school system, SECPSD has also implemented a more clearly defined transition framework this year. Dempsey said this updated approach is making a difference.
“We’ve heard that this has helped ease some of the anxiety that there can be when students and families have children that transition into, through, and out of the system,” she noted. “We’ve also heard from schools that it can help better align the supports as students move from one school to another.”
One area of concern flagged in the data was a drop in the sense of belonging reported by students in middle years. However, Dempsey emphasized that year-over-year comparisons show improvement. “Some of the work being done in schools regarding enhanced student voice opportunities, targeted social-emotional learning, and an increase in interest-based programs are improving transitions between our elementary schools and our high schools, as well as some of the mental health supports that are being put in place all help improve that data,” she said.