|
School Annual Education Results Report 2008-2009 View, print or download the following documents: The documents will be in Adobe Acrobat (pdf) format; you will need the free Adobe Reader program to open them.
The School Improvement Focus continues to focus on the improvement of student achievement and completion of programming through the Grade 12 level. The main focus has been and will continue to be ensuring that students reach the Acceptable Standard on Diploma tests and Provincial Achievement Tests. In addition we are beginning to also focus on taking those students who are at the acceptable standard to strive to achieve the Standard of Excellence. In order to do this, we have embarked on a number of initiatives during the year. Provincial Achievement Tests and Diploma Exams results will be analyzed in order to develop strategies that will enhance student achievement by focusing on certain underachieving areas of the curriculum. In addition analysis will include finding out whether there were any vocabulary type cues including key words and technical aspects of questions on which there needs to be a focus. Further, we will be embarking on strategies to enhance the motivation of students to complete the tests to the best of their abilities. A focus on career paths in some of their courses and by the counsellor will be provided. The Study Hall program will also be continued to assist students in keeping up with their work. Parent contact through agendas, notes on evaluation items and phone calls and meetings will be encouraged so that full communication can be maintained. The Graduation Policy and Valedictorian Selection Process has been written into policy and has been communicated to our Grade 12 class. A strong focus for this year has been to expand our course offerings in CTS (Career and Technology Studies). We are now offering Food Studies, Fashion Studies, Enterprise and Innovation and Financial Management modules. CTS Enhancement funds have allowed us to renovate a classroom to deliver the Fashion Studies and renovate our kitchen to deliver the Food Studies. A future phase will be to look into offering some Construction Technology Studies modules. Our AISI (Alberta Initiative for School Improvement) goals for this year will include continuing to strengthen Backwards Planning and Assessment and participation in grade level PLC's (Professional Learning Communities). In addition the fourth three year cycle of AISI has begun with Worsley Central School focusing on two particular goals of the six main goals. This fourth cycle is titled "Engaging and Supporting the 21st Century Learner" and includes six basic strategies: 1) Ongoing balanced assessment is used to support student progress 2) Learners are actively engaged in solving authentic, meaningful problems with real world data, experts, and tools that learners will encounter in life 3) Deep understanding is emphasized rather than discrete knowledge 4) Focus is on skills, content knowledge, and expertise needed by the 21st century learner 5) Flexibility in planning ensures that there are multiple methods of presentation, expression, and options for engagement 6) Learners build understanding across and among subjects making connections to the larger world. Worsley Central School is going to focus on numbers 1) and 5) and the School Team will meet periodically to develop new initiatives in these areas. Some of the other initiatives that teachers are working on include: - co-constructing criteria with students (assessment by rubric) - collegial visits within the school and school division to share teaching expertise and varying methodology and pedagogy - teachers are also continuing to develop SmartBoard strategies Support for our AISI work is provided by regular school visits (one half day per week) by Ms. Janet Wallentiny, AISI Divisional Learning Coach Funds are also provided from a central AISI pool to assist teacher with Professional Development and initiatives in their courses. There will be a continued teacher participation in the TESA (Teacher Expectation Student Achievement) program that will support the focuses above. TESA strategies include: questioning techniques, interacting with students during the lesson, providing valuable feedback to students and working with low and high achievers within the classroom setting.
|