FSAs
Superintendent of schools Patrick Bocking shared School District No. 46 (SD46) Foundation Skills Assessment (FSA) math results with trustees during their March 8 regular board meeting.
The numbers show that FSA math results have improved from 82 per cent to 85 per cent for aboriginal students in Grade 4 while results for non-aboriginal students have stayed at just under 90 per cent when comparing the 2010-11 school year and 2014-15 school year FSA results.
Students in Grade 7 are also showing slightly improved numeracy skills, according to the FSA results Bocking presented.
From the 2010-11 school year to the 2014-15 school year, results for Grade 7 aboriginal students have gone from 67 per cent to 75 per cent and non-aboriginal student scores have risen from 72 per cent to 76 per cent.
And in high school, Bocking said SD46 is seeing steady improvement for all students in the blended final mark for FSA and pre-calculus courses.
“From the 2010-11 to 2014-15 results, we see students have steadily improved from a 90 per cent pass rate in the foundations and pre-calculus exam to a 97 per cent pass rate for all students,” Bocking said in his report.
“Students scoring a C+ or better moved from 57 per cent to 77 per cent in the same time period.”
FreshGrade
Five schools in SD46 have been awarded K-12 Innovation Partnership project funding from the Ministry of Education that will see FreshGrade piloted at Elphinstone Secondary and Langdale, West Sechelt, Roberts Creek and Kinnikinnick elementary schools.
FreshGrade is an online interactive portfolio of student work that connects parents, teachers and students and offers a new way to see the learning that happens in the classroom.
The pilot projects are meant to help analyse whether FreshGrade can work as an assessment tool that aligns with the new curriculum set to be implemented in Kindergarten to Grade 9 this September.
“Learning the app and doing that is not that big a deal,” Bocking said. “Most of us here are comfortable with technology, that’s the easy part. The more complex part is how do we accurately ensure that we’re communicating effectively for all three parties involved in the discussion and how do we make sure that what we’re doing does also meet all of the requirements that are legally required of us.”
International Ed
A report on international education showed that SD46 has received 100 international students since 2010 from 10 different countries.
SD46 recently hired a consultant to review the international student program and recommend improvements.
Recommendations that came from the consultant include creating an attractive and search-engine friendly website, increasing the program’s social media presence, providing direct intake for international students, improving program orientations, and planning monthly activities for international students.
The district hopes to increase international enrolment by 10 students in each year going forward. Director of instruction, human resources and secondary programs Paul Bishop said the key recommendations will have to be implemented before that goal can be achieved.
Calendar
Trustees adopted the 2016-17 school calendar on March 8. The new calendar sees school start on Sept. 6 and end on June 29 and it sticks with a two-week spring break from March 13 to 24.
The upcoming school calendar marks the second school year SD46 will implement a two-week spring break. Trustees plan to gauge the success of it through a survey later this spring, after students and parents experience the first two-week break.
