FNMI Collaborative Networks Workshop

1. FNMI Collaborative Networks Workshop Data based decision making

2. Profile • Schools in Lethbridge, Taber, Coaldale, Picture Butte and Pincher Creek • FNMI student population primarily in Lethbridge and Pincher Creek • Total student population of 4300 students • 550 to 600 FNMI students (13 – 15%) • Of those, roughly 160 are bussed from two reserves, funded by INAC • 450 or so reside in Lethbridge and are provincially funded

3. Historically… • Native Education Liaison • Partnership • Stand-alone programming 1995 • Ab Ed’s new funding framework • FNMI per pupil grant totally allocated to FNMI education since 2004 • At this point the decision was made to verify statistically the “state of affairs” that existed with FNMI student learning in our Division

4. Historically… • 2004 • In 2003 an FNMI education task force was struck within the school division to encourage input from school communities regarding FNMI education within the jurisdiction • In 2004 the task force made its recommendations. Most were subsequently duplicated by the ACOL recommendations

5. Collaborative Decision making • 2004: Principals decided to use FNMI project plans to guide and communicate initiatives within each of their schools, and to provide the framework for accountability • 2005: beginning of FNMI worker meetings • 2005 Attendance is brought to the table • Gathering of statistics begins • Creation of electronic tools on-going • FNMI PAC recommends that monies set aside for a resource centre be instead used for resiliency programming to address student attendance

6. Monthly FNMI worker meetings • This group monitors, advises, and makes recommendations to the PAC and to senior administration. • Often, recommendations to PAC come from this group. (i.e. extent and impact of absenteeism on learning results, identified parental engagement as important, etc.)

7. Focus and decisions on attendance driven by statistics

8. Focus change • The information was presented to both the Division’s learning leadership team and to Parent Advisory Committee • As a result, the Parent Advisory Committee asked the Board to re-allocate “Parent Resource Centre monies” to student resiliency as a first step in addressing one aspect of FNMI student learning. • FNMI worker was hired to coordinate on-going data collection and analysis for use by schools, and to support school administrators in the planning and implementation of school based FNMI project plans for improvement of FNMI student achievement • We began producing data collection tools to provide a continuous flow of information to principals to assist in decision making

9. FNMI Project Plan Template

10. Improved data gathering and analysis was introduced for FNMI attendance to inform principals, teachers and parents

11. Improved data gathering and analysis was introduced for FNMI attendance to inform principals, teachers and parents

12. Leading to PAC and our workers to ask other questions: • How do our students perform compared to the general population in our Division in view of our attendance data? (capacity building, adaptive, and responsive) • Do some schools succeed better than others with attendance and PAT results? (collaborative, responsive) • How do PAT results relate to attendance statistics?

13. So, more data gathering and management tools were developed • Dis-aggregation of FNMI learning results for PAT and Dip exams • Month by month monitoring of attendance for FNMI students to help determine a focus for resiliency programming • Most recently, student performance profiling • Information is shared and discussed internally between FNMI workers in the Division, and also brought to the principals’ table for discussion and awareness

14. Student achievement test dis-aggregation of data – writers only

15. Dis-aggregated data used to create a picture of student performance

16. Achievement data

17. Attendance calculator

18. Programming implementation over time • Three year education plan (TYEP) – Board introduced a 4th goal: FNMI students will achieve at the same rate as non-aboriginal students while respecting their history and culture. • For the previous 5 years, the school’s principal and staff developed an FNMI project plan for the academic year, and reported to senior administration • An FNMI program coordinator was put in place to support and assist in the implementation of the site based FNMI project plans under the supervision of the Associate Superintendent.

19. Programming implementation over time • FNMI programming funds were dedicated to funding site based project plans while central programs were kept to a minimum: orientation, awards, PD and FNMI PAC costs • New teacher FNMI orientation was implemented in response to task force and ACOL recommendations • Data collection, and how this data correlates with research findings elsewhere (effects of poverty on teaching and learning, AISI results on best practices, research by C.D. Howe Institute on best practices, etc.

20. Results… • FNMI student participation rates for writing PAT exams increased while results decreased (more students wrote, but were not necessarily better prepared to write than before) • At the high school, students increasingly entered academic courses, but achievement results decreased (more students took the “30’s” rather than the “33’s”, but fewer passed) • Awareness levels increased dramatically with administrators, and to a lesser degree, our teachers regarding the imbalance in results for FNMI students when comparing attendance and achievement

21. Participation rates on PAT’s by FNMI students over time:

22. Communications • All the while, budgets, efforts, theories and results were communicated to schools and to parents through the PAC …

23. Example of Communication of learning results to pac, schools, parents

24. Example of Communication of program funding to pac, schools, parents Budgeted item: Revenue: Expense: Balance:

25. But, overall results over time …were not improving. In spite of very good effort by our schools, we were not satisfied with the results. Impact to attendance was minimal (2% +-), PAT results declined as participation rates increased, and parents were not participating to our satisfaction

26. After 5 years, it was evident something needed to change • Formation of steering committee (principals) • Centralized control of FNMI funds • Stand-alone FNMI project plans discontinued, and principals included these in the school’s continuous improvement plans • AISI project cycle 4 heavily weighted to improvement of FNMI results • Strong emphasis placed on parental engagement by many schools – especially those with significant FNMI student populations

27. Resiliency We currently have Jamie Medicine Crane on staff dedicated to FNMI education for the Division. - program coordination - FNMI history and culture integration across curriculum - Student resiliency (addressing childhood belief systems one by one and in groups) - Seven FNMI education assistants work one on one with students, support classroom teaching and provide liaison between school and home

28. Parental engagement • AISI cycle 4 heavily vested with goals for improvement of FNMI achievement within the Division - Parental engagement through a social focus at Children of St. Martha - Parental engagement through an academic focus at Father Leonard Van Tighem School (Pyramids of intervention) - Parental engagement through invitation • Parental engagement through collaboratives at CCH (Alberta Education pilot project with Bobbi Palynchuk)

29. Data collection and analysis continues • Attendance tracking • PAT and Dip result analysis • Since the FNMI per pupil grant is dedicated to improving FNMI student learning results, the associated budget is presented to parents annually through PAC • AISI funds are now being used to address learning issues • Parental engagement efforts are informed by data collection and analysis

30. Attendance tracking continues

31. Achievement analysis continues

32. Reporting to parents, schools continues • Budget reports at FNMI PAC meetings • PAT and Dip results (now available through accountability pillar reports) reported at PAC • Attendance dashboards sent to schools monthly for each child to assist teachers in planning interventions • AERR reporting of FNMI results (page 68) • Parent satisfaction survey dashboards produced for each school to inform school staff of local measure results • Student learning profiles now underway to inform teachers of students who require intervention / type of intervention

33. In some schools we have begun creating learning profiles of students to inform school teachers and administrators

34. Core Subjects Achievement

35. Parental engagement is now a focus for our jurisdiction • Provision of a community room, including toys, internet access, social evenings, print information for parents • Pyramid of intervention • Personal invitation of parents by the child’s teacher • Frequent communication with elementary students’ parents by teachers to discuss “good news” • challenging students (and parents) individually to align learning and attendance behaviors with professed goals using all data available • Facing reality as young as possible using that student’s data

36. It takes a whole village… • In all this, through the data collection, project plans, allocation of funds, attendance tracking and the interventions we’ve tried to make a difference in student learning, the major lesson learned is?

37. Only one thing can make a difference • Collaborative relationships…. Because when the child belongs to both the parent and the teacher and when the parent and the teacher are in collusion to help the child succeed through close collaboration, very few children can fight the wave. • All the other things that we do are tools that inform and support this one reality

38. Niitoohpookso’op: RelationshipsSpringboards to Learning