– by Michael Craig, Public School Trustee
As a recently elected trustee on the Bluewater District School Board, I have a lot to learn. One key role of the Board, as I see it, is to assess and critique the system’s level of success in responding to students’ needs.
In particular, how is the Board delivering the basic curriculum – everything from maths and sciences to reading and language arts, from auto mechanics and computer programming to advanced agricultural skills?
And beyond that, how are children being served who face learning difficulties, autism, dyslexia, mental health issues – the whole sphere of special education?
My education about education began in earnest at the December 6 Board meeting.
EQAO test results for Bluewater
A report on Bluewater Board results from the EQAO (Education Quality and Accountability Assessments) 2021-22 testing was rather disappointing. Assessments are conducted in reading, writing and mathematics for Grades 3 and 6 students. In each subject area, by significant amounts at both grade levels, a smaller percentage of our students score at or above the provincial average than we have a right to expect.
Grade 9 math is a bright spot, with Bluewater students a tad higher in the rankings than the average. But the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT), a compulsory requirement in Grade 10, was another disappointment with our kids 8 per cent below the provincial average in literacy.
Our administration – a strong group of superintendents plus the Director of Education – has a plan to address these deficiencies which, they feel, are partly a result of learning dislocation brought about by the pandemic; many kids were not very comfortable or motivated working online, and some lacked computers.
To address these problems, a structured literacy approach will be supported by primary literacy coaches. Also, to my relief, the Board does emphasis phonics in the early grades to teach kids the essence of decoding words. An instructional tool called MathUP Classroom is helping to develop math skills in K-9 classrooms. It is hoped that a variety of tutoring opportunities will also help to reduce the literacy and math deficits.
Impacting all of this is an increased emphasis on professional development for teachers and other staff around the science of reading and structured literacy, as well as what they call 'high yield instructional strategies' in mathematics.
Other reports
The number of students accessing programs and help from teachers via remote learning has dropped since the Covid pandemic has levelled off. Presently 64 kindergarten to Grade 8 students are participating in remote learning, with approximately 80 secondary school students. In some cases the Board collaborates across the province via the Ontario eLearning Consortium. Parents seem to favour a continuation of these programs.
The Board is about to release the results of a demographic census which will tell us how many students fit into various ethnic, language and religious categories. Thanks to questionnaires filled out by parents at the elementary level and students in high school, we now have a better idea how many students, many of them marginalized, identify as Indigenous, a visible minority and/or belong to the Two-Spirit, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Queer or Queer Questioning communities.
All of this information helps administrators and the Board to fight prejudice and develop policies that are sensitive to special needs. The information is assembled anonymously so the realities of individual students’ lives are not exposed.
The full results of the Student Demographics Census 2022 can be found online.
In fact, there’s a ton of stuff at the Bluewater District School Board web site, including policies on maltreatment of staff and/or students, field trips and student accident insurance.
It’s not just trustees who have a lot to learn.