Accountability Contract Targets
2004-2005

Vancouver Island West School District 84
 

DISTRICT GOALS
 

• To improve the literacy skills of all students.

• To ensure all students develop the skills to become socially responsible citizens.

• To ensure that all students can access and use technology to support and enhance
  their learning.

The School District

Vancouver Island West School District 84 serves approximately 500 students in five schools. Three schools are located in isolated rural communities (Kyuquot, Zeballos, and Tahsis). Two schools are over 95% First Nations enrollment (Zeballos and Kyuquot). The overall First Nations enrollment is approaching 50%.

The following describes the configuration of our education system in School District 84:

The District Staff includes a Superintendent of Schools, a Secretary-Treasurer, a Human Resources Administrator, an Operations Supervisor, a District Special Education Coordinator, two Computer Technicians, 1.5 Administrative Assistants, 39.6 FTE Teachers, and five Principals. The Education Support Staff in schools equals 27 full and part-time employees. The Operations Support Staff equals 12 full and part-time employees.

The two major employers in our District, Bowater and Domans, have closed operations creating declining enrollments in Gold River and Tahsis respectively.  The departure of “white-collar and blue-collar” workers has left a gap in the school population. The culture in the three schools has changed dramatically over the last four years.
 

The District and School Connections

The District Review Report completed in March 2004 indicated a need to revise the existing format for the Accountability Contract. In keeping in line with the revised format, the District adopted three goals for this year:

1.      To improve the literacy skills of all students.

2.      To ensure all students develop the skills to become socially responsible citizens.

3.      To ensure that all students can access and use technology to support and enhance their learning.

The School Growth Plans of 2004-2005 were returned to the School Planning Councils for revision in format only, not content, to be resubmitted to the Board for acceptance. The Principals agreed to develop strategies to link the District goals to the School Growth Plans.

This school year, the developing of strong School Planning Councils will result in a consistent process for completing School Growth Plans enabling the District to form goals that make up the Accountability Contracts.

Goals and Objectives

GOAL #1: To Improve the Literacy Skills of All Students

The District’s emphasis this year is directed towards student success in acquiring and developing literacy skills. All School Growth Plans in the District reflect a focus on literacy in their schools. The District’s adoption of the Developmental Reading Assessment testing program will reflect the measurement of student achievement in reading.

Objectives:

·          To increase the number of students that “meet expectations” in reading in Grades 1 to 10.

·          To improve reading and writing of students in schools that have “not yet met expectations”.

Rationale:

·          Most students enter school “at risk”.

·          Improved literacy will create better success in all curricular courses.

·          The FSA and CAT tests indicate a need for improvement.

·          Students stand a better chance of graduating with improved literacy.

Performance Indicators:

Using the “Trends in Student Achievement” information, the FSA for Grade 4 Reading results indicate a growth of 22% for the District. The Grade 7 reading results indicate a rise in achievement but a difference of 28% below the Provincial average. The Grade 10 results indicate consistent results but 10% below Provincial average.

Writing results from the FSA indicate a similar pattern. The Gates MacGinitie and Canadian Achievement Test scores indicate that our students in the primary grades fall well below the 40 percentile.

The introduction of the Developmental Reading Assessment test program this fall will be a baseline for measuring achievement of students. A further testing in the spring will give meaningful student achievement data.

Performance Targets:

The District has adopted the Developmental Assessment of Reading Test for administering in the fall and the spring. This measurement will be used to determine improvement in student achievement in reading and writing. We shall use the FSA as a measure of our District’s progress in relation to the Provincial average. Our target is to see a marked increase in the DART results from fall to spring. The District is working on a plan to have all schools refer to the Performance Standards as a guide for all schools to follow.

Expected Results:

·          The DART results will reflect a two-level increase from fall to spring.

·          Schools using the Gates MacGinitie or the Canadian Achievement Test as an additional tool for assessment will show a gradual increase in student achievement.

·          The primary students will show a 10% increase from “not yet” to “meets expectations”.

·          A 10% increase in the passing marks in Grades 8-10 English on the final report card.

·         An annual increase in the number of students meeting or exceeding expectations on Performance Standards.

Strategies:

·          Continue with Guided Reading programs in all schools.

·          All students participate in literacy activities for 65 minutes a day.

·          All staff will teach a portion of their assignment in literacy.

·         Use high-interest, low-vocabulary reading materials to promote success with students not at “meets expectations”.

·          Students grouped according to reading levels rather than grades.

·          Increased emphasis on phonemic awareness.

·          Motivational activities like “Reading Café Night”.

·         Continued use of technology resources such as the Accelerated Reading Program, Co-Writer and Successmaker.

Structure:

·          Largest share of the school budget will be used to purchase materials for the literacy program.

·          School District funds be allocated for staff training and inservice to support the literacy program.

·          Organize District-wide release time to encourage teacher leaders in schools for literacy.

·          Provide additional resources and support to targeted lower performing schools.

·         Promote a literacy timeslot for each school for daily instruction. A minimum of 65 minutes a day at the elementary level.

·          Initiate an inservice for DART in each school in the fall.

Summary:

All schools have committed to a revised timetable to schedule literacy studies in the same timeslot to utilize all staff. The focus on data collection resulted in the adoption of DART as a common tool for measurement of student achievement.

Computer Applications by School:

Individual schools have the following software programs and actual usage is to be determined by the
District Technology Committee:

Plan of Action:

To continue the operation of the District Technology Committee for the year 2004-2005 with the following mandate and direction for the Committee:

·          Assess existing programs for continued usefulness.

·          Investigate suitability of new programs in the District.

·         Promote training and inservice for programs identified by the District Technology Committee to be implemented in each school.

·         Develop a three-year plan for implementing a District Online Delivery Model for courses common to all secondary schools in the District.

Strategies and Structure:

·         Introduction of new software intended for student learning will be reviewed and then endorsed by the District Technology Committee.

·         The Committee will participate in two teleconference meetings one month plus a formal meeting the following month, throughout the school year, to develop a working plan for the District.

·         The Board of School Trustees will target $15,000 to the specific purpose of supporting effective training projects for educators.

·         The Computer Technician will train members of the District Technology Committee with baseline troubleshooting skills to maintain systems at their respective schools.

·         The Computer Technician will evaluate the existing computers and accessories and make a report recommending the optimum number of computers and hardware for each school.

Expected Results:

A working plan will guide the direction of expenditures for the Board in using computer technology to improve student learning. The plan will generate common threads in the District on software programs being used at each school. The District Technology Committee will develop a “District perspective” for the implementation of computer assisted learning. The optimum number of computers will minimize maintenance and servicing, and maximize student access. 

Summary of the Accountability Contract 2004-2005

This year the focus will be on meaningful data collection.  The School District has ventured on a consolidation of resources, personnel and programs to evaluate the progress of student achievement in language that can be measured District-wide as opposed to specific schools. The implementation of a school template for the submission of School Growth Plans has solidified the formation of the Accountability Contract.

The cyclical component of the Accountability Contract process is now in place.