By Heidi Bevington-Student achievement in the islands school district is improving, but it is not yet meeting Ministry of Education expectations, according to a Ministry of Education report released Friday.
"A review of the Haida Gwaii/Queen Charlotte school district found the district provides innovative learning opportunities but needs to establish stronger partnerships with the Haida people," said Education Minister Christy Clark.
An external review team made up of parents, educators and ministry staff visited the Haida Gwaii school district in late April. They first met with district leaders, and then travelled to each school to meet with parents, teachers, administrators and support staff. They also met separately with a group representing the Haida communities.
The team's report points out where the district is doing well and where it needs to improve, and recommends ways to increase student achievement.
Committed teachers are one of this school district's greatest strengths, says the report. And the district shows progress in developing students' skills in reading, mathematics and social responsibility. However, the district needs to build stronger ties between schools, communicate better with the Haida community and address the disparity between girls' and boys' achievement levels, according to the report.
The review team said it seems the district is not hearing Haida concerns about education.
"The current district staff needs the presence of a strong Haida voice to guide the process and explain the protocol. There is no reason for any group to feel marginalized and not listened to," says the report.
The review team rated the district as "not yet meeting", "approaching" or "meeting" expectations in 10 areas. The district did not meet expectations in any area. In six of the ten areas the district is approaching expectations, while in four of the areas the district is not yet meeting expectations.
The ten areas are:
• Goals (the district has goals to improve student learning) approaching expectations
• Rationale (district has reasons for the goals it chooses) approaching expectations
• Data (district gathers evidence of student achievement) approaching expectations
• Strategies (district has an improvement plan) approaching expectations
• Structures (district is organized to get the results it wants) not yet meeting expectations
• Results (district gets improved student learning) not yet meeting expectations
• Communication (district communicates with public) approaching expectations
• Teamwork: district/schools approaching expectations
• Teamwork: district/parents not yet meeting expectations
• Leadership/Teamwork not yet meeting expectations.
The review team said it recognized that high turnover of teachers and superintendents has presented challenges for the district, and said that superintendent Mike Woods is "making a concerted effort to convert opportunities into strengths".
As the Observer went to press on Tuesday, Mr. Woods and school board chair Andreas Uttendorfer both said they were not ready to comment on the report. We hope to have their response next week.
School District 50 is one of 20 districts that the Ministry of Education is reviewing this year. The report can be read online at www.bced.gov.bc.ca/review