Exam week is here for our Grade 7-12 students and we are greeted by a blizzard! Buses are not running and some students are unable to make it to write their exams. Oh well, the life of an educator never seems to go according to plan, does it?

In terms of school planning, my school division held a meeting in December with numerous stakeholders to determine a priority area that the entire division would focus on next school year. All schools, division-level administrators, and board members had an opportunity to vote on eight proposals with the results determining the direction all 39 schools in the division would focus on for their first school improvement (SIP) goal next year. Of the proposals that received the 2nd and 3rd highest votes, a school staff would have the opportunity to choose one of the areas for a second SIP goal. Finally, schools could create a 3rd SIP goal in any area of their choosing, if they wished.

Well the results are in and the focus area for all of our schools next year will be assessment and reporting practices. The second and third options are math improvements and early childhood education, respectively. I think that the division's plan to have all of our schools focus on a major goal is a good one as it will allow the division to provide resources to schools and develop system-wide initiatives that school staffs can use to improve their practice in the area of assessment and reporting. In terms of my school, we have already had discussions around the area of assessment and reporting and have made some changes in those areas already to match best practice research so in that sense I am glad that this is a division priority. My concern is that assessment was not in the top five votes of proposals that we submitted. In order for a SIP goal to be effective and for a staff to be committed to it, support for the goal must be present. My fear is that, because assessment and reporting was not an initial priority for my staff, I will not receive full commitment from my staff. Previous school goals were set at the staff level based on the needs of the school. The division's goal setting initiative means that my staff might feel our SIP goal is being imposed in a top-down fashion and buy-in will not occur or, if buy-in occurs initially, keeping momentum towards improvement in the area of assessment might be difficult.

Only time will tell if my concerns turn out to be valid. Personally, I am excited about the direction my division has gone in terms of assessment and reporting as I feel students will become more confident in taking risks in their learning knowing that a teacher's evaluation plan allows for students to make mistakes and have the opportunity to re-learn and improve upon their work. Again only time will tell if my optimism holds true.

Have a good one.
KH

First Post

Hello Fellow Educators:

This is my first ever attempt at creating and maintaining a blog. I hope it continues to be as easy as it seems! This blog has been created as part of my Intro to Education Planning class that I am taking through Brandon University as part of my Masters in Education program. The intent is to create a space where education issues can be shared and discussed, with possible solutions developed through professional dialogue. Although I feel like I am a little kid just dipping one, tentative toe into the pool, I hope that soon I will be doing cannonballs throughout the blogging world!
Have a good one, KH