Division priorities for the Southeast Cornerstone School Division have been made in the past five months, targeting the first of three priorities that had been identified by the school division at its Data Day in December. Trustees for the board of education heard from Lynn Little, superintendent of education, on how exciting the work has been and how much has been accomplished on the first priority of assessment.As part of the process in crafting the three priorities, concrete goals have been established, followed by indicators to show their progress, strategies and actions to complete the different strategies, said Little.The overall goal of the first priority is to improve student assessment and evaluation by developing a consistent school division-wide assessment and evaluation practice by September 2013, added Little. Another aspect of the assessment priority includes improving student achievements in the classroom by using strategies that will affect how students are assessed through the use of improved grading outcomes.These multiple grading outcomes will improve upon the accuracy of reporting what a student can or cant do in a certain subject by giving students, parents and division administration a clearer picture of that students abilities. Every practice is set to ensure the grades are not distorted, and when a mark is seen on a students report card, that mark will inform students, parents and division administration what the student knows in relation to the curriculum.A key part of the assessment will include a new reporting document that will list all the expected outcomes for students to know. By the start of school this fall, the expectation is for teachers to use this new format for Grades 1-5 Math and English Language Arts (ELA), with the rest of the subjects staggered in over time. For students in Grades 6-9, an outcomes-based curriculum has been in place since last year.More information regarding changes in how students are assessed and evaluated will be announced before the fall.Another way that the division has identified key areas of concern and achievement has been to improve communication between the trustees and every employee group in the school division. Over the course of the year challenges from every employee group were identified. On May 19, the division team and employee groups developed an action plan for how they could improve communication.Two board members attended and developed an action plan, then reported information back to other trustees at their monthly meeting. Weyburn trustee Bryan Wilson said, The meeting was excellent and saw three strategies developed for the board and how it can interact and communicate with its stakeholders in an improved way.Action plans to fulfill those strategies were put in place, and indicators of success were also laid out. This division team meeting was the fifth held since the beginning of the school year, and it is expected two more meetings with similar purposes will be held next year. Board members agreed this communication action plan should be taken to the board retreat in August and further developed.Action plans were created to address the issues raised by employees. Five celebration themes emerged from the meetings, including technology, board engagement and division staff relationships, student opportunities, division priorities and success, and communication.As for areas of change, the five priorities were communication, attendance boundaries, division initiatives, school setup and burnout, transportation and staff recognition. Cornerstone will also be working on improving recognition in the school division, including concentrating on employee recognition nights, gifts, recognition of new staff, and publicly available lists.The board will be working on their action plans in the next several months, with pre-determined outcomes that will be shown to employees when it is complete. The board will use the information to guide future strategic planning and improve on the themes that were identified through their talks. The board expects to implement suggestions in the 2010-11 school year.
