A higher percentage of Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools (RDCRS) students are graduating compared with the provincial average, in both three-year and five-year streams, according to the recent Alberta Education Assurance survey.
Ryan Sawula, associate superintendent of curriculum with RDCRS, presented the survey findings to trustees at the Oct. 28 board meeting.
The division outperformed the provincial average in several assurance measures of success categories, including student learning engagement of 90.7 per cent compared with 85.1 provincial, citizenship 89.7 per cent compared with 81.4 provincial, and education quality of 93.3 per cent compared with 89 provincial.
Parental involvement rated at 85 per cent compared with the provincial rate of 78.8 per cent, and access to student support and services is 91.5 per cent compared with the provincial average of 81.6 per cent.
Regarding graduation levels, 84.8 per cent of RDCRS students graduated in three years compared with the provincial average of 83.2 per cent, and 89.6 per cent of RDCRS graduated in five years compared with 87.1 per cent provincially.
“While RDCRS achieved results in both three and five-year high school completion rates higher than the provincial average, both saw slight declines when compared to RDCRS previous years’ results,” said Sawula. “Due to this, the assurance measures of success we have targeted for improvements including 88 per cent for three-year school completion and 92.2 per cent for five-year school completion.
“We recognize that a more significant decline has taken place in the three-year high school completion rate and conclude that this correlates with current educational research, outlining the impacts of shifts in learning via the pandemic.”
The division is exploring ways to “enhance flexibility programs for student, allowing them to access resources that improve both their ability to succeed academically and socially,” he said.
Sawula is scheduled to present the annual education results report, including provincial achievement and diploma exam results at the November board meeting.
