INNISFAIL - Disengagement of students during the COVID-19 pandemic created challenges in identifying paths forward for students beyond Grade 12, according to the Chinook’s Edge School Division’s (CESD) annual 2021-22 Annual Education Results Report.
Presented to CESD trustees at the board’s recent regularly scheduled meeting, the report centres on three major education goals of the division: academic excellence, social and emotional well-being, and career connections. It highlights both successes and challenges within the Innisfail-headquartered division.
Stakeholders involved in preparing the report included trustees, the superintendent advisory team, school councils and administrative teams.
“While our schools experienced little disruption in the 2021-22 school year, evidence is clear that the last two years have taken a toll on our leaders, school staff members, learners and community members,” said CESD superintendent Kurt Sacher.
“Academic gaps in learning have surfaced, students and their families continue to recover from social emotional challengers exacerbated over the past two years, and students are struggling with envisioning a future behind high school.”
The 11,000-student CESD will “integrate lessons in teaching and communication learned while teaching remotely, and use these skills to connect with families that we build a path forward,” he said.
Regarding academic excellence, the report’s conclusions include that, “staff have developed their technology skills to support teaching and learning when students are unable to be in the classroom; adjusting parent meetings to an online format allowed the division to stay connected to families and maintain a partnership focused on their children’s learning, and disruption to in-person learning has resulted in leaning gaps and delays.”
The report also concluded that, “collaboration is integral for staff members to support student learning, such as collaborative response and course planning.”
Regarding social well-being, the report concluded that, “both staff and student wellness must be a priority as we establish a path forward in education, supporting student attendance is key to closing learning gaps and connecting students to their school environments, and collaboration is vital to support students with complex needs.”
Regarding career connections, the report concluded that, “disengagement of students over the past two years has created challenges in identifying a path beyond Grade 12, pathway and skills development from grades 7-11 continue to be an important strategy in successful post-secondary transition, and students must be connected to areas of passion such as extra-curricular sports and clubs, and dual credit opportunities.”
The report also concluded that dual credit collegiate experiences are critical in supporting high school completion.
Regarding education engagement, the report found that 84.3 per cent of teachers, parents and students agree that students remain engaged in their learning at school.
“We are pleased to see 84 per cent satisfaction rate overall regarding engagement. While it has been more difficult to access community opportunities such as field trips and guest speakers, our school staff has come together to create interesting and accessible learning environments for all students,” the report states.
The report did conclude that parent involvement in decisions about their child’s eduction declined from 76 per cent in 2021 to 72.9 in 2022.
The division is exploring several avenues to improve parent involvement, including flexible parent teacher interviews, communication around professional learning days, increased connection with families around the importance of attendance, and highlighting ways that parents can involved.
The complete 2021-22 Annual Education Results Report is available for viewing on the CESD website.
