High school completion rates have increased and dropout rates have fallen in Chinook’s Edge School Division (CESD) over the past year, according to a newly released report from Alberta Education.
The Accountability Pillar report was presented to trustees at the CESD’s recent regularly scheduled meeting.
According to the report, the high school completion rate in the Innisfail-headquartered CESD increased by more than three per cent over the previous year, from 79.2 to 83. The provincial rate remained steady at 78 per cent.
“We are particularly pleased with the completion rate,” said superintendent Kurt Sacher. “What we like about our high school completion numbers is that we really believe that speaks to our staff from kindergarten right though to Grade 12. It’s all of the staff working together to get kids through to completing high school.”
The dropout rate for students in the division has fallen from 2.6 per cent to two per cent. The provincial dropout rate is 2.3 per cent.
“It’s hard to know exactly what causes that but we sure are happy with the decline and that we are below the provincial average,” he said.
“You hope that a lot of it is to do with what we are doing but certainly the economy may have had a bit of an impact on that as well. Sometimes the work might pull students out.”
The increasing popularity of the CESD dual-credit program – where students receive high school and post-secondary credits at the same time – has had positive results, he said.
“I think we have close to 150 students involved in dual credit this year,” he said. “We like to think that has a lot to do with our dropout rate going down and our completion rate going up.”
The transition rate from high school to post-secondary school -- university or college -- in the division was 54.9 per cent, up from 51.6 the previous year.
“We are pleased with our improvement but we still think we can do a lot better in that area,” he said. “We are still below the provincial average (58.7) and we think that is an area where we can continue to grow.”
Prepared by Alberta Education using school data and surveys, the report also looked at student-learning opportunities, student learning achievement, preparation for after-graduation achievement, and parental involvement.
Overall, the report highlights good work being done by teachers and staff at Chinook’s Edge schools, he said.
“This showcases the hard work in our schools, and their focus on student success across all grades that lead every student to high school completion,” he said.
“The dual credit opportunities available to every high school student and the career/post-secondary counselling teams at every high school is ensuring each student has a plan for post-graduation.
“Our survey results are positive, as well, with school improvement, and safe and care numbers from staff, students and parents remaining very high. It’s what we want for students, not only to graduate, but to have a world of opportunities for further success open to them.”
Chinook’s Edge schools include those in Didsbury, Carstairs, Cremona and Mountain View County.
