Living Sky met two, partially met one of four 2017 recommendations: Auditor’s report

To help schools in Saskatchewan monitor student engagement, the Ministry of Education expects divisions to administer the OurSCHOOL survey to Grade 4 to 6 and Grade 7 to 12 students.

Survey results in 2016-17 from the division’s Grade 7 to 12 students were worse than the Canadian norm.

When compared to 2018-19 results, the percentage of students within the division reporting positive relationships improved, but the other results have remained flat or worsened.

This data was adapted from Living Sky’s OurSCHOOL survey results. (Provincial Auditors Report)

In the 2019 auditor’s report, an update on the status of the recommendations found the division and its schools had failed to establish interim targets related to the survey.

“While the division plans to use the OurSCHOOL survey results to help measure its progress toward achieving these outcomes, the division has not established targets associated with the survey,” Judy Ferguson wrote in her report.

Upon reviewing three school’s action plans, the auditor found while the schools identified success criteria for the planned actions, they did not include targets for measuring the success.

Tonya Lehman, a superintendent of learning with Living Sky, said the division intends to close the disparity between their First Nations and non-First Nations students and the audit found they did not put specific numbers on how they were going to do this.

“Are you going to increase our First Nations [numbers] by five or 10 per cent … or are we going to increase all students,” she said. “We are going to set a targeted number for the next few years on the percentage of growth we would like to see those numbers go up in that OurSCHOOL survey.”

Tackling the disparity can be challenging, she said, as it is an “ongoing moving target” as new groups of students enroll each year. But to keep up, Lehman said Living Sky works to offer engaging classes and foster classrooms that are safe and secure environments where people feel welcome.

The division, she said, has always directed plenty of effort towards student engagement, even before the audit, but said the probe has helped narrow their focus and strategy.

The division plans to create and administer its own student engagement survey, in addition to the OurSCHOOL survey.

Lehman said they wanted to create a shorter survey targeted on engagement — student-to-student and teacher-to-student relationships — to ensure what they are doing is having an effect in an effort to be focused and productive with their goals.

Living Sky was found to only have partially implemented a recommendation to analyze the year-over-year OurSCHOOL survey results to inform survey action plans.

While the division undertook this initiative, individual schools did not.

“Analysis at a school-level may highlight successful student engagement initiatives and those initiatives not achieving the desired outcomes,” Ferguson wrote. “This would help schools in focusing their resources on initiatives that are making a difference in student engagement and reduce potential for initiative overload.”

Lehman said Living Sky is “continuing to find a good process to do that at the school level.”

However, the auditor found the division required schools to develop clear and timely action plans in response to the survey results.

In 2017, the auditor tasked the division with obtaining input from its Indigenous Advisory Council to address the results from First Nation and Métis students. Living Sky was found to have developed a plan that included placing an emphasis on meaningful curriculum connections, culturally relevant material, and developing strong relationships between teachers and students.

Council members were also involved in blanket exercises, an attendance campaign, and the development of a traditional teachings booklet.

The division, Lehman said, has historically had an Elders Council that met three to five times a year. This evolved into the Indigenous Advisory Council this year, which includes the Elders and youth.

The council examines data and shares their perspective and what they want to see happening in school. They also act as a voice outside of the school.

“They are a valuable group of individuals who really help us understand and are a voice between our First Nation students and families and the school division,” she said. “They bring a wealth and depth of knowledge from the past which helps us move forward.”

—

tyler.marr@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @JournoMarr

by Tyler Marr

Living Sky met two, partially met one of four 2017 recommendations: Auditor’s report

What's Trending