Regina Public Schools strategic plan provides clear direction

Regina Public Schools (RPS) introduced its 2014-17 Strategic Plan to the Regina Board of Education on Sept. 23. This plan replaces the Continuous Improvement Accountability Framework that the school division — along with the rest of the province’s school divisions — has been using for a number of years. The Strategic Plan comes after 28 Saskatchewan School Boards adopted the provincial Education Sector Strategic Plan (ESSP) early in the spring of 2014.

RPS taught 12.5 per cent of Saskatchewan’s students during the last school year. The division has seen an increase of 500 students this year, bringing the total number to almost 22,000. With such a large portion of the province’s students under the guidance of RPS, the division’s Strategic Plan will be a critical component in the Ministry of Education’s ESSP’s short term objectives and long term outcomes related to student achievement. More details of the ESSP are available at: http://www.saskatchewan.ca/government/have-yoursay/

All successful organizations have well-defined strategic plans. It is necessary for school divisions to likewise have a clearly defined set of strategies — both short and long term — with which to plan and to follow, and which will inspire and challenge. The RPS Strategic Plan lists the school division’s goals, intentions and aspirations for all students, regardless of their ethnicity, ability, aspirations or life circumstances. This includes First Nations, Métis and Inuit learners. Likewise, it also includes students who need intensive supports and those whose first language is not English. It includes, as well, those who attend the school division’s three associate, faith-based schools.

The Strategic Plan is intended to provide clear direction for all activities in the school division. This could include, for instance, the development of a new academic program, a focus on a key area of instruction or the development of a new school building. The RPS Strategic Plan also defines how the school division’s actions align with goals of the provincial ESSP.

The RPS strategic planning process is not new. Through the Continuous Improvement Accountability Framework, RPS plans had identified “stretch targets” relating to graduation rates; grade-level achievement in reading, writing and math; the gap between First Nations, Métis and Inuit student education performance and that of other students; and grade-to-grade transition rates. These targets remain in place. The Strategic Plan is now outlining six core strategies (listed below) that RPS will use to meet these targets.

The first two strategies will receive priority attention this school year in order to align RPS with the provincial goals and initiatives in the ESSP. The latter four strategies will receive priority in the future. It is important to note that all six strategies, prioritized or not, are ongoing and are linked to each other and to the core function of RPS: the creation of successful students and citizens.

The six core strategies are: • Development of a First Nations, Métis and Inuit

achievement initiative • Implementation of a comprehensive program to

improve reading performance at all grade levels • Increasing the number of kindergarten students who

enter Grade 1 ready to learn • Increasing the number of students who achieve gradelevel performance in literacy and numeracy • Improving student attendance and credit attainment

as a means of increasing graduation rates • Ensuring all current and future program and service expenditures contribute positively to student success. Another way to look at these strategies is to look at them related to RPS’s enduring priorities; the work that schools do every day.