Ministry of Education website showcases school success stories

REGINA — Recently, on the Ministry of Education’s website under a section on the Student First initiative, there appeared three videos touting the success of various assessment programs at the Regina Public and Chinook school divisions.

No, says assistant deputy minister of education Greg Miller, it’s not a repackaged push for standardized testing.

Rather, it’s the beginning of a focus on education success stories — and divisions say that’s information entirely worth sharing.

In Chinook in Saskatchewan’s southwest, for example, the percentage of students reading at their grade level grew from 63 per cent to 84 per cent in just three years.

“Self-esteem and the ability to tackle problems has flourished,” says division director, Liam Choo-Foo.

“It’s really important we pull together as a sector, and I think the Student First umbrella is something that can unite all divisions and get us to be more constructive in finding out where these pockets of excellence are.”

One of the literacy assessments used in that division is a focused, one-on-one approach which, Choo-Foo says, allows teachers to “get data on what children know and don’t know.”

“That allows teachers to guide the instruction for that child,” he says.

“It’s very different from the stereotype people have of standardized testing.”

Prairie Valley School Division has also made headway on benchmark testing improvements.

For three days last week, teachers filed through the doors of the division office to mark literacy assessments from Grades 6, 7 and 8. this week, that will extend to Grades 9 and 10.

This is the third year the division has taken a collaborative approach to marking and, according to English language arts consultant Erin Kolish, it’s done wonders for both student marks and teacher “buy-in.”

“What’s equally as important as students getting their mark is what teachers do with it,” she says.