Admin

Achievement and SIP

Measures of Student Achievement and Success

Berrigan follows the guidelines set out in the OCDSB Policies and Procedures for student evaluation, including the Principles for Fair Student Assessment Practices for Education in Canada (Joint Advisory Committee 1993) and The Seven Fundamental Principles as stated in Growing Success: Assessment, Evaluation, and Reporting in Ontario Schools (2010). The Administrative Team, Special Education Team and classroom teachers are dedicated to the accurate assessment and placement of students within academic programs. All students in our District are expected to participate in district-wide evaluations. Our Grade Three and Six students participate in provincial testing (EQAO) in the spring. Students, according to their identified needs, shall be accommodated and may be exempted.

All primary students are assessed in reading using PM Benchmarks or GB+. DRA (Directed Reading Assessment) is also being employed by our teachers. All junior students are assessed in reading using CASI or a French equivalent such as evaluation rapide de la lecture. At Berrigan, we recognize that the primary purpose of assessment and evaluation is to improve student learning. Other measures of student success include our students’ participation in community events, arts presentation (drama, dance, visual and music) as well as athletic activities.

Over the past year, our students have much success in Board sponsored tournaments. Our school regularly achieves recognition from CAPHERD which recognizes quality physical education programs. We have received recognition for our participation in a number of local, provincial and national initiatives.

School Improvement Plans and Initiatives

The development of our school effectiveness framework is a collaborative process involving staff, parents and the community. Our goals for the 2013/2014 school year are:

By June 2014, students will develop the ability to use creative and critical thinking skills and or processes through ongoing assessment and feedback to improve their learning as measured by the indicators of progress. Students will determine and apply success criteria as a basis for discussion with peers and/or teachers to reflect upon progress and plan next steps.

Literacy

In reading, our student data reveals a discrepancy between male and female scores. We plan to increase the reading scores of male students by utilizing more non-fiction texts in everyday work. We are targeting the expectations related to “thinking and inquiry” as these skills are applicable to all curriculum areas. We will engage in teacher moderation activities which make use of exemplars to further develop this area. Our goal for this upcoming year is to provide effective feedback to our students that is specific, timely and provides enough information for them to take the “next step” for increased growth and learning. This feedback will also shape our teaching to be responsive to student needs on a day-to-day basis not only in reading and writing, but all subject areas.

Math

We will continue to focus on the strands of number sense and numeration, patterning and algebra along with the process expectations in mathematics because we feel that the skills learned in these areas are transferable to all the other strands. In order to improve our primary patterning and algebra scores we will work within grade level and primary and junior teams to review and analyze student work to refine our instructional strategies. We will make extensive daily use of a variety of supports in math. Use of recently published ministry guides will also be employed regularly, and teachers will utilize the Three Part Math Lesson Model during weekly instruction. With past support provided through our District through the Ministry’s “Schools in the Middle” initiative, our staff were able to deepen their knowledge, understanding and application of assessment of student work in mathematics within the milieu of the three-part lesson. We will continue to broaden our competencies in our work during PD days, staff and team meetings as well as Ministry websites such as EduGains.

Character Development

Berrigan staff will contribute in meaningful ways to the development of plans and decisions for the implementation of the character development initiative in our school. The OCDSB Community of Character attributes are modeled by staff daily and provides many opportunities in academics, athletics and the arts for students to learn about and develop their character. A number of our teachers integrate issues of social justice into their plans for literacy, science and social studies. At Berrigan, character education is embedded in all that we do, including our work in the Arts strands.

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