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NWTadultcompetenciesareamonglowestinCanadaNorthlandstillunhappywithstudentsuccessNewinitiativeshopetobringimprovementsteadystafftoschooldistrict21TuesdayOctober152013EducationStudentSuccessByMARIACHURCHRecentlyreleasedresultsfromAlbertasachievementtestsanddiplomashaveshownsomeimprovementatselectschoolsinNorthlandSchoolDivisionNo.61buteducatorsarestillconcernedwithoverallnumbersforstu-dentsuccess.TobehonestIhavetosaythatImdisappointedintheoverallresultsDonnaBar-rettSuperintendentofSchoolsforNorthlandtoldTheJour-nal.WehaveinitiatedsomereallyimportantinitiativesthatIbelieveovertimewillmakeasignicantdifferencetothesuccessofourstudentsbutpeoplehavetoldusthatitsgoingtotakemorethanayearortwotoreallyseetheimpactoftheseresults.NorthlandcoversalargeareaofnorthernAlbertaandisresponsibleforaround2500studentsin24schools.Thedistrictpreviouslysawupheavalin2010whenthen-ministerofEducationDaveHancockfiredtheentire23-memberboardoftrust-eeslinkedtopoorlevelsofstudentsuccess.OverthepastfewyearsnewstaffatNorthlandhavefocusedontacklingstudentsuccessratesbutseveraluniquechallengesinclud-ingremotenessofcommuni-tiesandhighstaffturnoverhavemadechangesdifculttoimplement.Lastyeartheschooldistrictrolledoutseveralinitiativesaimingtoimproveliteracylev-els.Muchoftheprogrammingcenteredaroundexperientialon-the-landlearningthroughculturalcampsandcommu-nityprojects.Barrettsaidthatcertainschoolshaveshownim-provementfromthepro-gramswhileothersstilllagbehind.Weseeimprovementinpocketsshesaid.Someofourschoolsaredoingverywellandothers...haventmovedinthedi-rectionthatwearehopingforsowhenyoulookattheoverallpicturewiththeschoolsthatarefacingchal-lengeswhenyouaverageitoutwearenotshowingimprovement.Forexampleseveralschoolsscored80percentorabovewhenitcomestostudentsachievingaccept-ablemarks.Howeveroth-ersschoolshavesomeofthelowestparticipationratesintheprovince.Barrettsaidtherearein-dicatorsthatlikelyexplainwhycertainschoolsachievesuccesswhileothersdontanotableonebeinghighstaffturnover.Someofourschoolshavehadverystablestafngandleadership...Inothercasestheyhaventhadthesamestabilityofstafngandthatcertainlycontributestotheresultsshesaid.ButBarrettsaidshewantstolookdeeperthanstaffturnover.Ibelievewehavetoreallylookatwhatshap-peningintheclassrooms-makesurethatourteach-ersareteachingtothecur-riculumoutcomesandthattheyareimplementingourliteracyinitiative.Despitealackofvisiblere-sultsBarrettsaidtheschooldivisionwillcontinuewiththecurrentprogramminginitiativesandworkwithprincipalsandstafftoseeunanimousimplementationacrosstheschools.Wehavesomegoodthingsgoingonbutitsstillinsmallpockets.UntilwehaveithappeningeverywhereineveryschoolIdontthinkweregoingtoseethekindofimprovementthatweareexpectingshesaid.HomegrownteachersThisschoolyearNorth-landwelcomed18newlygraduatedteacherstoitsstaffallpartofwhatBarrettcalledalocalteachingforce.AjointinitiativeoftheAl-bertagovernmentUniver-sityofAlbertaandNorth-ernLakesCollegetheAb-originalTeachersEducationProgramATEPenrolledlocalstudentsinthefour-yearBachelorofEducationprogramwiththeendgoalofteachingintheirhomecommunities.Theseeducatorsareknowl-edgeableabouttheircom-munitiesincludingthelan-guageandcultureandhavepre-establishedrelationshipswithfamiliesBarrettsaid.Webelievethatthatsre-allygoingtocreatestabil-ityinourstafnganditssomethingthatIthinkhasbeenadreamofcommuni-tiesinNorthlandformanymanyyearsshesaid.EducationAdultEducationByMARIACHURCHNewresearchreleasedlastweekfromCanadianparticipationinthePro-grammefortheInternationalAssessmentofAdultCom-petenciesPIAACranksadultcompetenciesintheNWTsecondfromthebot-tomoutofthe13provincesandterritories.WhiledisappointingthoseresultsarenotsurprisingHelenBalanoffexecutivedirectoroftheNWTLiteracyCounciltoldTheJournal.GiventhedropoutratesintheNWTitsnotreallysurprisingthatweseelowerskillsamongyoungpeopleandadultsBalanoffsaid.IfyoudropoutofschoolatGrade9forexampleyourenotgoingtohavethekindsofskillsthatpeoplewhonishhighschoolandthengoontocollegeoruniver-sityhave.Balanoffsaidoneexplana-tionisthatschoolsingeneralareafairlynewphenom-enonintheNorth.Thatcombinedwiththelingeringeffectofresidentialschoolslanguagebarriersandcom-munityisolationpresentseducatorswithnumerousobstacles.AsimilarsituationisseeninNunavutwherethesur-veyscoresfoundwerethelowestinCanada.ThisisthefirstyearCanadaparticipatedinthePIAACsurveywhichas-sessesproseliteracydoc-umentliteracynumeracyandproblemsolvinginatechnologicalenvironment.Twenty-fourcountriescon-ductedthesurvey.IntheNWTatotalof900residentsin13communitiesweresurveyed450ofwhichwereAboriginalalongwith450non-Aboriginalresidents.Whileliteracyandnu-meracyscoresintheNWTwerebelowCanadianandworldwideaverageproblemsolvinginatechnology-richenvironmentscoreswereaboveaverage.Themostrecentadultlit-eracydatafortheNWTwascollectedin2003fromanInternationalAdultLiteracyandSkillsSurveyIALSSwhichledtothedevelop-mentofthecurrentNWTLiteracyStrategy.NewdatafromPIAACwillbeanalysedincompari-sontoIALSSdatainordertodeterminebestpracticesandfuturestrategies.Thedataprovidesuswithwhatweneedtoknowtoensurewecontinuetobuildastrongereducationsystem.Itisalsocriticaltounderstandwhereweneedtoaddressourpro-gramgapsforskillsandtrainingandensuretheneedsofouradultlearn-ersarebeingmetJack-sonLaffertyministerofEducationCultureandEmploymentECEsaidinapressrelease.ThisisthersttimetheNWTLiteracyCouncilhashadaccesstorawdatafromaterritory-widesurveyonliteracyandBalanoffsaidin-houseresearcherswillbedrawingconclusionsintan-demwiththeGNWT.Severalliteracyprogramsarecurrentlybeingreas-sessedbyECEinpartner-shipwithAuroraCollegeandtheNWTLiteracyCouncilincludingtheAdultLiteracyandBasicEduca-tionprogramtheAdultRecognitionModelandpro-grammingforout-of-schoolandat-riskyouthinsmallcommunities.NewthisyearfortheNWTLiteracyCouncilareseveralshort-termembeddedlit-eracyprogramswhichin-cludeayoungmothersnu-tritionandcookingprogramfeaturingliteracyexercisesforexample.Changedoesnthappenovernightsoprogramsthatpeopleareworkingonnowweprobablywontseealotofdifferenceforveormoreyears.ButwealwayshopethatchangeisfasterthanthatBalanoffsaid.Shesaidgovernmentsbothterritorialandfederalneedtoconsiderthatap-proachestoliteracyintheNorthmusttakeintoaccounttheuniquechallengesresi-dentsface.TheNWTandNunavuthavesomedifferentissuesthanthoseinthesouthsoaone-size-ts-alldoesnotwork.Itsimportantthattrainingistailoredshesaid.FormoreinformationonthePIAACsurveyortoviewthefullreportgoon-linetowww.ece.gov.nt.cafeaturesprogramme-inter-national-assessment-adult-competencies.NorthlandSuperintendentDonnaBarrettwillbemeetingwithprincipalsacrosstheschooldivisionthisweektodiscussachievementtestanddiplomaresults.PhotocourtesyofNorthlandSchoolDivisionPhotocourtesyoftheNWTLiteracyCouncilLaughterandlearninggohandandhandatafamilytutoringcourseoneoftheNWTLiteracyCouncils2013programinitiativesforadultliteracy.