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15EDUCATIONLITERACYTuesdayFebruary102015Wewanttoknowwhatyouthink.AlbertasNorthlandschoolboardexaminesSouthSlaveliteracystrategiesByDALICARMICHAELOfcialsfromaschooldivi-sioninnorthernAlbertavisitedthesouthernNWTlastweekseekinganswersonwaystoimproveliteracyamongtheirstrugglingstudentpopulation.Itsbeensaidthatanysys-temisperfectlydesignedtogettheresultitsgettingandrightnowwerenotsatisedwiththeresultssaidDr.LeroySloanpartofthedelegationventur-ingNorthonaneducationfact-ndingmission.TeachersprincipalsandadministratorsfromAlbertasNorthlandSchoolDivision61traveledbetweenHayRiverFortResolutionandFortSmithtakinginstrategiesbeingusedtoimproveliteracyratesinSouthSlaveDivisionalEduca-tionCouncilSSDECschoolsnamelytheLeadership4Lit-eracyL4Linitiative.Sloanaformerdeputymin-isterofeducationforAlbertawasincludedinthedelegationasarepresentativeoftheAl-bertaSchoolBoardsAssocia-tion.HestartedworkingwiththeSouthSlavein2006whenhehelpedthedivisionrevampitsowneducationalpractices.ImpressedwiththestridestheSSDEChasmadeovertheyearsheguredNorthlandcouldlearnfromitssuccesses.Yougetalistofachieve-mentsandawardsthattheyvebeenawardedbytheterritorialgovernmentbyCanadianor-ganizationsbythepremierbythelieutenantgovernorofCanadaoverandovertherec-ognitionhasbeentherethattheSouthSlaveishavingsuccessSloansaid.Whenyougofrom74percentoftheparentsto92percentoftheparentsbeingsatisedwiththeirchildrenslearningitsresonatingherewiththelocalpeople.Thetwoboardssharemanysimilarities.ThemajorityofthestudentpopulationisAborigi-nalandtherearechallengesstemmingfromtheremote-nessoftheircommunitiessuchashighstaffturnoverrates.WhileNorthlandservesabouttwiceasmanystudentsastheSSDEC-about2890com-paredto1300-overawidergeographicalareaNorthlandsuperintendentDonnaBarrettbelievestheadaptationofalit-eracymodelbasedonSSDECswillleadtoimprovedresults.SinceinstitutingL4LtheSSDEChasincreasedstudentliteracybyenactingmonthlyevaluationssoteacherscaneasilytrackexactlywhichareasoflearningstudentsneedimprovementintocre-atefocusedlessonplans.Theyhavealsoincreasedsupportsforteachersinstallingliter-acycoachesineveryschooltohelpaddressanygapsinknowledge.Oneofthethingsthatwevebeenlookingatisthewholenotionofsmallgroup-guidedinstructionBarrettsaid.Teachershaveanabilitytoknowwherethestudentsareandknowhowtoworkwiththeminsmallgroupstohelpthemmovetothenextlevel.StartingfromscratchIn2010Northlanddis-mantledits23-memberschoolboardafterdecadesofpoorperformancelevels.AstudyontheworkingsofNorthlandledto43recommendationsonhowtoimproveresults.OneoftherststepswastoinitiatetheAboriginalTeachersEducationProgramATEPwhichencourageslocalstobecometeacherswithintheircommunities.Sofartheinitialstrategiesseemtobeworking.OutofthedivisionsstudentsinGrades1through12approximately50percentareattheirappropriategradeliteracylevelaratethathashasrisenapproximately13percentinthelastyearalone.Itsnotthatweresay-ingpeoplearentdoingsomegoodthingsinNorthlandbutweknowwerenotdoingwellenoughandthegapistoogreatbetweentheAboriginalandnon-AboriginalstudentsacrossCanadaSloansaid.InAlbertaitsabout30percentinSask.itsabout40percentsothisisremarkablewhenweseestatisticsshowingAborigi-nalstudentsoutperformingnon-AboriginalstudentsintheSouthSlave.ThatsuniqueacrossCanadaandwewanttogetintotheclassroomandseewhatsreallyhappeningintheinteractionsbetweentheteacherandthestudentsandwevebeenpickingupnuggetseveryplacewevegone.SSDECAmodelforothereducatorsThisisntthefirsttimeSSDEChasshareditsliter-acytrainingstrategieswithoutsideschooldivisions.LastyeararoundthesametimethecouncilhostedagroupfromNunavutonasimilarmission.Whileproudwithwhattheyvebeenabletoaccom-plishthereisnoreasontoslowdownsaidSSDECsu-perintendentCurtisBrown.Thepeoplethatwehaveinourschoolsaredoingare-markablejobimplementingtheseevidence-basedpracticesandgettingbetterresultswithkidshesaid.Whenotherswanttocomeandlearnaboutwhatweredoinghereitmakesusstepbackandrealizehowfarwevecomeandwhatitisweneedtokeepondoing.PhotoDaliCarmichaelAteamofdelegatesfromAlbertasNorthlandSchoolDivision61visitstheSouthSlaveDivisionalEducationCouncilinFortSmithhopingtopickupsomeliteracy-teachingtechniques.