What Did You Do In School Today

1
What Did You Do In School Today?

• A three-year research and development initiative
  of the Canadian Education Association (CEA), the
  Canadian Council on Learning (CCL) and several
  Canadian School Districts.

2
Who Will Conduct the Research?

• The research will be conducted through a
  partnership between
• Dr. Sharon Friesen of the Galileo Educational
  Network and Dr. Doug Willms and Patrick Flanagan
  of The Learning Bar Inc.

3
What is the Purpose of the CEA/CCL Study?

• To improve student achievement by
• ? determining the factors that promote adolescent
  student engagement
• ? developing a framework that describes classroom
  effectiveness
• ? assisting with strategies that enhance
  classroom effectiveness.

4
What Will the Study Examine?

• what students are actually doing in their
  classrooms
• whether and how these activities affect their
  learning, engagement and achievement and,
• how classroom practices could be improved to
  create more effective learning environments.

5
Who Will Benefit From the Findings?

• Students
• Teachers
• Parents
• Administrators
• Pre-service programs
• In-service programs
• Policy-makers, and
• School Districts

6
Why Conduct this Research Now?

• There is a growing concern across Canada about
  the number of students who are dropping out or
  tuning out of school.
• The 2002 Youth in Transition survey and School
  Leavers Survey indicate that students leave
  because of boredom or because of school-related
  academic or personal problems.

7
How is This Research Different?

• There is mounting evidence that effective
  teacher practice is key to student engagement.
• ? Attention has been paid to school climate,
  socio-economic status and many other variables
  but not to students reports of their learning
  activities and their connection to engagement.

8
Who is Involved in the Research?

• In the first year
• 10 Boards of Education from across Canada with a
  total of 30 000 students
• up to 10 schools from each board
• Directors of Education
• Board Contacts
• School Principals
• School Coordinators (1 per school)
• Students (all in grades 6-12)
• Teachers

9
How Will the Research Be Conducted?

• Students will complete anonymous on-line surveys
  twice a year for three years.

10
What are the Student Surveys Like?

• Student surveys contain 100 questions in Likert
  format, and up to three open-ended questions.
• They take approximately 30 min. to complete.
• ? They include 18 indicators describing Student
  Wellness
• Student Engagement
• And five indicators of
• School Climate

11
What is an Example of an Open-ended Question?

• All students are asked
• Please tell us some of the things you really
  like about your school, or things that would make
  it even better.

12
What are the Indicators for Student Engagement?

• Academic Engagement
• Academic Challenge
• Sense of Belonging
• Aspirations
• Truancy Rate
• Participation in Sports Clubs
• Time on Homework, Leisure Reading, TV, Computers
  and Video Games, Volunteering and Part-time Jobs

13
What are the Indicators for Student Wellness?

• Depression
• Anxiety
• Smoking
• Time on Physical Activity

14
What are the Indicators for School Climate?

• Effective learning time
• Disciplinary climate of the classroom
• Expectations for academic success
• Teacher-student relations

15
What About Anonymity?

• ? The research employs a secure, data collection
  procedure that guarantees anonymity. Schools are
  not able to identify individual results.
• ? All survey results are aggregated into groups
  comprising no fewer than ten responses.

16
What About Parental Consent?

• This research employs a passive consent model.
• Schools send a letter home, letting parents know
  about the study.
• Participation is voluntary. Parents can withdraw
  their children if they wish.

17
Can Students With Special Needs Participate?

• Yes, if schools advise parents beforehand that
  their child will be taking the survey with
  assistance.
• This is done because of the studys commitment
  to anonymity.

18
How Do Schools Access Their Data?

• Schools are able to access their data on-line
  almost immediately.
• Student results aggregated to the school level
  are shared with designated Divisional staff.
  These can be drilled-down by grade and gender,
  but not by classroom.
• Data from the open-ended student responses and
  all teacher survey results are only shared at the
  school level.

19
How Will the School Data Be Used?

• Schools will use their data to inform their
  practice.
• Individual school data will provide schools with
  valuable feedback on student wellness, student
  engagement and school climate.

20
How Will the Aggregate Data Be Used?

• The CEA will publish its findings however,
  these reports will not release or compare results
  for any identifiable school or school district.

21
How Do Schools Implement the Survey?

• Evergreens Continuous Monitoring" approach
• A snapshot of the entire grade 6-12 student body
  is taken twice yearly, fall and spring.
• Designed for schools with fewer than 300
  students.

22
For more information

• Contact Fay Cassidy
• WDYDIST District Coordinator for Evergreen School
  Division
• fcassidy_at_esd.mb.ca
• (? With special thanks to the Kawartha Pine Ridge
  District School Board for this PowerPoint
  presentation.)