CASS HIGH SCHOOL COMPLETION PROJECT J. A. WILLIAMS HIGH SCHOOL Lac La Biche Introduction J. A. Williams High School (JAWS) in Lac La Biche employs three school administrators, 22 teachers, eight Educational Assistants, and nine other support staff to serve a student population of approximately 530. In 2011, the school was selected as the site for a High School Success Project initiated by a partnership involving Northern Lights School Division, Alberta Education, the College of Alberta School Superintendents (CASS), an external researcher, and an external expert in assessment for learning. The project was originally designed to run for three years, from September 2011 to June 2014. The professional learning model that accompanied this school improvement project was designed around the following eight guiding principles, each supported by compelling research. 1. Professional learning activities for educators must be based on perceived needs, district priorities, and special issues in the context of the school. They must also be linked with standards, appropriate research, and current best practices. 2. The core of professional learning is the extent to which it is adapted and developed into a locally-owned and locally-recognized program. 3. Professional learning must be based on adult learning principles that highlight an ongoing commitment to the application of new skills, knowledge and dispositions. 4. The development of a professional learning community of practice is the single- most important building block of this initiative. 5. Reflection is a key determinant of the extent to which teachers-as-learners successfully use their experiences to improve their practice. 6. Flexibility and timeliness are key factors in establishing a continuous professional learning system. 7. Effective professional learning must provide participating adults with a variety of strategies and techniques so that their individual learning styles are addressed. Experiential learning is fundamental to adult learning and growth methodology. 8. Responsibility, feedback and accountability are integral to effective professional learning. In practice, the project has challenged staff members at J. A. Williams High School to take advantage of professional learning activities delivered regularly on-site, and commit to a form of professional practice characterized by changing norms, experimentation, courage, resiliency, and creativity, to achieve the following outcomes: (1) Enhanced student engagement and achievement (2) Increased high school completion rates (3) Reduced dropout rates.
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CASS HIGH SCHOOL COMPLETION PROJECT
J. A. WILLIAMS HIGH SCHOOL
Lac La Biche
Introduction
J. A. Williams High School (JAWS) in Lac La Biche employs three school
administrators, 22 teachers, eight Educational Assistants, and nine other support staff to serve a
student population of approximately 530. In 2011, the school was selected as the site for a High
School Success Project initiated by a partnership involving Northern Lights School Division,
Alberta Education, the College of Alberta School Superintendents (CASS), an external
researcher, and an external expert in assessment for learning. The project was originally designed
to run for three years, from September 2011 to June 2014.
The professional learning model that accompanied this school improvement project was
designed around the following eight guiding principles, each supported by compelling research.
1. Professional learning activities for educators must be based on perceived needs,
district priorities, and special issues in the context of the school. They must also
be linked with standards, appropriate research, and current best practices.
2. The core of professional learning is the extent to which it is adapted and
developed into a locally-owned and locally-recognized program.
3. Professional learning must be based on adult learning principles that highlight an
ongoing commitment to the application of new skills, knowledge and dispositions.
4. The development of a professional learning community of practice is the single-
most important building block of this initiative.
5. Reflection is a key determinant of the extent to which teachers-as-learners
successfully use their experiences to improve their practice.
6. Flexibility and timeliness are key factors in establishing a continuous professional
learning system.
7. Effective professional learning must provide participating adults with a variety of
strategies and techniques so that their individual learning styles are addressed.
Experiential learning is fundamental to adult learning and growth methodology.
8. Responsibility, feedback and accountability are integral to effective professional
learning.
In practice, the project has challenged staff members at J. A. Williams High School to
take advantage of professional learning activities delivered regularly on-site, and commit to a
form of professional practice characterized by changing norms, experimentation, courage,
resiliency, and creativity, to achieve the following outcomes:
(1) Enhanced student engagement and achievement
(2) Increased high school completion rates
(3) Reduced dropout rates.
CASS High School Completion Project J.A. Williams High School, Lac La Biche
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Baseline measures, derived from the October 2010 Provincial Accountability Pillar Results,
included student achievement, acceptable and excellence rates on Provincial Achievement Tests
and Diploma Exams, and overall levels of satisfaction with education in the school.
In May 2012, when Dr. Pascarelli (the external researcher) was unable to continue with
the project, I was invited by representatives of Northern Lights School Division and CASS to
take over his role. It was clear from the beginning that I could not do everything the way Dr.
Pascarelli had done, and it was particularly noticeable that some members of the J.A. Williams
staff were reluctant to commit to working with a new and different external researcher.
Nevertheless, meetings with staff in May and August resulted in decisions that allowed the
project to continue with virtually the same planned outcomes.
It should be noted here, and it will be mentioned throughout this report, that much of the
critically influential work of this project has been done, on-site, by Dr. Pat Sachse, from the
Alberta Assessment Consortium. Dr. Sachse was present at J.A. Williams High School every
month during the 2011 - 2012 and 2012 - 2013 school years, visiting classrooms, providing
coaching and support as teachers sought to implement new ways of assessing student learning
and enhancing student engagement. She earned the trust and respect of most teachers on staff,
and was identified by many as the one person whose work was integral to the continued
improvement of teaching and learning at the school. Although Dr. Sachse discontinued her work
with JAWS in the 2013 - 2014 school year, a majority of teachers on staff continued to be
regularly involved in peer coaching.
The Culture of J. A. Williams High School
Students
J.A. Williams High School is a multicultural centre for 500+ adolescents and young
adults striving to find their way, learn from their experiences, and make their own contributions
to their community, their province, and their nation. When this project began, FNMI students
comprised 45% of the student body, and the remaining students represented a great variety of
nationalities and ethnicities. By project’s end, the FNMI population had risen to almost 60%.
Like many other Alberta high schools, JAWS endured years of below average student
performance and above average staff frustration that helped define the reputation of the school as
a difficult place for both teachers and students. A negative image of JAWS was reconfirmed
every time another set of provincial achievement or diploma exam results were made public.
Staff morale always suffered, along with student attitudes and parental support. It was a vicious
cycle, one that eventually led to a decision to initiate this project.
It is a plain fact that not every student who passes through the doors of JAWS arrives
with a full measure of opportunity, commitment, good will, or potential. Many students have
never had the benefits of an advantaged standard of living; a lot have already experienced
conditions and circumstances that could severely limit their chances of success. Yet, in the three
years covered by this project, changes in student culture contributed significantly to overall
measures of school improvement that, if sustained, will surely show that JAWS has become a
school of which students and community can be justifiably proud. Specifically, pronounced
changes in overall student behaviour with regard to their attendance and engagement in class,
their willingness to help each other, their evolving respect for adults, and their determination to
try harder formed the basis of many observations conducted frequently throughout this project.
CASS High School Completion Project J.A. Williams High School, Lac La Biche
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Staff
For the way they have dealt with many of those students, staff members at JAWS,
collectively, deserve commendation. They have shown genuine compassion and concern for
students who have had to face tough personal battles, or who have had difficulty accommodating
to the rules and expectations that are part of the reality of high school. Time after time, staff
members have gone the extra mile for students in their care, keeping them in school against the
odds, helping them make better decisions, finding ways to involve them that built character and
self-esteem. It’s not an easy matter, being an adult role model for students whose needs are
great—and there is no implication in this commentary that staff members at JAWS have been
unfailingly perfect in their work with students—but the extra efforts and the extra successes that
resulted from the purposeful work of staff members need to be honored.
Over the course of three years, the culture of the JAWS staff was seen to change.
Increasingly, staff showed a greater willingness to engage with their students in more productive
ways. This is an important point, one that was confirmed frequently by students who reported
that “our teachers listen to us more”; or “they always ask us if we need more help”. This
attention to the needs of students also showed in teachers’ use of appropriate humor; in teachers
taking time to talk to students informally; in teachers more often using appropriate language in
offering suggestions or directions to students; in teachers’ increased attention to lesson planning
and assessment; and in teachers’ more timely contacts with parents.
In addition, teachers and other adults became more respectful of each other. The last year
of the project saw very few examples of adults becoming angry, or raising their voices in the
course of their work. Rather, there was an obvious increase in adult-to-adult collaboration that
included co-planning of lessons, activities and events; peer observations; and team teaching.
They listened to each other more respectfully in meetings, shared greetings more freely, smiled
more, and joked more.
Last year in this report it was noted that:
[JAWS] is a staff not yet completely comfortable with setting school goals and following
through on the achievement of those goals in ways that complement rather than diminish
the efforts of others. It is a staff on which the loudest voices still can prevail over the
thoughts and the will of the majority and, it must be said, a staff that gives evidence,
occasionally, of a lack of willingness to deal with issues squarely, to resolve conflict
productively, and to show respect for the opinions and values of others.
In the final year of the project year, the cultural shift was more noticeable, as many more
staff members showed commendable commitment to their professional duties. It can fairly be
claimed that the staff is now working intentionally towards the achievement of goals, working
more in teams, and sharing responsibilities more effectively than at any other time in the past
three years. Moreover, the teaching staff has become more confident in their use of a variety of
teaching strategies, proven assessment practices, and all the various types of data that can inform
the work of a school. Accordingly, their students have benefitted, results have improved,
attitudes have improved, and morale has improved. The JAWS community has succeeded in
breaking the cycle of low performance!
In this last year, a lot of time and attention was required to assist with construction of the
new J.A. Williams High School. It could easily have become a major disruption in the life of the
school. To the credit of the JAWS staff, they did not let any of the issues and concerns related to
CASS High School Completion Project J.A. Williams High School, Lac La Biche
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the new building interfere with their primary purpose --- helping their students have the most
successful year possible.
All the foregoing comments notwithstanding, the staff at JAWS contains a few
contrarians, men and women who “do not like to be told”; who do not accept any authority
easily; and who still prefer to do things “their way”. They have not come willingly into the
collaborative culture that JAWS has been becoming for the last three years. Like Cassius,
perhaps, they have been reluctant to “follow anything that other men begin.” It could be argued
that any high school embarked on an improvement project will always need a few resisters, or
skeptics, even if only to ensure that competing points of view receive appropriate attention and
consideration as the initiative moves forward. However, there were times in the life of this
project when it appeared that differences of opinion on staff, and different levels of appreciation
for new practices and policies, could have caused the project to stall. That didn’t happen, thanks
in part to the solidarity of the school leadership team, to the strength of commitment of a
majority of staff and, it must be said, to the real contributions of some of the contrary ones. In
their own ways, they made success more possible for scores of students for whom they set clear
expectations, and to whom they provided a high quality of educational service and, at times,
personal caring, albeit in their own way!
Leadership
The formal leadership of the school experienced quite a transformation over the course of
this project. The three administrators learned to work more effectively as a team, sharing duties
in ways that maximized their individual strengths. They each expanded their leadership
knowledge and skills, especially in areas as diverse as coaching, conflict management,
interpersonal relations, curriculum and instruction, and the leadership of a learning community.
As they learned to work together more effectively, they developed greater trust in each other,
greater respect for each other’s challenges, and a greater sense of responsibility around the work
of school improvement. Each school leader became more useful to more teachers, and better able
to help the school achieve its main goal of increased high school completion.
When the project began, the three leaders appeared to be spending a lot of time dealing
with student behavior, and staff concerns. Students were often brought to the office by teachers
who wanted one or other of the administrators to “deal with the problem immediately”. It did not
seem that teachers, collectively, were taking full responsibility for dealing with student behavior
as it occurred in their classrooms, or in the hallways. Many office meetings were interrupted by
teachers demanding their administrators take some kind of action, or by students presenting
themselves for some sort of discipline.
Early in the second year the school leadership team, with the support of a group of
teachers, introduced a new policy that more clearly outlined graduated responses to student lates,
attendance, and overall behavior. While many teachers welcomed the changes, nearly as many
argued and fought against them. The implementation of the new policy had a rocky beginning
but, because the school leaders were becoming more confident, and more sure about the direction
they wanted to follow, they were able to ensure that the new policy had its chance. Staff
members could see they were now dealing with a united leadership team that was able to listen to
concerns yet still pursue its vision for dealing with difficult students. I believe that was a turning
point in this project. It saw the transformation of the old suspension room into a Positive
Behavior Supports Centre. The change in language influenced a shift in culture. It challenged
teachers to find more appropriate alternatives to simply “kicking kids out” of class. It raised
CASS High School Completion Project J.A. Williams High School, Lac La Biche
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clearer expectations about the language adults should be using in their interactions with all
students, and when it was desirable for teachers rather than administrators to make contact with
parents and other care-givers.
The purposeful use of Professional Growth Plans was still another factor that helped
create a cultural shift. Early in the project, the school leaders decided they would each develop a
growth plan that they called a Professional Learning Guide. On it they recorded goals, questions,
strategies, and outcomes they felt would guide their own professional growth for each year. In
the first year, a few teachers also used such a plan. In the second year, most teachers were invited
to submit a growth plan to the principal, and be willing to have a conversation about their
progress with one of the administrators twice during the school year. By the third year, most
teachers were using a Professional Growth Plan for purposes beyond mere compliance, including
regular conversations about their yearly goals. The process was growing within the culture of the
school and, while it was less than perfect, it was also contributing to a slight shift in teacher
commitment.
The weekly Bits ‘N’ Bites Newsletter published every Monday morning by the school
principal, Terry Moghrabi, had its impact on school culture in any number of ways. It always
highlighted the best of JAWS --- whether that was student success, student effort, teacher
contributions, adult commitment, or community relations. With photographs and short, positive
notes, Terry has produced a valuable chronicle of life in JAWS and the people who make it
better. From reporting on sporting events, Aboriginal Awareness Week, visiting artists and
dignitaries, Round Dances, the annual school musicals, to academic results, special events, or the
successes of graduates, the newsletter has unfailingly appealed to the best of JAWS culture,
school spirit, and people.
Data From Teachers
In November 2012, halfway through this project, all teachers responded to the following
survey question: What changes have you made in your professional practice to help improve
high school completion rates?
Fourteen (14) teachers indicated they were concentrating on promoting more
positive relationships with students.
Ten (10) teachers reported they were providing more opportunities for students to
experience various forms of peer tutoring.
Ten (10) teachers stated they were making a greater effort to encourage students
to hand in all their assignments.
Nine (9) teachers said they were spending more one-on-one time with students.
Eight (8) teachers noted they were using more formative assessments.
Seven (7) teachers reported they were spending more time helping students set
goals.
Seven (7) teachers indicated they were finding more ways to encourage students
to keep trying.
CASS High School Completion Project J.A. Williams High School, Lac La Biche
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These were powerful, positive statements that continued to guide most staff members for
the next two years. In some particular instances, the teachers’ commitment to student success
was seen to increase with the passing of each semester. In only a few cases, did teachers not
make connections between the existence of the school improvement project and their own
professional practice.
In June 2014, twenty teachers responded to an invitation to describe any ways the project
had influenced teaching and learning at JAWS. Their responses follow:
It kept us on track; made us more responsible; made us more accountable
Visits with colleagues had a positive impact
Visits with colleagues helped me improve
It kept me focused on what’s best for students
I have been more reflective
It helped us shift to a more student-centred model of instruction
Collaboration and reflection have allowed me more opportunities for
improvement
I’m using more differentiation in my practice
It has helped me hold students more accountable
We are now catching students in grade 9 who would otherwise be falling through
the cracks
I’m a little more reflective but it hasn’t impacted my teaching very much
I don’t think it has made any difference
It has made me more aware of the good things I’m doing
It has made me more conscious of my own professional development
It has made no difference
It has prompted more discussion among staff
It has created slightly better attitudes among staff, and greater consistency of
expectations
It has allowed me to talk to colleagues and get new ideas
It has provided help with a new collaborative project
Outside eyes and ears are always a great benefit to learning and growing
(Three teachers did not respond.)
When teachers (N = 20) were asked to rate their own impact on student learning over the
last ten months (using a scale of 0 -10, with 0 indicating “no improvement” and 10 indicating
“dramatic improvement”), their responses produced a mean score of 7.0 (20 responses; mode =
7; high score = 10; low score = 2). When the same teachers were asked to rate their own
contribution to students’ high school completion, using the same scale, their responses produced
a mean of 7.7 (19 responses; mode = 8; high score = 10; low score = 2).
These responses may indicate that teachers’ beliefs about their effectiveness in
influencing student learning stayed fairly constant throughout the project, but their perception
that they were doing more to influence high school completion increased.
CASS High School Completion Project J.A. Williams High School, Lac La Biche
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Data From Students
Diploma Exam results and Grade 9 Provincial Achievement Test results were identified
at the beginning of this project as key measures of project success. Logically, if high school
completion rates were to increase, some of the evidence of that increase should be seen in better
results by more students on high school exams.
The following set of tables presents student results on all PATs and PDEs from the period
2009-2010 to 2013-2014. Baseline data for this project was established as the results achieved on
external exams at the end of the 2009-2010 school year.
Table 1. Grade 9 Language Arts
2009-10 2011-12 2013-14
Sch Prov Sch Prov Sch Prov
Enrolled 102 43,654 104 42,344 38,586
Writing 91 (89%) 96 (92%) 76 (92%)
Absent 10 7 N/A
Excused 1 1 N/A
PAT Results:
Standard of Excellence 3 (3%) 15% 11 (12%) 16% 1 (8%) 17%