“Our purpose is to ensure the delivery of an excellent education to our

students so they become good citizens who contribute to society.”

October, 2009

In 2007-2008 Alberta Education collected Grade Level of

Achievement (GLA) data from all schools in the province. GLA

is based on the teacher’s assessment of learner outcomes for

Mathematics and Language Arts once the course has been

complete.

The purpose for reporting on GLA is to guide teaching practices

for specific programs; to act as a catalyst to focus on student

needs; to determine effective practices to foster higher levels of

student achievement and to contribute to the evidence used to

report student achievement to parents.

What does the 2007-2008 data tell us?

•Gifted students achieve above their grade level.

•Foreign born and Canadian born ESL students achieve at similar

levels in Mathematics.

•Girls achieve slightly higher than boys.

The percentage of students performing under grade level increases

through elementary into junior high school; more so in

Mathematics than in Language Arts. Student mobility has a

negative impact on grade level achievement. PAT results and GLA

data are 80% aligned with the exception being Grade 9 Math;

which is off by some 35%.

Some questions that GLA points to:

•Why is the proportion of boys with severe disabilities

so much higher than girls and why do these boys

perform higher than female students? Why are

gifted students performing better in

Mathematics than Language

Arts?

What

strategies can we use to address the impact of mobility on students?

What can we do to address the impact of age at the earlier grades?

Questions that we need to consider:

•Is it possible that girls are not receiving the attention that is

needed for their special programming? ESL students do better in

Mathematics due to their language deficiencies and how can we

help these students achieve in Language Arts? Why do students

do well with GLA results but not as good with the Provincial

Achievements Tests; especially in Mathematics in junior high

school?

The GLA does provide additional data to help parents understand

if their children are achieving, but also poses many other questions

that may or may not be answered through the collection of GLA

data.

Superintendent of Schools

Richard Harvey

Pembina Pipeline

Grade Level of Achievement: What does it tell us?

Where does it lead?

W

elcome to the following new staff of the

Pembina Hills Regional Division:

Linda Burlet

Teacher

ADLC

Susan Fenez

Program Assistant

Swan Hills School

Jodi Halvorson

Program Assistant

Eleanor Hall School

Stacy Howse

Program Assistant

Westlock Elementary School

Lindsay Sallis

Program Assistant

Barrhead Elementary School

School Superintendent Richard Harvey dropped by Barrhead

Elementary School Oct. 20 to visit with students and staff.

---

Put a group of

kids in front of

building blocks and they

will have fun for hours. Add

in some science concepts and

computer skills and you have a

remarkable teaching moment.

That’s the power of Lego Robotics,

a new project introduced by the

technology

department

that

combines hands-on learning with a

variety of science and math

concepts.

The program was introduced for the

first time this year at 10 schools

and has already captured the

attention and imagination of

students.

“I’ve never seen kids get so excited

about a project. There are so many benefits to Lego Robotics. Kids

are using computers, it’s very engaging and they are working

together. They do lots of research, but they have fun doing it,” says

Audrey Kluin, Learning Technology Coordinator for Pembina Hills.

“I took a course at the University of Alberta this summer to learn

more about the program and I had a ball. The kids have so much fun

and learn a bunch of life skills that are really important, like problem

solving, cooperation, science and programming.”

The concept behind Lego Robotics is simple, but the possibilities

are endless. Students build a robot

out of Lego, link the machine to

a computer and program the robot

to complete a variety of different

tasks.

Most

students

are

programming their robots to

navigate an obstacle course, using

light, sound and motion sensors.

The students at Jarvie School are

even going a step further by

taking part in the First Lego

League, an international robotic

competition for elementary and

junior high students. Created in

1992 to inspire an interest in

scientific and technical subjects,

the Lego League has grown to

include more than 150,000

children in 49 countries.

The Alberta championships, for

students aged 9-14, will be held at the end of January at NAIT and

Jarvie School is sending at least one team to the event.

“It takes about three hours to build the robot and when that is

finished the kids begin the programming. You can do so many

different things and there are so many benefits. The possibilities are

unlimited,” says Audrey. “I’m hoping that next year administrators

will put it into their timetables and make it a regular part of their

programming. I can see it progressing to a CTS option for high

school kids in the future.”

Building knowledge

one block at a time

Junior high students at Jarvie School put together an obstacle course

for the Lego Robotics project. The school is entering the First Lego

League and will participate in the Alberta championships.

A new bursary program is helping northern school districts like

Pembina Hills recruit the best and brightest students from university.

The Northern Student Teacher Bursary offers up to $8,000 in annual

financial support to university students in the final two years of

studies. To qualify, students must be willing to live and work in a

northern community for a minimum of three years.

“This is an excellent program for northern school districts and it will

definitely help our recruitment efforts. Most teachers who come

out here genuinely enjoy the experience and like our communities.

The biggest hurdle is getting them out here for the first time,” says

School Superintendent Richard Harvey.

Although the bursary was only established a few months ago,

interest in the program has been phenomenal. Pembina Hills has

already interviewed some applicants for the bursary and recommended

that three be

approved for

funding.

Their applications

are

now

being

reviewed by the Alberta

government and the Northern

Alberta

Development

Council

(NADC), which are jointly administering

the $800,000 program.

“For some teachers this will be a homecoming. We’ve had former

students who now want to return as teachers. Some of these students

would have stayed in Edmonton or Calgary if it wasn’t for the

bursary. The program is creating awareness of the teaching

opportunities out here.”

Go north young teacher

---

Imagine how it feels to be thrust into a room

with the brightest minds in the world

discussing one of its most complicated

subjects. Everyone expects you to contribute

to the discussion, but you don’t understand

a word.

That’s exactly what students suffering with

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD)

deal with every day in the classroom. These

kids – about 1% of the population – have

permanent brain damage caused by alcohol

consumption during pregnancy.

“If you have ever seen an image of an FASD

brain, it’s quite shocking. It’s like the

difference between a plump, juicy grape and

a twisted raisin,” says Colin Auschrat.

“Large chunks of the brain are simply not

functioning. Sometimes there’s only one or

two slight deficits, but sometimes the whole

brain is affected. It depends on how much

alcohol was consumed and at what time

during the pregnancy.”

Colin, who has a Masters Degree in

Psychology, is one of five FASD coaches

working in 10 schools throughout

the Edmonton region. The pilot

program, which is titled the WRAP

Project:

Building

Wellness,

Resiliency and Partnerships for

students with FASD, is being

spearheaded by Edmonton Regional

Educational Consulting Services

(ERECS), with funding from the

provincial government.

Colin is working at R.F. Staples

and Barrhead Composite High School,

offering his support and expertise to help

students have more success in the classroom.

“We are not entirely sure where we can help,

but we know these kids need a lot of

support. We are working with the students,

staff and parents – filling in whatever gaps

and trying to make things work as smoothly

as possible. We don’t want the kids to fail

school, give up and quit,” says Colin.

“Part of this job is raising awareness. There

are a lot of people who don’t understand

FASD. Some teachers think that with

enough love and support, they can reverse

some of the damage. That’s not the case.

The brain damage will never go away, but

these kids do have strengths.”

One of the biggest challenges facing people

with FASD is that they don’t look disabled.

Although many of their day-to-day functions

are impaired, their speech and facial features

are usually not affected.

“You don’t yell at a guy in a wheelchair to

climb those stairs. You install a ramp. These

kids are going to need that. They need

someone to go in and make the changes for

them so they can get the most out of

school,” says Colin.

Pilot project offers support to students

suffering with FASD

Colin Auschrat is working with FASD students at R.F.

Staples and Barrhead Composite High School.

The bleachers are bursting at the seams for

every home game, the crowd is rockin’ with

music from a devoted DJ and the action on

the field keeps the crowd glued to its seat.

It’s Friday afternoon in Westlock and the R.F.

Staples football team is back in action. The

team is only four years old, but it has already

developed deep roots in the community, both

in Westlock and Barrhead. “People have been

so supportive. We get a lot of fans out to

each game and it’s a great atmosphere out

there. The radio station is behind us 100%

and the community has been just

tremendous,” says Head Coach Jack Adkins.

“We have a referee crew that is all Pembina Hills staff. They took

the training to become certified and now they come out to our

home games and have a great time doing it. That’s helped us keep

costs down and shows the kind of support we are getting for the

team.”

With 10 players on the roster from Barrhead and another three

from St. Mary School in Westlock, the

Thunderbirds have truly become a regional

team. Players are so committed they started

practising even before the school year started.

The short season has ended, with the team

compiling a record of 2-4. They narrowly

missed the playoffs, but did move to the

consolation round and beat Sedgewick 47-0 in

the first game of playdowns.

“This is just an excellent sport for kids and it

gives them an opportunity they might not

have elsewhere. The sport attracts different

types of kids, maybe not the kids who would

go into volleyball, basketball, or other

sports. Now they get to learn the game of football and the value

of discipline and leadership,” says Jack.

“We have some players who are capable of going on to junior

football. Simeon Rottier was the number one draft pick in the

CFL this year and he didn’t even play high school football because

there wasn’t a program. His success has inspired other kids in

the area.”

Football team earns strong support

The R.F. Staples football team beat

Sedgewick 47-0 in the first game of the

consolation playdowns.

---

Like many adults, Linda Arndt developed an aversion to math that

stretches back to her days in elementary school. The Grade 2 teacher

at Westlock Elementary struggled with math as a young student and

for many years felt uncomfortable teaching the subject to her students.

“When I was going to school, there was

one way to do things and you either

understood or you didn’t. We didn’t learn

about the different strategies for learning

math or finding answers to problems,”

says Linda.

“I remember in elementary school we had

this math program and all the kids sent

rockets to the moon. At the end of the

year, I was still on the bottom at earth

and all the other kids were on the moon.

You can imagine how that made me feel.”

That all changed eight years ago when

Linda joined the Mathematics Council

of the Alberta Teachers’ Association (MCATA) and committed herself

to developing more strategies for teaching math.

Every summer she attends the Summer Primary Mathematics

Institute at the University of Alberta and over the years has developed

an incredible arsenal of teaching strategies that she shares with her

students.

“I know I wasn’t teaching math with understanding and if you don’t

have that, what do you have? Now I listen to my students and allow

them to do the thinking. Instead of doing a bunch of math sheets, we

spend time discussing ideas and different ways to approach a

problem,” says Linda.

“I try to help kids connect the dots. I want my

kids to feel empowered by math, to feel safe and

encouraged to explore different ideas. They can’t be

afraid to make a mistake. There are so many different ways

to approach a problem and we need to allow for those

differences.”

Linda has learned so much about math

and feels so comfortable teaching the

subject that she has become a leader in

the school division and a resource for

other teachers. She’s also become a

facilitator at some of those summer

school math sessions at the U of A and

recently won the MCATA Alberta

Mathematics Educator Award.

“I was shocked more than anything

when I heard about it. I was this kid

who failed math and struggled with it

so much. How can I win an award for

math? It feels gratifying, but the real reward is the impact you have

on students.”

Linda may have been shocked by the award, but her fellow staff

members at Westlock Elementary were anything but surprised. Many

wrote glowing recommendations to the awards committee and

commented on her deep commitment to students.

“It doesn’t matter what time of day you approach Linda with a

problem, she is always there to listen and point you in the right

direction,” says Christina Gabbey, Grade 3 teacher at WES. “Linda has

created a change in view of mathematics as my anxieties are lessening

and my confidence as a math teacher continues to grow and strengthen.”

Pembina Hills is designating time to

Professional Learning Committees (PLCs)

by introducing six early dismissal days

throughout the school year.

Classes will end an hour early on those

days, giving teachers an opportunity to

meet with members of their PLC, as well

as their school’s AISI coach. The first early

dismissal day was Oct. 28, the next will be

Nov. 28 and others will follow in

February, March, April and May.

“What we have done in the past is provide

substitutes so teachers could leave during

the day for their PLC meetings. That can

be expensive and teachers prefer to stay

with their students as much as possible,

instead of bringing in substitutes,” says

Mark Thiesen, Director of Instructional

Services for Pembina Hills.

“We are committed to creating a

collaborative culture. By tweaking the

structure of the school calendar, we hope to

help teacher collaborations become even

more effective. Ultimately, our intention is

to enhance student learning and

achievement, and improve educational

opportunities for kids.”

A big part of the professional development

focus this year is the

Seven Strategies of

Assessment for Learning

, a new book by

Jan Chappuis that highlights effective

classroom assessment practices. Every

teacher in the school district received a

copy of the book, which asks three

formative assessment questions; “Where

am I going?”; “Where am I now?”; and

“How can I close the gap?”

“We have a comprehensive professional

development plan, which is focused on

how we can apply the

Seven Strategies of

Assessment for Learning

in our schools,”

says Mark.

“This is part of the evolution of

professional development. We have learned

that professional development is most

effective when it is an ongoing, embedded

and supported activity. It’s not a one-shot

deal.”

Westlock Elementary teacher Linda Arndt has become a

staff and students

Early dismissal days support PLCs