Quesnel Aboriginal Education Enhancement Agreement

1. Preamble

The Aboriginal Education Council (AEC) is a collaboration between the Esdilagh, Lhoosk'uz Dené, Lhtakot'en, Ndazkhot'en, the North Cariboo Métis Association, the Quesnel Tillicum Society, and School District No. 28 (Quesnel). The AEC acknowledges and honours the special relationship that exists with the First Nations in whose unsurrendered traditional territories we operate. This Aboriginal Education Enhancement Agreement has been developed, and will be implemented, with the guidance and approval of the AEC with the vision and spirit of improving educational outcomes and achieving education equity for all Aboriginal students within the School District's jurisdiction.

2. Purposes

The purposes of this Enhancement Agreement are:

  • to ensure Aboriginal students achieve at least the same social and academic success as the general student population
  • to honour and actively support the revitalization of the histories, cultures, governance and languages of the First Nations whose traditional and adopted territories are served by School District No. 28.
3. Principles
  • Academic performance areas for improvement are those where there is assurance reliable data can be:
    • related to Aboriginal student academic achievement and tracked over time; and
    • effectively used to implement interventions.
  • Social performance areas for improvement are those where there is assurance reliable data can be:
    • related to inclusion and social responsibility and tracked over time
    • related to Aboriginal student, parent, family, community satisfaction tracked over time; and
    • effectively be used to implement interventions.

The Comprehensive Improvement Plan developed by the Aboriginal Education Council and School District No. 28 as well as School Growth Plans for Aboriginal Education will align this Enhancement Agreement and its processes.The initial improvement targets will be a 3 per-cent annual increase in each academic and social success goal specified. The targets will be re-assessed annually. The data for assessing the targets will be reported in the School District No. 28 (Quesnel) Annual Report on Aboriginal students.

4. School Success Goals

  • Academic Goals (Ac)
    1. Improvement in opportunities to culturally relevant curriculum
    2. Improvement in Early Literacy; Kindergarten to Grade 3 level
    3. Improvement in Intermediate Literacy and Numeracy; Grades 4 to 7
    4. Improvement in grades 9 to 11 successful transition rates.
    5. Improvement in Participation and Success rates in Mathematics Grade 11 and English 11
    6. Improvement in Dogwood completion rates
  • Social Goals (So)
    1. Improvement in building and maintaining relationships between school personnel and adult family members / guardians / community
    2. Enhancement of student self-worth
    3. Improved student participation in school and district based extra curricular activities.
    4. Reduce student suspension/exclusion rates
5. Implementation
  • The agreement will be in effect from September 1, 2003 until August 30, 2008.
  • The 2003-04 will be the first performance year.
  • The scope for enrolment auditing of Aboriginal Program funding during the course of the Agreement will be restricted to the identification of students as being Aboriginal.
  • The Ministry of Education agrees to fund this Enhancement Agreement according to the Operating Grants Manual.
  • Funding targeted to support this agreement is intended to enrich Aboriginal student success opportunities over and above their normal entitlements as an enrolled student in School District No. 28 (Quesnel), and will be expended on the approval of the Aboriginal Education Council in School District No. 28 (Quesnel).

APPENDIX A


Measures, Baselines and Performance Targets

Measures of Progress Toward Goals

Ac 1 The incidences of classroom teacher, cultural teacher, and community resource teachers planned delivery of culturally relevant learning opportunities will be counted and tracked.
Ac 2 The percentage of Aboriginal students in Kindergarten to grade three that demonstrate 'grade level' literacy skills.
Ac 3 The proportion of Aboriginal students meeting Foundation Skills Assessment grade level expectations in reading, writing, and numeracy (grades 4 and 7) will be monitored and tracked.
Ac 4 The percentage of grades 8 to 10 Aboriginal students making the transition to the next grade level, and being retained by the school district.
Ac 5 The participation rate of Aboriginal students in Mathematics 11 and English 11 will be based on the number of Aboriginal students enrolled in the course for the year, compared to the number of Aboriginal students eligible to enroll. Success rate will be the percentage of Aboriginal students who pass the course during the school year.
Ac 6 Dogwood completion data rate of grade 8 Aboriginal students who receive a Dogwood Diploma within 6 years as compiled by the Ministry of Education will be used.
   
So 1 Aboriginal parent / family / community engagement will be tracked to monitor increased frequency in the number of contacts between teachers/school personnel, and parents/guardians. Engagement of the Aboriginal community in the learning process will be tracked in terms of frequency and duration.
So 2 Aboriginal student self-worth will be tracked using parent and student surveys.
So 3 The number of Incidences of student participation in school and district athletic, fine arts, and social activities will be tracked.
So 4 Suspension exclusion rates will be based on the number of suspension days, including class/course suspensions of grades 7 - 12 Aboriginal students in proportion to non-Aboriginal students.

 

Baselines and Performance Targets

Ac 1 Ac 1 Teacher surveys and (2002-02 and 2003-04) reports from Aboriginal Education staff will form a baseline of "student-hour opportunities" to the infusion of culturally relevant content across curricula, as well as explicit studies and activities related to the cultures of Aboriginal Peoples. The improvement target is an annual increase of 3% in "student-hour opportunities".
Ac 2 District Aboriginal Early Literacy data for grades K to 1 will be established based on 2002-03 assessment data, with grades 2 and 3 baseline data being established in 2003-04 and 2004-05 respectively. The improvement target is an annual increase of 3%.
Ac 3 A baseline measure of Aboriginal students meeting Foundation Skills Assessment grade level expectations in reading, writing, and numeracy for each of grades 4 and 7, will be determined by averaging the 1996-97 through to 2002-03 Ministry generated FSA data on Aboriginal students in School District No. 28. The improvement target is an annual increase of 3% in each test at each grade level.
Ac 4 A baseline measure of grades 9 to 11 transition rates of the grade 8 cohort group will be determined by averaging the 1996-97 through to 2002-03 Ministry generated Secondary School Progress data on Aboriginal students in School District No. 28. The improvement target is an annual increase of 3% of grades 8 to 10 students remaining in school.
Ac 5 A baseline measure of Aboriginal students successfully completing mathematics 11 and English 11 will be determined by averaging the 1996-97 to 2002-03 school generated data of the number of Aboriginal students successfully completing each. The improvement target is an annual increase of 3% in the percentage of students successfully completing each of Mathematics 11 and English 11.
Ac 6 The Dogwood completion rate baseline will be determined by averaging the 1996-97 through to 2002-03 Ministry generated data on Aboriginal student completion rate for School District No. 28. The improvement target is an annual increase of 3% in the percentage of students achieving their Dogwood certificate.


So 1 A count of the number of meaningful contacts between teachers/school personnel, and parents/guardians and Aboriginal community resources will establish a frequency baseline. Meaningful contact means; attendance at parent/teacher interviews, SPC/PAC/Parent Group meetings, IEP meetings, and open houses, as well as curriculum events and parent volunteer opportunities. The target is a 3% annual gain in frequency of meaningful contacts.
So 2 A parent student satisfaction survey of opportunities to successful experiences, inclusion, teacher and peer relationships, curriculum content and delivery, learning environment, as well as anti-racism and equity initiatives will be administered annually. The 2004 survey will constitute baseline data. The improvement target is 3% annual increase in satisfaction.
So 3 A baseline of Aboriginal student participation in extra curricular activities will be established based on 2003-04 incidences of participation for students in grades 4 to 12. The improvement target is a 3% annual increase averaged across grades.
So 4 A baseline of Aboriginal student suspension and exclusion rates will be based determined by averaging the number of instructional days lost to students due suspension, exclusion, or expulsion for the years 1999-2000 through to 2002-03. A course suspension would constitute .25 day. The target is a 3% reduction annually.

 

Implementation Provisions


Provisionally, unless otherwise indicated, a 3 percent annual increase to the baseline will apply as a target. To establish provisional targets for succeeding years, add an additional 3 percent each year, working from the original Aboriginal baseline. The provisional targets set by this process will be reassessed annually by the Aboriginal Education Council to ensure they are: reasonable and attainable, and represent meaningful progress toward equitable achievement outcomes for Aboriginal students.