Transcript Slide 1

Toronto District School Board
Where Amazing Happens!
Raise the Praise
Facts
• Widening achievement gaps
• Disengaged parents & community in a number of schools
and community
• Students’ health & mental health problems
• Inadequate provincial funding formula
• 2.9 billion backlog in deferred
maintenance, 61.7 million capital deficit,
30 million operating structural deficit
• Declining enrolment in some areas, growth in others
• Growing cultural & language diversity
Guiding Questions
Who are our learners?
What are their needs?
What skills, values,
and knowledge will they
need to be successful,
productive members
of society?
Improving Achievement
• Belief in their abilities to master a rigorous
curriculum.
• Time tailored to specific student needs.
• Understanding that not all students learn the
same way and at the same rate.
Strategic Directions
• Make every school an
effective school.
• Build leadership within a
culture of adaptability,
openness and resilience.
• Form strong and effective
relationships and
partnerships.
• Build environmentally
sustainable schools that
inspire teaching and learning.
• Identify disadvantage and
intervene effectively.
Fuel Excellence in Education
Through the Power of Innovation:
“There is no lack of creativity
and willingness to try new
innovative approaches in our
schools. Our goal is to help
unlock that creativity and give
schools, principals, teachers,
support staff and children the
resources to succeed.”
Innovation Platform
Will you be the 10th person?
• For every nine people who denounce innovation, only
one will encourage it
• For every nine people who do things the way they have
always been done, only one will ever wonder if there is a
better way
• For every nine people who stand in line in front of a
locked building, only one will ever come around and
check the back door
• Our progress as a system rests squarely on the
shoulders of that tenth person. The nine are satisfied with
things they have always done
• Person 10 determines what needs to be done differently
Vision:
Co-create Future TDSB Schools
Vision:
Co-create the Future School
Prepare
Tomorrow’s
Leaders
Early Learner
Instruction
& Programming
Build
Today’s
Leaders
District, Principal,
& Teacher/Staff
Leadership
Development
FDK
TDSB Teaching &
Learning Academy
Create
Schools
for the future
Creating Innovative
District & School
Plans
Dimensions of
Equitable Education
1. What our students bring to the classroom
2. What
we bring
to the
classroom
4. Pedagogy
3. Curriculum content
We Believe In Our Staff
We Believe
In Our
Parents and Community
Together We’re Better!
• Informed, engaged and supportive
community parents and partners.
Overlapping Spheres of Influence
Family
School
Student
Community
Myth #1: As a parent, the best way to get involved in my
child's education is by joining the school council.
To support achievement, research suggests the most effective parental
involvement focuses on learning activities-reading to children, letting
them figure prices at the grocery store or setting aside time and space to
do homework and projects.
There are benefits in joining the school council, such as the opportunity to
share experiences and information with other parents and access to
organizational resources. Just the same, parents can provide the support
needed at home for their children to be successful in school without
joining a local parent organization.
Myth #2: The teacher is the sole expert in educating a child,
so a parent should never question a teacher or staff on
school-related issues.
Teachers and parents or family caregivers play different roles in a child's
education. And a good relationship between a teacher and a parent, based
on mutual respect and trust, benefits students. At times, parents may need
to ask a teacher or school staff member for clarification about a specific
issue or information.
Parents should contact their children's teachers or other school staff when
they have questions about their children's education. Most school staff
members begin to see parents as partners when they know they will ask
questions when information is unclear.
Myth #3: The influence of parent involvement on school achievement
depends on the parents' income, level of education, and employment
status.
A large body of research confirms that family involvement in children's
school experiences has a positive effect on children's attitudes toward
achievement in school, regardless of how much money parents have or how
many years of school they completed.
More important is the parents' attitude toward learning. Working parents
may not have much time to be involved at their children's schools, but they
can show how much they value education and take an active interest in
what their children are learning.
Myth #4: The key actors in parent involvement are
the teacher, parents or family, and the student.
Meaningful and successful parent involvement is not limited to partnerships
between parents and teachers. Parents and family caregivers should think
of the following educators and decision makers as participants in their
children's educations-teachers, the principal, the trustee, the
superintendent, and other staff.
Parents can influence school board members and public officials by
participating in meetings, voting, and engaging in discussions of education
matters and child advocacy issues.
Six Types of Parental Involvement, Epstein, et. al. 2002.
VOLUNTEERING
GOAL: Recruit and organize parent help and support.
PARENTING
GOAL: Help all families establish home environments to support
children as students.
COMMUNICATING
GOAL: Design more effective forms of school-to-home and home-to-school
communications with all families each year about school programs and their
children's progress.
LEARNING AT HOME
GOAL: Provide information and ideas to families about how to help students at
home with homework and other curricular-related activities, decisions, and
planning.
•
Information on homework policies and how to monitor, and discuss
schoolwork at home, and skills required for students in all subjects at each
grade.
•
Information on how to assist students to improve skills on various class
and school assignments.
•
Regular schedule of homework that requires students to discuss and
interact with families on what they are learning in class .
•
Goal setting for students with families each year, and for future plans.
DECISION MAKING
GOAL: Include parents in school decisions, developing parent leaders and
representatives.
COLLABORATING WITH COMMUNITY
GOAL: Identify and integrate resources and services from the community to
strengthen school programs, family practices, and student learning.
•
Information for students and families on community health, cultural,
recreational, social support, and other programs or services.
•
Information on community activities that link to learning skills and talents,
including summer programs for students.
•
Service to the community by students, families, and schools (e.g.,
recycling, art, music, drama, and other activities for seniors or others, etc.)
•
Alumni to link to school programs for students.
Benefits of Parent Involvement:
The Triple A’s
• Student Achievement
• Student Attendance
• Student Attachment
Leithwood (2010) “Effective parent engagement accounts
for as much as 50% of the variation in student
achievement across schools.”
Stelmach’s (2005)research shows the following impacts:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Higher grades
Increased homework
Improved attendance
Positive attitudes
Fewer behavioural issues
Increased rates of High School completion
decreased school leaving rates
Greater participation in post secondary
Our job is to teach the
kids we have, not the kids
we used to have, not the
kids we wish we had, not
the kids who exist only in
our dreams.
We Need to Become More Right
Brained to Compete & Survive
“The future belongs to a very different kind of mind─
creators and empathizers, pattern recognizers, and
meaning makers. These people─ artists, inventors,
designers, storytellers, caregivers, consolers, big picture
thinkers─ will now reap society’s richest rewards and
share its greatest joys.”
Daniel Pink
A Whole New Mind
-Why Right-Brainers will Rule the Future
Relationships Matter!
You can’t motivate a
student you don’t
know. There is no
learning without trust
and respect, and
neither are granted
automatically by
today’s students.
They must be earned.
Student Voices
“Believe in me, until I can
believe in myself.”
How would our students respond?
• Am I being challenged?
• Do I feel sense of ownership and pride here?
• Can I talk to you?
• Will I feel confident to go to the next phase
of my life?
• Do they care about me?
• Do I feel connected and welcome here?
Thank You!
Together We’re Better!