I. General Information
School Name: John Barsby Community School
School District: SD#68 Nanaimo-Ladysmith
Inquiry Team Members: Suki Davis: suki.davis@sd68.bc.ca
Christoph Schaub: christoph.schaub@sd68.bc.ca
Inquiry Team Contact Email: sukidavis@sd68.bc.ca
II. Inquiry Project Information
Type of Inquiry: NOIIE Case Study
Grade Levels Addressed Through Inquiry: Secondary (8-12)
Curricular Areas Addressed:
Focus Addressed: Literacy, Numeracy, Core competencies (for example, critical thinking, communication, problem solving)
In one sentence, what was your focus for the year? We focused on easing transitions for students: into, through and out of high school.
III. Spirals of Inquiry Details
Scanning: At Barsby, we are responsive to our learners but we found that we had insufficient knowledge and subsequent planning to significantly support transitions into, through and out of high school. By proactively planning, gathering data and collaborating in advance of the transitions, we can know what is going on for our learners and connect them, especially our priority populations to support. This keeps us learner-centred. We can recognize individual differences and challenge all students by understanding them more. Ultimately, this approach supports the well-being of the self, the family and the community. Collaboration with teachers builds teacher capacity to further support our learners. By increasing our focus on meaningful feedback for learning, both with colleagues and students, we can support learning experiences that are holistic, reflexive, reflective, experiential, and relational.
Focus: We noticed, as the first semester progressed that with many new staff and administration, we lacked cohesion to offer students confidence in their high school transitions. We felt by working and learning together as staff, we could help to build stronger connections to school and a more successful academic experience as a result.
Hunch: Our hunch was that collectively, we needed to pay attention to the stress that transitions caused our learners (and their families). We know that “chance favours the prepared mind” (Pasteur), so our shared conversations, data gathering and distribution between stakeholders will allow for planning and program roll-out rather than scattered individual efforts.
New Professional Learning: First, we read and studied. I took the UBC Assessment for Equity course and attended NOIIE. This opened a path for professional learning through Lunch and Learns, as well as school-based sessions on assessment for learning and increasing the quality of engagement through student choice and voice. I participated in the District Writing Continuum Project to bring this new learning to our school in a Lunch and Learn with fellow Humanities teachers.
We also did the following:
- NDTA Mentorship with experienced Learning Leader focusing on Humanities
- Met with district-level staff regarding Grade 8 transitions, gathering data, aligned expectations, E-assess and other systems of data collection, Secondary School RTI support, literacy coordinators at secondary schools
- PD sessions with Myron Dueck
- Learning series on ADHD with Julie Brock PhD.
- Books read: The Disengaged Teen (Rebecca Winthrop), Why Do We Have to Read This? (Cris Tovani), That Workshop Book (Samantha Bennett), Making Your School Something Special (Rushton Hurley), Crow Mary (Kathleen Grissom), The Berry Pickers (Amanda Peters), Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You: A Remix of the National Book Award-winning Stamped from the Beginning (Jason Reynolds), Wayi Wah (Jo Chrona), Teach Like A Champion 2.0 (Doug Lemov), Making Classroom Assessment Work (Anne Davies) You Can’t Teach Until Everyone Is Listening (Marilyn L. Page) FASD Relationships: What I Have learned About Fetal Alcohol Spectrum (Rod Densmore) The PD Book: 7 Habits that Transform Professional Development Paperback (Elena Aguilar, Lori Cohen) Protocols for Professional Learning Conversations: Cultivating the Art and Discipline (Catherine Glaude)
Taking Action:
1. Gathering data: This year, developing a numeracy ‘placemat’ test for incoming 8’s, accessing Tier 2 and 3 literacy data, and building relationships with our colleagues in feeder schools for more literacy and numeracy data, we can now mindfully plan for Tier 1,2, and 3 supports for incoming Grade 8 learners. By increasing staff capacity in assessment practices, modeling proficiency scale and self-assessment for senior grades and aligning grade level writing expectations, we can collectively build literacy and numeracy routines and practices that support increased engagement and academic success.
We also:
- Administered fluency assessment and reassessment for Grade 8’s. Data shared with S1 and S2 Grade 8 English and SS teachers.
- Implemented Grade Wide Write for Humanities Gr. 8’s and 9’s and led a group marking session to standardize expectations
- Analyzed provincial student survey and added questions to survey
- Based on student interviews, we wrote interest specific BAA Grade 12 Careers courses to support students’ transitions out of high school and wrote BAA for the Indigenous Technology course to increase credit and learning opportunities for students.
2. Staff capacity building:
- Mentored incoming Humanities teachers in UDL and adaptations, classroom culture and behaviour expectations, resources, assessment
- Increased collaboration with Access/Outreach colleagues: shared resources, student considerations
- Developed John Barsby English Resources Google Classroom includes templates for family communication, resources for literacy routines, rubric samples, paragraph and essay organizers, writing framework, English writing samples from across grades, scope and sequence for all grades, resource specific to Grade 8’s: the first 20 days resource, grammar review curriculum, extension activities to support congruent expectations and standards in same Grade level classes. (Created documents to break down the content and depth of coverage to support a plan of scaffolded skills.)
- Initiated Antiracism PLC and organized Antiracism Book Club with funds from NDTA
- Developed Antiracism Google Classroom includes resource lists, Inclusivity teacher Guide, resources and racism response information
- Presented at staff meeting for increased staff awareness of priority population needs
- Developed Grade aligned labs for junior science
- Contributed to the Grade 5-9 District Committee to develop Writing Continuum
- Led 2 PLC’s: one supporting Science and Math department to maintain consistent expectations and learning focuses through the grades and another to support Junior Humanities teachers to align expectations and build more rigorous literacy routines.
Checking: This year was a preparation year. By collecting data and mindfully planning, we expect that we can positively change the experience of our learners and our teachers. Increased sense of belonging, increased attendance, more consistent academic expectations and effective targeted interventions are possible with this pre-planning and yearlong anticipation.
Reflections/Advice: We learned that, as the First Peoples Principles of Learning state: learning involves patience and time. We think that collecting data, increasing the quality of our relationships with feeder schools and within our staff, we have embarked on a successful project. Still, next year, we will need resources and time to accomplish the actions: superior numeracy and literacy interventions, highlight student voice, increased home/school communication, better and more student-centered assessment etc. We look forward to continuing the journey and increasing our community and support for our students to achieve academic success. Embarking on a project to support successful transition for students is a long commitment.