From School Planning Councils to Inquiry

Central Okanagan Public Schools believes that ongoing collaborative dialogue about improving student learning is essential and that parents, teachers and administration need to continue to work together to set goals and monitor student learning.   

Inquiry is about being open to new learning and taking informed action.  Inquiry has six key stages: scanning, focusing, developing a hunch, new professional learning, taking action, and checking that a big enough difference has been made. At each stage in the spiral, three questions are asked:

•             What is going on for our learners?

•             How do we know?

•             Why does this matter? 

For more detailed information about the Spirlas of Inquiry process, please see the following attachement:

Spirals of Inquiry.pdf

 

District Goal

Each Central Okanagan School District student (K-12) will provide evidence of being a learner, thinker, innovator, collaborator and contributor.

RVE Mission:

A community partnership of students, staff and families, our mission is to develop learners for life, maintain a positive school climate fostering respect, responsibility and caring for all. At RVE, we Respect and Value Everyone!

RVE Vision:

A collaborative learning community. We all belong, have purpose, and strive to be contributing global citizens.

RVE Values

Respect, Responsibility, Kindness, Community

RVE Goals:

1. Improve reading readiness amongst primary students
2. Improve literacy skills, specifically communication, amongst intermeidate students

 

RVE Scanning Phase

"What is going on for our learners?"  

In order to answer that questions, numerous methods of information gathering were used in the Scanning Phase:
• Surveys
• School-wide and classroom observations
• One to one conversations with individual students
• Development and review of classroom profiles for each division
• School Based Team data
• Conversations with parents
• Review of feedback from school-wide data from staff and student developed questionnaire
• Early Learning Profile data
• School Wide Write and Whole Class Reading Assessment Data
• Report Card data

At Rose Valley Elementary School we follow three critical steps to identifying and supporting the needs of emergent readers:

1. We follow a Pyramid of Intervention to ensure that we meet the needs of all learners.

Pyramid of Intervention RVE.pdf

2. We identify the needs of all learners through a series of data collection structures.

RVE Goals on a Page 16-17.pdf

3. Specific to our goal to support reading development, we follow a Response to Intervention (RTI) model of support.

RTI Elementary Reading Model.pdf

To accomplish our goals, teachers...

• Complete a file review of each student at the start of the year and discuss learning needs of their students with the previous year's teacher.
• Create a Class Profile in order to identify the needs of the students in their class.
• Administer reading assessments with students during the first month of school.
• Place students in the RTI framework​ (Response to Intervention - see attached) so that the needed level of support can be ensured.
• Engage in a Class Profile meeting early in each term with the school CMOS (Collaborative Model of Support) team
• Principal, Learning Assistance Teacher, Literacy Support Teacher, Teacher Librarian

Teachers also...

• Collaborate with their teaching partners on a biweekly basis in order to collaboratively solve problems of teaching and learning.
• Co-plan and co-teach lessons and units with members of the CMOS team in order to differentiate instruction to meet individual student needs.
• Meet as a School Based Team on a weekly basis to collaboratively address issues with vulnerable students.
• Meet as a School Based Team team on a weekly basis in order to reflect on the RTI progress.
• Provide a before school reading intervention program.
• Provide an after school homework program.​

Teachers also engaged in collaborative profesional development in order to meet the literacy needs of their students...

• Did a book study of RTI From All Sides by Dr. Mary Howard.
• Engaged in an in-service with Dr. Mary Howard, author of RTI From All Sides.