Edmonton Public Schools, Alberta, Canada
Edmonton Public Schools found itself with an interesting challenge in the fall of 2000. While some schools in the district performed well, as a group its test scores had generally stagnated and its high school completion rates lagged behind the rest of the province. Together, we conceived and implemented a renewed and more intense focus on instruction that helped the district's more than 200 schools boost student achievement levels with dramatic results.
The district had experienced many successes in recent years. It had broken new ground with the introduction of site-based decision-making, new formulas for funding schools and other institutional improvements. But it hadn't yet seen improvement where it mattered most — student achievement.
A Pilot Program Begins
That fall, the district selected 26 schools for a pilot program to create and implement the seven areas of focus. They looked at the data from student scores in English and math proficiency tests, which showed that results had been slowly declining over several years. Each school selected its focus and many made great gains in the first year.
Based on the pilot schools' success, the initiative was expanded and all 200 schools were invited to participate. This renewed focus on superb results from all students helped the Edmonton schools:
- Target a professional development plan for all principals and teachers around researched-based teaching strategies in English and math.
- Re-orient central office support around issues of teaching and learning.
- Use coaching, both on-site and off-site, to support developing principals' capacity as instructional leaders.
Instead of a hodgepodge of buffet-oriented professional development training, the district re-designed its training around the instructional focus — improving student learning in the core areas — and nothing else.
District-wide Collaboration
The Focus On Results team worked in an ongoing and intensive collaboration with the district superintendent and senior leadership throughout the entire process. Organized and facilitated building walkthroughs of every school in the district helped show how results were improving in each of the pilot schools, as well as how they could improve district-wide.
Years later, student achievement is improving with real, measurable results:
5-Year High School Completion — Edmonton Public Schools
3-Year High School Completion — Edmonton Public Schools
Reading Results at a School Implementing the Seven Areas of Focus
Following the same group of students over three years.
