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Students, teachers, parents, score LCSD high on Schollie survey

The Lakeland Catholic School District (LCSD) is doing something right, at least that’s what parents, students, and teachers seem to be saying. On Wednesday, June 20, LCSD held their trustee board meeting where Elan Buan of Schollie Consulting Ltd.
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The Lakeland Catholic School District (LCSD) is doing something right, at least that’s what parents, students, and teachers seem to be saying.


On Wednesday, June 20, LCSD held their trustee board meeting where Elan Buan of Schollie Consulting Ltd., gave an overview of their survey results.


Students between Grades 4 to 12, teachers, support staff, and parents of inclusive education students were all surveyed about their satisfaction with the school district.


Schollie Consulting also called 400 random parents and asked them similar questions.


“We had really good response rates for all of that, above 80 per cent of all of those groups, and teachers were at 94 per cent – that’s really high,” described Buan. 


Overall, LCSD has remained fairly level compared to previous years. A few survey areas saw a slight increase or decrease, but no substantial jumps.


“They were really good results. They show that we’re moving ahead in what we’re offering to students in ensuring that everybody feels connected – teachers, students, and parents – to their various schools,” LCSD board chair Mary Anne Penner expressed. 


Using the school district’s three-year education plan, Schollie Consulting looked at their goals, measures, and outcomes, and based their survey around those items.


For LCSD, that means parents, teachers, and students were asked about their satisfaction with the Catholic Christian identity of their school, the success of the students in literacy, numeracy, and preparation for employment, the achievement gap between Indigenous and other students, and LCSD having inclusive schools, among other factors.


Of those surveyed, 95 per cent of parents were content with their school’s Catholic Christian identity.


In 2017, LCSD had seen a slight dip in parent satisfaction when it came to the relationship between the parish, school, and home. That number went back up to over 95 per cent for the 2018 school year.


In the same category, 80 per cent of students surveyed between Grades 7 and 12 felt satisfied with their school’s Christian atmosphere, and about 85 per cent are pleased with the values and virtues integrated into subjects and activities.


Younger students, between Grades 4 and 6, were 95 per cent in agreement that their school “does all things like Jesus would want.”


“We started out a bit lower, but have increased a lot. There was a bit of a dip, but it’s fairly consistent and right around that 80 per cent mark,” detailed Buan.


When it came to academic competencies, parents ranked LCSD well when it comes to teachers using methods to help their children learn. They also felt their children were challenged and encouraged to achieve high standards.


“We were looking at the percentage of parents and students who are satisfied with the Grade 4 to 6 students and the help that they get from their teachers, which is very high up around 95 per cent. It has stayed very consistent over the past five years,” described Buan.


Students in Grades 7 to 12 were over 80 per cent pleased when asked about their teachers using different methods to help them learn, which had dropped slightly from the year before.


Teachers were impressed with the resources and support for literacy initiatives, with 95 per cent of those asked stating they were satisfied with this category, which had increased from the five-year low of 85 per cent in 2015.


Overall, teachers and parents are happy with how students are doing in numeracy.


Buan said, “Parents are quite strong in the mathematics program. That’s what I sometimes see in the comments, is parents sometimes don’t like how we teach math anymore because it’s not the way that a lot of them learned, but it’s good to see that this is so high and consistent.”


While teachers and parents ranked LCSD’s preparation for employment and lifelong learning over 90 per cent satisfaction in all subcategories, only 70 per cent of students in Grades 10 to 12 felt pleased with their exposure to potential career paths. This was the district’s first time asking this question, so there’s no previous data to compare it to.


However, 80 per cent of those in Grades 7 to 12 who took part in the survey feel the career counselling services at their school and resources available to them to help make career path decisions are adequate.


“Your French as a second language has seen some increase too, that’s a good sign. For Grades 7 to 12 students, the results had dipped a bit last year, but they’re back up by eight per cent this year with 69 per cent of students being satisfied with French,” Buan explained.


The results for teachers in French immersion or French as a second language classes saw a five year high, increasing by 10 per cent from last year when it comes to resources available, bringing teacher satisfaction up to 94 per cent.


LCSD’s third goal outlined in their three-year plan is to eliminate the gap between Indigenous and all other students.


Since 2014, this category has increased from less than 60 per cent in teacher satisfaction with resources and programs available. This year that same area came in at over 80 per cent.


Around 90 per cent of parents of First Nation, Métis, and Inuit (FNMI) students are pleased with how the district celebrates and promotes pride in their culture, meets the needs of their child, and their involvement in the decisions of their child’s education.


LCSD scored high in the satisfcation of parents with students receiving inclusive education, getting over 95 per cent in all areas.


“I have worked with other school boards in the past, and they tell me they pour so many resources into inclusive education and they can never seem to make people happy. I commend Lakeland Catholic schools, I think you guys are doing a really good job here,” noted Buan.


When it came to feeling safe in their schools, there has been a slight decrease over the years for students.


In 2014, over 90 per cent of students in Grades 7 to 12 who were surveyed ranked their school as a safe place. This year, that number dropped to about 86 per cent, with teachers, parents, and students in Grades 4  to 6 giving the school district anywhere from 90 per cent to 95 per cent in that category.


“The other side of that is the caring component,” added Buan.


In this class, parents were about 95 per cent satisfied that their school had a caring atmosphere. Giving them the same rating were Grades 4 to 6 students, who felt their teachers cared about them.


Less than 65 per cent of students in Grades 7 to 12 felt peers respect one another, but were around 80 per cent pleased with how their teachers treat the students.


“When you ask people how they think other people are being treated, we tend to think it’s less positive than if you asked how other students treat them,” Buan explained.


Penner felt the results proved LCSD was headed in the right direction.


“Regardless of what the results say, there is always room for improvement in everything we do,” she said. “We will look at different things, making sure that we’re connecting with our parents and stakeholders. We will ensure that we have the best teachers and staff in front of our students, and we will continue to do that.”


She admits sometimes when looking at positive results, seeing a slight dip can be disheartening, but it’s important for them to remember that LCSD has been scoring very high in most categories.


“I think overall, we will continue many of the things that we’re already doing and we will see what else pops up that we need to take a look at as well,” Penner expressed. “Lakeland Catholic is working very hard to ensure that the students, parents, staff, and teachers that we have within our district have the best resources available to be able to ensure everyone becomes the best that they can be.”


 
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