The Lakeland Catholic School District (LCSD) is always focusing on the future and what they can do to give their students the best learning experience possible.
That's why every year, they ask teachers, parents, staff, and students how satisfied they are with the district's performance.
“Every year we try to improve, we use the results to help us make changes that are relevant and will assist in ensuring the students, teachers, and staff are doing well in our schools,” stated Mary Anne Penner, LCSD board chair.
Overall, Penner said the board of trustees was pleased with the results of the 2018/19 survey conducted by Schollie Research and Consulting.
"There were a lot of good things in it, but there’s always some areas where we can work to do better,” she noted.
Elan Buan, consultant for Schollie Research and Consulting, outlined the outcome of the survey during the LCSD board of trustees meeting on Thursday, April 25.
“You surveyed the same group that you always do; you have the Grades 4 to 6 students, Grades 7 to 12 students, teachers, and support staff, those were all online. For parents, we did a random telephone survey again. Out of the population, we had 402 respondents,” Buan expressed, adding parents of students receiving inclusive education services also had the opportunity to give their feedback through paper versions.
“You also surveyed your parents of students receiving ESL and ELL students,” stated Buan. “You have excellent response rates on all of them, I think you can feel really confident with your survey results based on that."
The feedback the district was looking for is based on their goals for the year.
Catholic and Christian identity was the first identified in Buan's presentation.
“If we look at the parents… we asked them several questions about their satisfaction as religious instruction, helping students develop their faith, the school models Catholic values, is Christ-centered, and the gospel values are integrated into all subject areas. As you can see there are very strong results of parents who are either satisfied or very satisfied, and it’s been quite consistent over the last five years,” Buan explained.
Students were asked how pleased they were with their chances to attend religious celebrations, whether their school does all things the way Jesus would want, whether Catholic values and virtues are integrated into school subjects and activities, and the overall Christian atmosphere in the school.
“The agreements with the Christian atmosphere in the school (has seen a) slow gradual decline, it’s not a big concern, just something to keep your eye on,” noted Buan.
In this category between 75 and 80 per cent of students who responded to the survey were satisfied. In 2015, this area was higher at 85 per cent.
Since 2018, the percentage of students pleased with their chances to go to religious celebrations has increased to over 95 per cent.
“One of the strategies you folks have under your Catholic Christian identity is, of course, student faith development. You look at volunteer work, community service, and citizenship,” Buan said.
The number of students in Grades 7 to 12 that were pleased with their opportunities for volunteer work and community service remained on par at about 90 per cent. Parents also tested high when it came to how satisfied they were in this category at 95 per cent, while teachers saw a slight increase to over 85 per cent.
When it came to the district's second goal, student success, around 80 per cent of those surveyed in Grades 7 to 12 were satisfied with the fact that their teachers use different ways to help them learn.
That same age group remained at 90 per cent in satisfaction when it came to whether their teachers provide help and support, while students surveyed in Grades 4 to 6 scored the same area higher, at over 95 per cent.
Parents ranked use methods teachers use to help their child learn and that their child is challenged and encouraged to achieve high standards similarly at about 95 per cent.
About 90 per cent of teachers felt that there were enough resources and supports for literacy initiatives.
“Last year, you had a really nice increase in 2018 on a number of the teacher measures, this year, you’ll see that come down a little bit. However, if you look at where it is compared to previous years, it’s still consistent in most cases,” Buan explained. “Even though it’s come down, it’s still sitting up around 90 per cent, there’s nothing to be concerned about."
Another area that saw a decrease in teacher satisfaction for 2019 was the resources and support they receive for numeracy learning challenges. This area peaked in 2018 at over 90 per cent, and dipped to 85 per cent this year.
Overall, parents are satisfied with the district's ability to prepare their children for employment and lifelong learning.
When it came to their children's learning skills and attitudes needed when finished school, over 90 per cent were pleased with the district. About the same number of parents were happy with their student's career guidance and information, and career counselling services at the school, which have seen an increase since 2015.
They polled students on whether they were satisfied with whether or not their school exposes them to potential career paths.
“Last year, you asked your Grade 10 to 12 students’ agreement with the fact that the school exposes them to potential career paths,” expressed Buan. “It was 69 per cent… you have a really nice increase to 80 per cent this year."
The fine arts program saw a dip in the number of satisfied students in Grades 7 to 10. In 2017, this age group gave this area over 80 per cent. In 2019, this category has dipped to roughly 70 per cent.
“The results improved quite a bit at NDHS, and it was at other schools that it seemed to have declined,” noted Buan.
She continued, “Your French Immersion and French as a second language teachers' satisfaction with professional development opportunities is one that you probably want to keep an eye on as well, because it’s showing a gradual decline and did a fairly big drop this year."
Overall, teachers are pleased with educational technology in their schools, ranking the ability to improve learning opportunities for students, the level and timeliness of technical support, the number of resources integrated technology into learning and teaching, and the on-site learning resource support at over 85 per cent.
The district's third goal is the achievement gap between indigenous and all other students be eliminated.
“I always give kudos for LCSD, because you measure this head on and I think you look at it in a lot more detail than a lot of the other jurisdictions I’m familiar with, in terms of your satisfaction,” Buan noted.
She added, “We’re able to identify which parents have an FNMI learner, and so, we take those results out and look specifically at them."
According to Buan, parents are satisfied the needs of their child are being met and they are involved in the decision of their education has remained fairly consistent over the years, landing at over 90 per cent for 2019.
Goal four looks at whether the system is inclusive and diverse.
In 2019, the teacher support for integrating students with inclusive education needs saw a dip to 75 per cent. Sitting at 65 per cent is the teachers' satisfaction with resources for at-risk students.
“This dropped more than where it’s been in the past five years,” exclaimed Buan.
Parent satisfaction scored high at over 95 per cent in the quality of support and assistance their child receives, the fact that their child is getting the right types of services, that staff work together to help their child, and that the child is receiving quality programming.
Students, parents, and teachers were asked how pleased they were about the safety and caring of LCSD schools.
Out of those surveyed in Grades 4 to 6, less than 95 per cent felt safe at school, while just over 90 per cent felt safe on the playground.
Students in Grades 7 to 12 were over 85 per cent satisfied with the safety of their school, while parents gave this category over 95 per cent, teachers were roughly 98 per cent pleased, and 95 per cent of support staff agreed.
“Those all look quite good,” Buan stated. “Last year, I brought this to your attention. You might want to keep an eye on your Grade 7 to 12 because there was a slow gradual decline. Now, in 2018, that was a five year low at 85 per cent, but this year it’s 86 per cent."
With almost 100 per cent of students in Grade 4 to 6 agreeing their teacher cares about them, Buan noted it as a stat that stood out.
“I think that’s one of the ways Catholic schools distinguish themselves, is by providing a very caring atmosphere."
Parents also agreed that LCSD offered a caring atmosphere with over 95 per cent.
When it came to the percentage of parents satisfied with the system being well governed and managed regarding public relations and communications, both their access to information regarding their child's progress and information provided about LCSD and its operation scored high with over 95 per cent.
In terms of quality of information regarding their child's progress and achievement, the overall communications between school and home, and the district being responsive and responsible, just shy of 95 per cent of parents were satisfied.
Buan said, “The other piece I wanted to mention, is when I look at common themes, improved communication is one of the more frequently mentioned themes with the parents. I think that’s often one of the pieces I see as a theme, even when the communication is good, parents are still looking for better communication."
