Skip to content Ontario.ca Français

Inspire

"Every Student Can Succeed"

École Ste-Marguerite d'Youville - Conseil scolaire catholique Franco-Nord

By Lucie McCartney
Student Achievement Officer

When Serge Levac was appointed principal at Ecole Ste-Marguerite d'Youville, his school entry plan included a review the school's EQAO test results. He soon discovered that the Grade 3 test results were well below those of the Board and that of the province. This prompted him to not only question why, but to also ponder on how the situation might be remedied?

As an initial response Mr. Levac, met with the school's Grade 3 teachers to discuss best practices, identify challenges and ways to address those challenges. The school team also examined assessment practices, student profiles and EQAO results.

After discussing the school's test results with Board officials, and teachers at Ste-Marguerite d'Youville, Mr. Levac focussed on making reading and mathematics at the kindergarten and primary levels a top priority. Part of his school plan to improve literacy and numeracy was to enlist the help of literacy and numeracy coaches. Teachers were then equipped with the necessary resources and materials to enhance student learning. Differences in learning styles were addressed by deploying a variety of teaching strategies. The school's improvement plan also included monitoring student achievement in both français and mathématiques.

As a matter of course, Mr. Levac made a point "to listen and offer words of advice and encouragement". Creativity and initiative were encouraged with "a great deal of importance on open and sincere communication". His leadership style was based on relationships and an "open door" policy.

It is important "to develop a student's skills in reading, oral communication, written communication, and reasoning", stated Mr. Levac. This belief was translated into the explicit teaching and development of literacy and numeracy skills.

Timetabling was a key factor to ensure success. Special emphasis was placed on the following:

1. ensuring that primary division teachers had planning time in the afternoon to ensure uninterrupted blocks of time devoted to teaching literacy and numeracy in the morning;
2. ensuring that teachers had longer blocks of teaching time in the morning in order to maximize the time spent teaching literacy and numeracy and to minimize interruptions;
3. twinning preparation time by level to allow time for sharing ideas, strategies, and initiatives;
4. having literacy and numeracy coaches provide direct support in the classroom (new strategies, following the reading and writing processes, more frequent and adequate use of manipulatives in mathematics);
5. providing more remedial time for Grade 3 students to offer students with special needs the support needed to improve achievement; and
6. ensuring stability in the Grade 3 and Grade 6 teaching positions (same teachers for these two grades for the past four years).

Below are the Grade 3 provincial test results from 2002 to 2005:

Year	Reading	Writing	Mathematics
2002-2003	38%	55%	48%
2003-2004	48%	62%	57%
2004-2005	65%	74%	78%

In three years, there was a 27% improvement in reading, a 19% improvement in writing, and a 30% improvement in mathematics.

Mr. Levac offers this advice to other principals wishing to improve student achievement:

• plan your timetable well to provide students with as much support as possible, especially students in Kindergarten and at the primary division;
• support teaching staff in their work and provide them with the necessary instructional resources;
• encourage the use of resources, new evidence-based strategies, and coaching support;
• maintain close and constant communication with all members of staff;
• involve staff in decision-making, especially when it comes to decisions pertaining to the improvement of student achievement; and
• celebrate the staff's successes, however small.

The improvement in student results over such a short period of time was attributed to the following strategies:

• explicit instruction in reading, directed reading, independent reading, an emphasis on mastering and using intervention strategies independently (the reading keys);
• following the writing process – a lot of modelling – referring to the exemplars in order to become very familiar with Level 1, 2, 3, and 4 texts;
• instruction in mathematics with the use of manipulatives – a mathematics journal in order to develop the students' mathematics communication skills;
• analysing the students' results by strand and by competency from year to year;
• ensuring that all of the overall expectations and specific expectations are taught during the school year; integrating subjects to ensure that instruction in secondary subjects is not overlooked;
• discussing tests with students at the beginning of the year in order to reduce their stress during the week of testing (support their efforts, progress, and achievements throughout the year);
• taking the time to support students with special needs; and
• buying books for reading that appeal to boys' tastes and interests.

The literacy and numereacy training sessions offered by The Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat in the primary division, the support of the literacy and numeracy leaders in the school, and professional learning communities (PLCs) have all contributed greatly to improving student achievement at Ste-Marguerite d'Youville stated Mr. Levac.

The following professional resources were recommended:

• The report of the education forum entitled Education pour tous [Education For All], which offers excellent strategies for promoting learning for all students, including those with special needs;
• The Early Reading Strategy for the Primary Division;
• The Early Mathematics Strategy for the Primary Division;
• Moi lire ? Tu blagues ! [Me read? No way!];
• Publication of exemplars (to serve as benchmarks for calibrating the evaluations and showing students what Level 1, 2, 3, and 4 tasks look like);
• EQAO suggestions for improvement, a publication that accompanies the provincial test results each year; and
• Examples of reading, writing, and mathematics tasks available on the EQAO website.

For reading, Mr. Levac suggests: Tous les moyens sont bons [Professional Learning Communities at Work: Best Practices for Enhancing Student Achievement] and Premiers pas [Getting Started: Reculturing Schools to Become Professional Learning Communities] by Eaker, Dufour, and Dufour; Cultiver la collaboration [No English available. Unofficially translated as "Developing Cooperation"] by Jim Howden; and The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Steven Covey.

With the belief that all students can succeed, Mr. Levac and his staff have worked on a school improvement plan and a framework for intervention that also incorporates differentiated learning and a process for ongoing evaluation.

The following steps made it possible to achieve ongoing improvement:

• Reviewing results every year;
• Planning a reflective sharing process at the end of every school year;
• Setting achievable targets for achievement from year to year, determining in advance the methods, strategies, steps, and resources that will be needed to achieve those targets;
• Analysing student profiles at the beginning of the year; and
• Maintaining close communication with parents and involving them in their child's learning process as much as possible.

With the support of the Conseil scolaire Franco-Nord, Mr. Levac and his staff successfully managed to overcome a variety of obstacles that stood in the way of improving student success. Classrooms were provided with books to improve literacy, manipulatives to improve numeracy as welll as other resources to promote literacy and numeracy. Supplementary Board support for students identified with special needs also contributed to student performance.

For the academic year 2005-2006, Ste-Marguerite d'Youville set the following targets in Grade 3: 70% in reading, 65% in writing, and 81% in mathematics. Grade 6 test results are expected to continue exceeding Board and provincial averages. To set realistic and attainable achievement targets for each student, plans are being made to use the GARE software program to create classroom profiles and student profiles.

Within the context of professional learning communities, much has been accomplished to improve literacy and numeracy at Ste-Marguerite d'Youville. Mr. Levac looks forward to the continued cooperation and collaboration of his teaching staff as they work together to meet the needs of all students.

Located in Verner, a small rural community situated between Sturgeon Falls and Sudbury, École Ste-Marguerite d'Youville has approximately 240 students, from Junior Kindergarten to Grade 8. Serge Levac is extremely proud of his school's achievements in literacy and numeracy and credits his dynamic teachers for making the difference.