David Keohane, (award-winning!) Superintendent of Greater St. Albert Catholic Schools, talks about how he used Thoughtexchange to create learning opportunities that are keeping kids engaged (and enrolled!)!
The questions:
- What does your school community do best in meeting student learning needs?
- What could your school improve in meeting student learning needs?
- What new learning opportunities (i.e., focus programs, academies, options, extracurricular courses) would you want in your school?
What value did you get from your exchange?
The Board reviewed an analysis of 3,035 responses, which was greater than 50% of our community, 60% of which came from students' perspectives in grades 4 - 12. Student responses determined where we put focus programs in our district that year. One such program was a recreation academy at an elementary school that was losing enrolment, and for the first time in three years, enrolment in that school is stable and increasing.
What advice do you have for other people asking this question?
Be prepared to answer all of the information received and pursue programming options that you may not currently have in the jurisdiction. Also be prepared to explore more deeply the meaning of highly valued concepts like "academic focus" as an example, because this helps administration to understand the meaning of what a community values most.
If you are going to ask the question, be prepared to take on the answer, and tell the community, what you've done in the area of focus.
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