Students in the Cowichan Valley are learning and progressing through the academic cycle, but the school district says there is still much more to be done to improve student performance.
SD79 assistant superintendent Jeff Rowan says the board passed its five-year strategic learning plan to coincide with the Ministry of Education’s framework to enhance student learning to identify gaps and improve student success.
“We spent the last few months analyzing our results, and we know we have work to do,” Rowan says. “Although the plan is in five areas, literacy, numeracy, feeling safe, graduation rates, and the transition between high-school and post-secondary, we still have areas to improve.”
Rowan says the good news is students feel safe, welcome and connected in schools across the region, and so far, the district is moving ahead with improving work in other areas that need attention.
“We’ve initiated some great work in literacy and numeracy,” he says. “We also need to improve our graduation rates especially with certain parts of our demographic, and our work in Indigenous education.”
Rowan says one factor that attributes to low success rates in students advancing through their academics is that absence affects education.
“There’s a lot of evidence and data supporting that when students miss significant time at school over the years it affects success rates,” he says. “We feel that having a strong literacy foundation at a younger grade will improve our graduation rates.”
According to a report from the district, as they plan their new strategic plan for 2025-30, they’ll be looking to include enhanced student learning outcomes, provide a culture of collaboration and continuous improvement, as well as strengthened structures, systems and practices.
