Strategic Plan 2008-2013

Preamble

The Eastern Townships School Board developed a Strategic Plan 2004-2007 that reflected the major orientations and objectives of our collective efforts. This plan was the basis for a number of interventions that occurred during the same period of time. As the timeframe for the plan had come to an end, feedback from our stakeholders was solicited during the late spring and early fall of 2007.

To summarize the entire process:

As in 2004, the School Board re-enacted the same feedback process, since much of the initial objectives were and continue to be the major focus of our collective energy, time and resources.

The same fundamental principle surrounds the School Board’s Updated Strategic Plan (five years - 2008-2013) that is, of maintaining a coherent, systemic educational approach to improving the learning conditions that our students will experience in the future. Maximizing student achievement, for all students in our territory, is always considered as the key objective of the School Board. The development of the Updated Strategic Plan incorporated the basic processes that were outlined in 2004 and are described below.

The development of this plan included the following processes:

A. Diagnostic Process: This represented the analysis of indicators that are currently available in each school, centre and for our School Board. In effect, this step was a quantitative analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the overall system. (Ex.: consult school and centre success plan indicators)

B. Orientations Process: In close coordination of the Diagnostic Process, this step defined the general orientations that the School Board and schools/centres have developed and incorporated into the success plans and educational projects.

C. Objectives Process: This third step provided more specific objectives to be attained over the next five years. These objectives are developed by the School Board, in keeping with needs declared in the school/centre success plans, as well as through the consultation process conducted in late spring and early fall of 2007.

D. Intervention Process: This step defines the specific ways and means to be used to attain the objectives.

E. Follow-up and Evaluation Processes: This final on-going step will consist of monitoring and assessing how the School Board performed through the stakeholders in the network. The determination of whether the stated objectives have been attained and the manner in which the results are communicated will also be an integral part of this phase.

The first three processes included these specific actions:

1. 1. Identified the current contexts that the School Board operates within:
   • Characteristics: systemic and local
   • Systemic and local needs and expectations of our schools and centres (Illustrated in the school and centre success plans)
   • Local needs and expectations of our communities
2. Identified the numerous challenges faced by the School Board:
   • Provision of programs and services
   • Provision of resources: financial, human, educational, capital
   • Inclusion of the Ministry of Education’s Strategic Plan
3. Identified the various elements to ensure adherence to the Ministry of Education’s expectations:
   • Schools/centres/communities, through the Governing Boards, are aware of the major orientations of the School Board’s Strategic Plan and support local initiatives to increase student success.
   • Each school and centre developed a Success Plan delineating the way in which school/centre level targets will be achieved, in keeping with the overall School Board Strategic Plan. Each school and centre will have different targets and strategies for implementation. The specific local objectives must include quantitative targets.
   • School Board departments must also develop specific objectives that are aligned to the School Board’s Strategic Plan and how the departments will support student success. These objectives must also be measurable and include quantitative data for reporting purposes.

Eastern Townships School Board Strategic Plan
Orientations/Objectives/Interventions

Three Main Orientations

1. Ensure the academic, social and personal success of our students in the youth, adult and vocational sectors.
2. Develop an organizational model in our system that will support our personnel in their efforts to offer the highest quality level of services to our students.
3. Promote effective partnerships and communication with parents and communities.

Five Main Objectives

1. Increase success rates in Literacy, in both official languages in our schools and centres, with particular emphasis on early intervention.
2. Increase success rates in Numeracy, in our schools and centres, with particular emphasis on early intervention.
3. Reduce the School Board’s dropout rate through various interventions including, but not limited to, developing-implementing alternative schooling models for our 16-18 years of age students, in the adult education centres, in order to continue to improve the success rates.
4. Develop-implement early intervention and other educational approaches, always focusing on the Individualized Educational Plan process, to effectively attend to the needs of our at risk students and students with special needs.
5. Develop-implement programs focusing on the physical and emotional health of our students and staff.

Initiatives to Support the Objectives

• Promote and ensure the implementation of the “Renouveau Pédagogique”.
• Ensure that all students are evaluated according to competency and knowledge.
• Promote and ensure the ongoing development, implementation and review of success plans/educational projects in our schools and centres in consultation with personnel, parents and communities.
• Participate actively in “The Partners for Educational Success” regional dropout mobilization in the Townships.
• Ensure that each student is taught by adapting programs to meet the individualized needs within the classroom.
• Promote and ensure bi-literacy programs (Language Initiative) and courses in our schools and centres, with an emphasis on mother tongue and second language programs that focus specifically on the needs of our English and French mother tongue students.
• Promote and support orientations of our adult education and vocational education centres as they meet the changing needs of the students.
• Promote and support the Early Intervention Initiative in all of our elementary schools, as well as promoting literacy success for all students, across the curriculum, at all levels.
• Implement and support the Dennis McCullough Initiative - Enhanced Learning Strategy in all of our schools and centres.
• Promote and ensure the development of Individualized Educational Plans (I.E.P.) at all levels of the system.
• Communicate and promote the various educational paths that are available to our elementary and secondary students and parents, leading towards the Vocational Education and Adult Education diplomas and certificates.
• Promote the important role of parents in the educational success of their children.
• Encourage and promote the development of “well-being” programs and services (nutrition, physical education, culture) for our students and staff throughout our schools and centres.
• Collaborate in partnerships with our community (municipal and social services) and economic partners (Chamber of Commerce, Emploi-Québec, HRDC) provincially, nationally and internationally.
• Provide effective professional development for our staff (School Board departments).
• Encourage an active and supportive participation of Governing Board members in the Eastern Townships School Board schools and centres.

Indicators and Follow-Up for the Strategic Plan

The Eastern Townships School Board will request from each Governing Board a copy of the annual written report to the community, indicating the attainment of identified objectives included in the school/centre success plan and educational project.

The Eastern Townships School Board will use the current indicators provided by the Ministry of Education, in the areas of End of Cycle evaluation, High School Leaving Exam results, and dropout and graduation rates.

The Eastern Townships School Board has and will continue to incorporate into the School Board Annual Report the success rates of our students, by school, in the areas of language and mathematics. For the centres, success rates of students completing the designed program of studies will be the core indicator in such reports. This report constitutes the reporting mechanism to the overall Eastern Townships School Board community.

On an annual basis, the Eastern Townships School Board will review the outcomes and results of the Strategic Plan for modifications and adjustments.