École Salish Secondary
OUR CONTEXT
What is Salish?
Our vision is to build a school where we work together, build strength and fuel passion.
Keeping our unique community in mind, we design learning for all students through our understanding that all students learn differently. We emphasize inclusive education to ensure that students with diverse learning needs, including those with disabilities, receive appropriate accommodations and support.
Our INCLUSIVE philosophy means:
Students have the opportunity to witness our commitment to inclusivity and diversity every day. Co-teaching, multi-disciplinary learning, and creative instructional design guide our teachers.
Here is what it means to teach and learn at Salish: Insert Video Here
OUR LEARNERS
Understanding our Learners
We want all of our students to experience success, and recognize this will look different for individual students. Our Inclusive Education teachers work alongside our classroom teachers to design lessons and assessments that are accessible for all students. By focussing on measuring growth we are able to identify if our strategies are supporting learning and having a positive impact on student performance.
We design learning for all students through our understanding that all students learn differently.
We are intentional to build learning so that all students can learn. We support all learners through our Inclusion model of learning.
Tiers of Support
Our learners receive targeted supports to make curriculum accessible. As students gain confidence they become more engaged. This results in higher levels of academic success - teachers meet students where they are at and work alongside students as they demonstrate increasing levels of proficiency.
Examples of student learning in action???? - not just FRIM?
OUR FOCUS
Impacting Student Learning
To understand our learners we asked how inclusive practices are impacting student performance. Specifically, we asked how integrating adaptive evaluations, bi-directional feedback and oral and written evaluations supported learning for all students.
Adaptive Evaluations
Adaptive evaluations can make the curriculum more accessible by:
- Providing Context: Allowing students to access crucial vocabulary in both listening and written formats increases the chances of making connections with these words, thereby enhancing their critical thinking skills.
- Supporting Understanding: Students can engage with the material at their own language level, ensuring they understand the vocabulary and concepts before moving forward.
Bi-Directional Feedback
Bi-directional feedback allows students to:
- Communicate Needs: Students can effectively communicate their understanding and areas where they need help, even if their language skills are limited.
- Tailored Support: Teachers can identify students who need additional support and adapt their teaching strategies accordingly.
Oral and Written Evaluations
Oral and written evaluations provide:
- Multiple Access Points: Students can demonstrate their understanding through different formats, catering to their strengths in either oral or written communication; this is especially needed in classroom with varying language levels.
- Enhanced Engagement: These evaluations help unlock critical thinking skills that might be hindered by language barriers, allowing for a more comprehensive assessment of student understanding.
These adaptive strategies align with the competencies outlined in the curriculum, enabling students to thrive in communication, critical and creative thinking, and personal and social development. By acknowledging the necessity of language acquisition, these adaptations ensure that all students can meet the core competency profiles effectively.
By incorporating these adaptive methods, we can make the curriculum more inclusive and accessible, fostering an environment where all students can succeed and develop their critical thinking skills.
OUR NEXT STEPS
Measuring Success
Evidence of our students’ learning demonstrates that designing adaptations, and providing bi-directional feedback, is positively impacting learners.
Evidence of positive impact that is detailed below includes:
- Improved Academic Performance: Students show higher achievement levels and improved test scores.
- Increased Engagement: Students are more engaged and motivated, leading to better attendance and participation.
- Enhanced Confidence: Students gain confidence in their abilities, contributing to a positive learning environment.
- Greater Equity: Achievement gaps between different student groups are reduced, promoting equity in education.
Classroom Assessment
Initial assessments indicated 17/54 students were at an Emerging level of proficiency. After applying adaptations and bi-directional feedback over the course of the semester the number of students at an Emerging level of proficiency fell to 2/54 students.
Targeted Supports
The inclusion model allows for classroom teachers and inclusive education specialists to provide specific supports to meet the needs of all learners.
Increased Engagement
Students are encouraged to give teachers feedback on their learning. Teachers use this feedback to design lessons and assessments. Teachers notice that involving students in their learning leads to increased engagement.
Moving Forward
Based on evidence of students’ progress in relation to our learning goals, our next steps will include:
1. Continue to provide opportunities for our Inclusive Ed specialist teachers to collaborate with classroom teachers to design targeted supports.
2. Use student feedback to design assessments that are meaningful and accessible for all.
3. Design learning tasks and assessments with adaptations that make them accessible for all students to create an equitable educational experience.
Surrey Schools
Formed in 1906, the Surrey School District currently has the largest student enrolment in British Columbia and is one of the few growing districts in the province. It is governed by a publicly elected board of seven trustees.
The district serves the cities of Surrey and White Rock and the rural area of Barnston Island.
