West Bench Elementary School
1604 West Bench Drive
Penticton, BC V2A 8Z3
Phone: (250) 770-7698
Principal: Mr. Allen Beckingham
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SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT PLAN (2014-15)
WEST BENCH CONTEXT
West Bench Elementary hosts 103 - students Kindergarten to grade 5 in five divisions.
The West Bench School Community includes students and their families from the West
Bench Neighbourhood (Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen ‘Area F’ and the
community at Apex Mountain as well as the Penticton Indian Band. The West Bench
student body is comprised of students representing culturally diverse backgrounds. The
unique nature and needs of our students provides many opportunities to teach respect:
respect for self, others, learning and the environment.
We believe strongly in creating and maintaining a culture at West Bench that is
welcoming, safe, and a healthy learning environment. Our 19 staff members (teaching,
non-enrolling, itinerant and support) are dedicated to making West Bench a high quality
school with respect to classroom and school activities. We provide a wide range of
learning and growing opportunities for our students.
West Bench is privileged to have a very supportive Parent Advisory Council (PAC) and
School Planning Council (SPC). PAC provides financial support to subsidize a number of
extra-curricular activities, and curricular and cultural field trips, which enrich daily
learning in countless ways.
West Bench Elementary:
 values a healthy school climate for all members of the learning
community
 values collaborative focus on individual student academic and personal
needs
 values the cultural heritage of our students and their families
 values parental and family support and inclusion
INQUIRY QUESTION
How will a school-wide inquiry around assessment and assessment vocabulary
impact our students and their learning?
RATIONALE
As a professional learning community, the West Bench staff began the school year with
collaborative dialogue around assessment as it pertains to our practice in the classroom.
The staff agreed that assessment is the basis of all learning and that a collaborative
inquiry in this area would have a significant impact on us professionally and on our
students learning. Consequently, we decided to investigate the power of vocabulary as
it relates to assessment and to include our district wide goal of effective Response to
Intervention in this process.
Research informs us of some common basic beliefs about learning and change. We are
aware that teacher knowledge and expertise make the most significant difference in
relation to improving achievement of students. Research repeatedly shows that good
instruction is a key factor in improving student learning in all areas. In conjunction with
developing pedagogy and collaboration, we understand that the overarching goal is to
meet the needs of the students by regularly assessing our classroom and school wide
structures and routines.
OBJECTIVES
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To evaluate our current Tier 1, 2 and 3 structures and strategies as a staff
To include data (how do we know) as part of every collaborative decision
To discuss our own professional perceptions around vocabulary use in pedagogy
To investigate the impact of assessment vocabulary on student achievement
To implement a common language throughout the school around assessment
To continue our investigation on the use of assessment to guide teacher
instruction
To create structured opportunities to work with colleagues
To continue to add more SMARTLearning tools to their Instructional toolkits
To implement these news tools and strategies in all classrooms
To utilize personal reflection in a cycle of improvement (plan, do, check, act)
To use regular collaborative meetings and time at staff meetings to:
o discuss inquiry questions
o share successes and challenges
o reflect on the impact on student attitudes, engagement and achievement
STRUCTURES AND STRATEGIES
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Teaching Staff engaged in a school wide inquiry. The 7 Principles of Learning
will be considered, however the following 4 were a focus, with special attention
to language: 1) Learners at the center – learners are both metacognitive and
self-regulated, 2) Learning is social – well organized cooperative learning
matters as does personal research, 3) Emotions are central to learning – the
adults in the learning environment are highly tuned into the emotions and
motivations of their learners 4) Assessment for learning is a way of life –
formative assessment is regular and learners get meaningful feedback. This
individual feedback helps the individual learner. The assessment culture shapes
the overall learning environment.
Teaching Staff and Administration completed two book studies together. Both
books were written by Peter Johnston and are called “Choice Words” and
“Opening Minds.”
The Teaching Staff collaborated on eight different occasions using the Spirals of
Inquiry Framework to guide our journey.
This group followed the inquiry framework using SMARTLearning tools to process
information and then designed two school-wide learning sequences, including
teacher language based on our findings. These sequences were intended for all
learners.
Seven teaching staff members attended Peter Johnston’s conference in
Vancouver on April 24 & 25.
ASSESSMENT PROCESS & TOOLS
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All participants agreed to look for evidence in their own reflective writing and
while anchoring assessments with tasks specifically designed around language
that improves the students ability to meet the learning goals
Assessment of student work (tasks) in relation to pre-determined criteria
Analysis of personal reflections related to the collaborative process
Analysis of personal reflections related to changes in student attitudes, behaviour
and achievement when using new vocabulary approaches
Analysis of commonalities amongst reflections from all staff
Purposeful dialogue during staff collaboration sessions and staff meetings
regarding successes and challenges
PROFESSIONAL LEARNING
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Teaching staff attended conference Opening Minds – Using Language to Change
Lives in Vancouver on April 24
Flex Funds and District SMARTLearning Funds were used to release staff for
collaborative planning, dialogue, and study
Flex Funds were used to release teachers to join district inquiry group around
teacher identity and assessment
Changing Results For Young Readers team collaborated with district team (seven
occasions)
Inclusion Team collaborated at District sessions and followed up at the school
level (four occasions)
Informal and formal teacher meetings were planned in order to plan and reflect
Some staff attended dinner meetings hosted at West Bench school (two
occasions)
RESOURCES
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Ministry of Education – Integrated Resource Packages
Stacey Kemp – District Counselor/Psychologist
Kirsten Odian – Early Learning Helping Teacher
Tammy Kay – District SMARTLearning Helping Teacher
Susan Close – SMARTLearning Coordinator
Don MacIntyre – Director of Instruction
High quality literature, including Choice Words and Opening Minds (Peter H
Johnston)
SMARTLearning Resources (assessment focus)
PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT
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Parent Evening (grade level based) occurred in late October 2014
School Plan continues to be regular part of Parent Advisory Council meetings
School Plan will be made available on the West Bench website
EVIDENCE
KEY FINDINGS
Participants have concluded that the power of language as it applies to practice, has
significant implications on assessment. Using the chosen two resources that support the
RTI district initiative (Choice Words and Opening Minds), participants agreed that our
Tier 1 teaching strategies and assessment need to be a regular focus for our
development as educators.
Participants also concluded that considering how language impacts assessment is
important for both the teacher and the student in order to help students achieve their
goals around learning intentions in a way that connects intelligence to social and
emotional learning. Learning ultimately supports the well-being of the self, the family,
the community, the land, the spirits, and the ancestors. Learning is holistic,
reflexive, reflective, experiential, and relational (focused on connectedness,
on reciprocal relationships, and a sense of place).
Participants also viewed and reflected on Marshall Rosenthal’s - Non-violent
communication seminars. Marshall’s message resonated with us as a staff as we
continually strive to create a trusting climate in our community.
Overall, the implementation of the sequences and the collaborative professional
learning created a climate of passion around a growth mindset. As a staff we will
continue to collect data, monitor and discuss the question: “What next?”
Changing Results for Young Readers – Year 2
In addition to the West Bench staff collaboration sessions, three staff members met
seven different times with the Changing Results team. This team includes teachers from
around our district who collaborated on various inquiry questions. The team from West
Bench continued to focus on the impact of the MindUp curriculum on some of their atrisk readers.
The results were positive and showed growth in each of their students. The
combination of focus strategies and one to one guided reading allowed teachers and
their students to improve and retain reading strategies that created sustained
improvement in the children’s reading level.
SMARTLearning Framework
Utilizing and assessing with the SMARTLearning framework helps educators
understand their students learning development in the following learning
areas:
1. A focus on connections
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Setting personal learning goals
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Activating prior knowledge
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Interacting, thinking with, and responding to text:
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Asking questions, generating images and ideas, generating inferences and
connections summarizing, analyzing, synthesizing, elaborating, interpreting,
drawing conclusions, generating and justifying perspective
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Assessing the adequacy, accuracy and authenticity of the information
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Monitoring, regulating, and controlling cognitive processing during learning
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Reflecting, and assessing how well they are learning
2. A focus on metacognition
3. A focus on reading and writing for deeper learning
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The reader as decoder
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The reader as meaning maker
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The reader as text analyst
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The reader as text critic
4. A focus on engaging with challenging tasks
5. A focus on using imagery to develop deeper understanding
Overall, SMARTLearning has become a foundation of learning at West Bench School. It
is embedded in everything we do as a learning community. This inquiry will continue
into next year as it is an on-going learning journey for our teaching staff.
FUTURE PLANNING:
“Sometimes we are so obsessed with making it to our goal or destination, we
forget that there is much to learn and experience during the journey.”- Fullan
The Staff at West Bench has become an increasingly skilled collaborative team. We met
regularly throughout the year and continued to develop professionally within our
common goal of supporting each other and our students. One key component that
aligns us as a team is the common understanding that leading the learning is an
endless and reflective journey.
In a previous collaborative session, the staff was asked “What they felt we needed
to continue our forward momentum as a professional learning community?”
Below are some of their statements:
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We need a Common language/consistency
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Keep collaborating. I like the idea of getting together for 45 minute
sessions more often. Brainstorm ideas so that we could take on the
leadership role in turns
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Using some of our own time so that we can plan school-wide sequences
together
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Professional Learning Community Model – shared leadership/more
accountability/stronger practice/celebrates and honours our individual
strengths and roles as leaders in our profession, community, building, &
classroom
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Collaborative time planned into the day to use for professional
development/school based money for implementation and anchoring
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Strength-based – bring in something you are good at, article, etc.
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I have enjoyed the collaboration and sharing. Talking about things we are
doing in the classroom gets me excited to do more and try more things
In considering factors that will impact our continued success we continue to
recognize the following factors:
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Educational research continues to evolve and we need to be proactive in our
studies
Annually, staffing is in flux and we need to create an environment of
sustainability
The complexities introduced by a change in practices are challenging
The accomplishments of a proficient and well-organized group are greater than
the accomplishments of isolated individuals
Together, teachers have the organizational skills and resources to attempt
innovations that would exhaust the energy, skill, or resources of an individual
teacher
Over time, and with the repetition of strategies, we believe that students will
sense consistency of expectations, which may explain the improved behavior and
achievement noted this year
SUMMARY
In determining our collective and individual Professional Growth plans for the 2015-16
school year, staff discussed in our May staff meeting the “what next” options. As a
result, the staff was overwhelmingly in support of continuing to study assessment and
assessment language but also agreed that we need to revisit our common language
around our social emotional curriculum and work towards a common school wide
implementation.
The staff feels strongly that the cognitive behaviour approach known as the Zones of
Regulation would make be the next natural step for our community. As with MindUP
and Social Detective, the Zones of Regulation would fit nicely with the
SMARTLearning framework. In response, we are planning our School Improvement day
around this program and have invited our district counselor, L. Stephens to assist with
facilitation. As such, next year’s inquiry question will be based on the impact of this
staff driven initiative.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------School Planning Council:
Allen Beckingham (Principal):
Carol Bayston (Parent):
Heather Allen (Parent):