Annual Education Results Report

Northern Lights Public Schools is committed to creating an environment of knowledgeable and supported staff members as they strive to improve the mental health and wellness of all students.  This priority was established by the Board after extensive consultations with students, parents and staff.

Our Definition

Mental Health is a state of well-being in which every individual realizes his or her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can learn/work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her school/community. ~ Based on the definition from The World Health Organization ~

Our Evidence of Improvement

In March 2022, Northern Lights students completed a survey that will be administered annually moving forward. The target for May 2022 was to establish baseline data as this was our first year administering the survey. The survey was categorized into four areas including: student potential, normal stress of everyday life, contribution, and the ability to learn/work. This survey has helped identify where students need support, what factors are impacting their mental health, and what aspects of mental health should be focused on.

Additionally, parents were engaged through both a survey and an online forum to provide additional insight relative to student mental health, what resources they may need to support their children, and what challenges they may have experienced in accessing services. Over 700 individuals visited the Mental Health engagement and 437 took part in the survey, representing over 700 students. In addition, 148 parents and guardians indicated they were interested in participating in focus groups that would further the conversation about mental health. 

Our Results

Highlights

Menu of Supports

Northern Lights Public Schools is fortunate to receive a grant through the Alberta Health Services Mental Health Capacity Building project. Our project is called Successful Families. Successful Kids and through the grant we are able to hire a project coordinator and wellness coaches that work in each region of the division.

Our Wellness Coaches have developed a series of presentations for staff, students and parents.  They can facilitate these sessions in classrooms and have also worked with teachers to incorporate the information into lessons that align with the curriculum or other classroom activities. Prior to the pandemic, in-person sessions were offered to parents and online sessions continue to be available. Parent sessions cover topics such as vaping, digital addiction, anxiety versus stress, and hope.

Our Wellness Coaches also work with other community groups to offer sessions to the whole community. For example, they work with Lac La Biche County FCSS to organize an It Starts with Hope parent group that offers monthly sessions for parents on many topics related to mental health, parent-child relationships, and child development.

Go-To Educator

NLPS used a division professional development day for staff on November 26, 2021 to focus on Mental Health Literacy. All staff completed Go To Educator training to help NLPS establish a common understanding and language for discussing mental health.

Go To Educator provides a suite of learning opportunities that includes training for teachers, curriculum they can use in classrooms from K-12, as well as programs specifically for Grade 12 students to prepare them for life after graduation. There are also parent sessions that have been developed. 

The training focuses on understanding how to foster and maintain good mental health, understanding mental disorders and their treatments, decreasing stigma, and understanding how to seek help and use referral pathways to health care services.

One of the goals of NLPS was to provide all staff with the knowledge to discuss mental health from the same understanding and using the same language. For example, understanding the difference between negative and positive stress. 

Mental Health Literacy builds on other mental health focused professional development that has been offered to all staff in the division since the division established student mental health as a priority including The Brain Architecture Game and The Poverty Simulation.

Student Advocacy Counselors
NLPS works to support counselors as they work with all students. Northern Lights commits a significant portion of the funding it receives for student support services towards ensuring that a Student Advocacy Counsellor is assigned to each school and students have access to the supports those counselors provide. 

Over the last two years, NLPS has focused on building capacity with our Student Advocacy Counselors and ensuring similar services are being offered at each location. This has included professional development for our counselors, selecting a virtual platform for counselors to connect with students when in-person visits are not possible, introducing software that allows us to better track referrals, and increasing opportunities for division supports to be provided to students who need them.

We have also formed a partnership with the organization CASA: Child, Adolescent and Family Mental Health to provide support to our counselors with specific, unique cases. This has allowed us to access expertise that we do not have in our division to help our students.

Agency Collaboration

NLPS has been connecting with our community partners, including other local school divisions, so everyone is aware of what services and resources are available locally. This has led to the creation of partnerships to deliver programming and discussions on how to streamline the provision of services for our students and their families. 

We have also been working with Alberta Health Services (AHS) to identify student needs that are beyond the scope of our Student Advocacy Counselors and how to connect those students to supports available through AHS Mental Health and Addictions. As part of this work, NLPS has created a parent information sheet that our counselors can fill out to support parents as they take a referral to Alberta Mental Health or other partner agencies (Psychologist, Therapist, etc.).

Community Helpers Program

Community Helpers is a peer helping program designed for youth and young adults, between the ages of 12 to 30. The program provides training to youth who are identified as natural helpers so that they can help their peers and connect them to supports in their school and community that can assist them further.

Thanks to a grant from AHS, NLPS was able to hire a part-time coordinator to offer this program to all of our high schools and junior high schools. Several schools took part in the training in 2021-2022. 

Northern Lights Public Schools is committed to building a culture of numeracy, empowering learners, teachers and leaders to collectively shift their practice, giving meaning to mathematics as they improve numeracy skills and understanding of all students.  This priority was established by the Board after extensive consultations with students, parents and staff.

Our Definition

Alberta Education defines numeracy as the ability, confidence and willingness to engage with quantitative and spatial information to make informed decisions in all aspects of daily living.

Our Evidence of Improvement

Northern Lights students completed annual numeracy benchmark assessments, in addition to the regular classroom assessments that occur. Results have been reviewed by schools each year. Additionally, Provincial Achievement Tests and Provincial Diploma Exams were used to monitor student progress. Norm Referenced CAT 4 testing was conducted over three years to determine trend data through the pandemic and beyond. Division created Common Assessments were utilized at the junior high level. 

Our Results

*Common Assessments are calculated using the average of all student results from multiple assessments over the course of the year. This percentage is not the percentage of students who passed, but represents the average score of all students who wrote the tests. Participation rates of Common Assessments within each grade were not consistent and results were not reported during disruptions to learning due to the pandemic. 

Highlights

Professional Development

Northern Lights Public Schools finalized its partnership with the University of Alberta to offer a Numeracy Academy for staff. Twenty staff received a certificate that could be applied toward coursework for a masters degree through the university. Approximately half of the staff extended their work for graduate accreditation. A group of administrators now identify as the NLPS Numeracy Cohort Team whose primary role is to offer professional development to other school administrators on the Principles to Action in Numeracy. 

Four professional development days were identified in the 2021-2022 school calendar for staff to focus on division priorities. All schools used some or most of the days to build on their numeracy plans.  

Partnerships with Alberta Regional Professional Development Consortia were also established to support teachers and administrators to enhance their numeracy proficiency, which impacts daily learning in the classroom. 

Results

Our results continue to provide a consistent message that the pandemic and post-pandemic influence on learning has negatively impacted our data and provincial data. Students in the early years received additional support through the provincial learning disruption initiative which made a positive difference in their academic performance. 

Assessments

Various assessment strategies have been added to more accurately determine a baseline for numeracy as a division. Contracted assessments, provincial assessments and locally developed assessments were utilized and developed to provide data to determine the best instructional strategies that address the learning gaps in numeracy. 

Northern Lights Public Schools recognizes that the COVID-19 Pandemic significantly impacted the implementation of the division’s Three-Year Plan and the subsequent results. The provincial Assurance Measures reflect only the annual results, consisting primarily of parent, staff, and student survey data. Provincial Achievement Tests (PAT) for grades 6 and 9 students were canceled in the first semester, and Provincial Diploma Exams (PDE) were reduced from 30% to 10%. The vast majority of students and parents exercised their right to not write PDEs in semester one. 

While we have current partial information from the 2021-2022 school year for PATs and PDEs, the three-year representation of our results remains incomplete. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, no reportable data is available for the 2019-2020 and the 2020-2021 school years. This continues to limit our ability to look at three-year averages. The 2021-2022 results do not include the results of the January 2022 diploma exam session. As such, the 2021-2022 results are not comparable with previous years’ results. Caution should be exercised when interpreting and comparing the results over time. Many of the specific measures are reported as “N/A” due to the challenges noted above. 

Northern Lights Public Schools is pleased with the efforts made by administration and staff to address disruption to instruction due to COVID-19 related attendance issues  that were compounded by transportation challenges. Additionally, Northern Lights Public Schools acknowledges the efforts and sacrifices of parents and students in trying to provide as normal an educational experience as possible during a difficult year.

The annual Assurance Measures provide updated data in all eight measures included in Student Growth and Achievement. Only three of these measures were evaluated by the province, while the other five remained unreported. Of those measures, one was maintained (5-Year High School Completion), and the other two did not see an improvement. The measures that did not see improvement reflect the challenges facing our students, staff, and parents, which include 3-year High School Completion and Citizenship. The remaining measures were not updated due to a variety of reasons. Four of these measures did not show any data due to the impact COVID-19 caused in the writing of PATs and PDEs being made optional throughout the year. Three of these measures do not have three-year averages to provide adequate trend data. Caution should be used when interpreting these results. 

During the 2021-2022 school year, the division was able to reimplement some key system strategies using technology to accommodate COVID-19 restrictions. These strategies focused on literacy, numeracy, technology, classroom management, and the early learning coaching series delivered by Learning Consultants. The Central Office Leadership Team (COLT) and school administrators used the Collaborative Response Model and the Generative Dialogue process to facilitate structured improvement-related conversations. Commonly developed curricular assessments in core courses with students in grades 7 to 9 were used to facilitate opportunities for a more standardized approach of division-wide assessment. These and other key strategies are increasing the opportunities for every student to negate the impact of the previous two years due to COVID-19.

First Nations, Metis and Inuit (FNMI) students that attend our schools continue to have better results than the provincial average in the area of 5-Year High School Completion. In the 2021-2022 school year, our 3-Year High School Completion rate decreased by 16.8 percent and we maintained our 5-Year High School Completion rate. Specific strategies to further enhance high school completion include providing academic counseling services in each or our high schools. Additionally, at J. A. Williams High School we have an Indigenous graduation coach that supports students as they transition from middle school to high school, and then to post-secondary or the world of work. We also continue to utilize resources like the Nutrition Grant and other external grants to ensure that students who need breakfast and lunch have access to appropriate food. The 2021-2022 school year marked the last year to utilize Innovation in First Nations Education grant dollars. We were happy to utilize these dollars to further develop relationships with local Elders, knowledge keepers and support opportunities for these individuals to connect with staff and students at many of our schools. 

The provincial assurance model requires school divisions to report the following data sets. The results from 2021-2022 were significantly impacted by COVID-19 and decisions made at the provincial and division level. Some of the validity of data sets will increase as Northern Lights transitions back to normal operations:

Provincial Achievement Test Acceptable/Excellence

• October 2022 Overall PAT Results
• October 2022 Specific PAT Results
• October 2022 Overall FNMI PAT Results
• October 2022 Specific FNMI PAT Results
• October 2022 Overall ESL PAT Results 
• October 2022 Specific ESL PAT Results

Diploma Exam Acceptable/Excellence

• October 2022 Overall PDE Course Results
• October 2022 Specific PDE Course Results
• October 2022 Overall FNMI PDE Course Results
• October 2022 Specific FNMI PDE Course Results
• October 2022 Overall ESL PDE Course Results
• October 2022 Specific ESL PDE Course Results

High School Completion

• Overall High School Completion Rates 2021
• FNMI High School Completion Rates 2021
• ESL High School Completion Rates 2021

Citizenship

• Citizenship 2022

Student Learning Engagement

• Student Learning Engagement 2022

Education Quality

• Education Quality 2022

Northern Lights Public Schools encourages growth in all staff through a variety of opportunities. Funds are budgeted for professional development at the administrative level, teacher level, and support staff level on an ongoing basis. This allows all staff to participate in professional development for growth specific to their role in consultation with their supervisor. 

In 2021-2022 Northern Lights also organized professional development through outside agencies, facilitating courses such as the Conversational Cree Language Course through Portage College, and Educational Assistant Training and Violent Threat and Risk Assessment through the Learning Network. A Numeracy Academy Course through the University of Alberta was offered and successfully impacted instruction in a number of classrooms across the division. Strategies were shared and professional dialogue amongst participants continues to positively influence results for students. 

Additionally, Ignite 2021 was an opportunity for all staff to participate in a variety of professional development sessions. The division also scheduled four professional development days, two of which covered topics determined by school principals with input from their staff, and two that focussed on division priorities (mental health and numeracy) as well as supporting the implementation of the new provincial curriculum. 

Northern Lights Public Schools designs all Professional Growth Plans (PGP) around the Teaching Quality Standard and the Leadership Quality Standard developed by Alberta Education. Teachers developed their PGPs with their administrators at the beginning of the year and met periodically to discuss and track their progress. The Central Office Leadership Team (COLT) meets with school administrators on a monthly basis to develop and monitor their PGPs and facilitate the Generative Dialogue process to discuss teaching, learning, and the supervision and evaluation of teachers.

Welcoming, Caring, Respectful, and Safe Learning Environment

• Welcoming, Caring, Respectful, and Safe Learning Environment 2022

Access to Supports and Services

• Access to Supports and Services 2022

Northern Lights Public Schools makes an effort to ensure all students are successful. Actions taken by Northern Lights to ensure student success include: 

• Actions in support of High Quality Teaching
• Implementing differentiation in order to meet a variety of student needs in the classroom, with elbow-to-elbow consultant services, common assessment data review, IPP reviews and meetings, shared program development and collaborative response meetings
• Actions in support of High Quality Early Learning
• An investment in full-day Kindergarten programming at all schools across the jurisdiction
• Creation of NLPS Health Pathways team including SLP’s, OT’s and assistants to deliver appropriate programming onsite in schools for those students with Speech or Occupational Therapy needs hindering their academic progress 
• Program Unit Funding staff and SST coordinators working onsite with On My Way Programs to assist preschool aged children
• Engagement with Jordan’s Principle to assist all students to access needed supports
• Actions in support of Leadership in Schools include our Central Office Leadership Team’s school visits keeping the Teaching Quality Standard, FNMI focus, and student success at the forefront. 
• Actions in support of Regular Monitoring

• Utilization of the Collaborative Response process where school teams meet to discuss individual student progress, barriers to success and development of continuous improvement plans to support students based on their personal needs 

• Dossier software: actively working, beginning with our high schools to demonstrate how to utilize attendance tracking tools, utilizing Indigenous filters to track attendance by date, grade, gender, etc. in order to determine appropriate action plans in a timely manner 

• Ensuring that each high school has academic counseling time to support students as they transition to and progress through high school
• Actions in support of Provision of Tailored Supports
• Successful Families, Successful Kids: non-educational staff working directly with the school community and the greater community to wrap-around supports for students and families
• Student Support Team (SST) leads at each school, assisting in developing Universal, Targeted and Individualized measures to support students.
• Introduction of the Learning Together Anywhere School, allowing families to choose an alternative to in person classes. 
• Actions in support of Enlisting the Active Involvement of Families
• Working with our high school administrators group to develop frameworks for supporting at-risk students, building relationships and monitoring both attendance and achievement for these students. 

Each year Northern Lights Public Schools works with partners that include the Mental Health Capacity Building Project (Successful Families Successful Kids (SFSK), Community Helpers (CH)), and Mental Health Consultants to ensure appropriate supports are in place. Individual Program Plans, Behaviour Support Plans, Medical Support Plans, safety plans, and Success in School Plans are created to support the individual learning needs of students and are signed by the parents/guardians of the students. Additionally, supervision is provided to ensure that teachers are meeting the Teacher Quality Standard of establishing inclusive learning environments. 

In order to meet student needs in the 2021-2022 school year, over 1,740 Individual Program or Support Plans were created to identify specific student needs ranging from severe needs to addressing gifted and talented needs. NLPS also worked to address the change in funding to support students requiring Program Unit Funding (PUF), serving over 30 preschool-aged students across a vast geographic area. The Division also focussed on expanding services through Jordan’s Principle, providing services to approximately 30 students and submitting applications for dozens more for the 2022-2023 school year.

Northern Lights Public Schools built a team of Speech Language Pathologists and Occupational Therapists & Assistants to identify the educational impacts of students’ speech and language or occupational therapy needs and then plan and intervene with appropriate supports. In addition to the time spent working with students and staff on addressing universal needs, these staff met with students in groups or one on one to address complex student needs. 

Northern Lights partnered with a number of school jurisdictions in the former Eastern Edge Regional Collaborative Service Delivery (RCSD) area to support a Low Incidence Team ensuring we have access to professionals to support students that are deaf or hard of hearing or have low vision. This partnership allows us secure access to individuals that work with staff and families to meet the needs of a few students with very specific needs. Effective May 2022, the division took on the ownership for operating the Low Incident Team and providing services to thirteen other school divisions.

Improving FNMI Student Success

Northern Lights is committed to improving student engagement and achievement among FNMI students, interlinking educational success with overall quality of life. While FNMI Assurance Measures increased from 2017 to 2019, improvements are needed in Student Learning Opportunities, Student Learning Achievement (Grade K-9), Student Learning Achievement (Grade 10-12) and Preparation for Lifelong Learning, World of Work and Citizenship.  Our FNMI students are best equipped to inform parents/guardians, educators, support staff and the broader community what supports are needed to improve their holistic success. As of September 16, 2021, Northern Lights had approximately 5,630 students enrolled and of these, over 1,730 identified as FNMI, making up approximately 34% of our student population. 

In an effort to develop a more complete understanding of the viewpoints, thoughts and considerations regarding Indigenous student success and high school completion, NLPS embarked on a comprehensive Indigenous Student Voice project, working to connect with Indigenous students in grades 7 through 12.  Beginning in December 2021, Indigenous students were invited to participate in a survey. At the end of the survey students were asked if they were interested in meeting in person to discuss survey results and have a deeper conversation about FNMI school experiences. Face to face meetings were then facilitated in schools with students who were willing to participate. 

From an initial review, over 80% of Indigenous students in NLPS agree or strongly agree that their education at NLPS is allowing them to be successful at the current time and allowing them to develop appropriate skills and knowledge to be successful post high school. Also, over 80% of students report that they have a parent or guardian that is involved in their education, which we know contributes significantly to student success. 

Northern Lights works alongside partners to ensure that First Nations students have the same access to support as provincially funded students. A systematic approach is utilized to apply for Jordan’s Principle funding, allowing federally funded students to gain support including access to Educational Assistants, Educational Psychological assessments, nutrition programs, speech and occupational support. As stakeholders become more familiar with the program, Northern Lights Public Schools is anticipating significant growth in accessing services through Jordan’s Principle.

Educating students and serving families during the COVID-19 pandemic has created a variety of  challenges specific to the varying beliefs and support for the pandemic response. As anticipated, the division saw a decline in the number of measures due to specific actions undertaken to protect students and staff from the spread of COVID-19. Limited access to school buildings for parents and community members and shifting parent teacher interviews and school council meetings to a virtual format had a direct impact on results.

Parental Involvement

• Parental Involvement 2022

Budget Actual Comparison

The following chart depicts the financial performance of Northern Lights Public Schools for the year ending August 31, 2022.

Summary of Financial Results

The 2021-2022 budgeting process was significantly more challenging than previous years. The division experienced a significant increase in the total revenues due to a number of unanticipated factors. Additional provincial grants were received for new curriculum implementation, fuel price contingency, indoor air qualities, and the provincially negotiated teacher agreement. The division also experienced significant increases in revenue from the federal government due to a large number of approved Jordan’s Principle applications. Post-pandemic school activities led to increased financial support by parents and community members which resulted in additional School Generated Funds (SGF) that were difficult to foresee.

Even though the province was not fully experiencing the effects of the pandemic, COVID did limit school activities such as field trips, guest speakers, as well as curricular and extracurricular activities. This reduction in activities significantly impacted the expenses, specifically at the school level.

Northern Lights Public Schools experienced a growth in division reserves due the increase in School Generated Funds as well as schools not fully expending their school based budgets due to the pandemic. Reserves were also impacted by the large amount of hiring of additional support staff. Many of these new support staff members’ salaries were less than anticipated based on lower salary placements related to training and experience. The division also experienced difficulties in hiring some specialized positions originally built into the budget.

As in previous years, the division maintenance team worked tirelessly on several projects. Their ability to carry out their plan was stalled by additional measures required due to COVID. The department experienced a deficit in comparison to the funding envelope provided. Instructional dollars were used to address the shortfall. The division transportation department posted a small surplus specifically due to the late announcement of the fuel subsidy. The surplus is not indicative of the difficulty the division had in recruiting and retaining bus contractors and drivers. Once again, the division had to modify routes to address transportation needs. Contractors continued to be negatively impacted by driver compensation and significant increases in insurance rates.

Audited Financial Statements

• Audited Financial Statements 
• Provincial Roll Up of Audited Financial Statements Information

Information in greater detail can be found at https://www.nlpsab.ca/accountability.

For further information, please contact Paula Elock, Secretary-Treasurer at Division Office (780.826.3145).

Stakeholder Engagement

COVID-19 significantly impacted the opportunities for face to face engagement during the 2021-2022 school year. Division efforts focused on providing students with as high quality an education as possible and keeping kids in schools as much as possible. The Board of Trustees endorsed an extension of current priorities due to the delays caused by COVID-19. Engagement opportunities for stakeholders were limited and took place through surveys or online format.

The Board provides ongoing opportunities for engagement on specific initiatives, policies, and procedures through an online platform identified as Engage NLPS. This platform allows for engagement of both stakeholders and staff in separate formats. In 2021-2022 parents/guardians had the opportunity to share input on our draft calendar and the renaming of one of our schools in Cold Lake, and participate in a Mental Health Survey for Parents through the Engage platform. Over 700 individuals visited the Mental Health engagement and 437 took part in the survey, representing over 700 students. In addition, 148 parents and guardians indicated they were interested in participating in focus groups that would further the conversation about mental health. Information about all three engagements was shared with the relevant stakeholders after it was reviewed by the Board.

Students in Cold Lake had the opportunity to participate in a student-led multi-level online engagement to rename and rebrand one of the schools in the community. The first phase produced 181 suggestions for a new name for the school and students then voted on a shortlist. The student committee leading the engagement then brought the name that received the most votes to the Board to consider as a new name for the school. Students also chose new colours, a new team name and mascot, and a new name for the student commons. Feedback from the engagement was also used to develop a new school logo and team logo.

Engage NLPS was also used for staff to discuss changes being made to curriculum and to help review new curriculum resources.

Northern Lights continues to identify new ways to engage our stakeholders and increase participation in our engagement opportunities. These additional engagement efforts continually reaffirm our commitment to our numeracy and mental health and wellness priorities. As the province of Alberta exits the COVID-19 pandemic era the division will look for opportunities to apply successful engagement strategies and apply learnings from the pandemic that allowed for stakeholders to have input.

In 2021-2022, the Board engaged school councils regionally in online forums to report progress and receive feedback on local issues. These meetings occurred for the school councils in the Bonnyville, Cold Lake, and Lac La Biche regions. The online format led to a strong participation with over 125 participants. The Board will continue to engage in regionalized meetings that will occur face to face in the 2022-2023 school year.

Accountability/Assurance System

School councils are a vital component of the success of students in Northern Lights. They represent the voice of stakeholders in each individual school. Schools work with stakeholders, including school councils, to create a three-year plan that must include the division and any locally determined priorities. Individual school priorities are determined by school principals reviewing relevant data sets with school council, staff, and students depending on age. This document is reviewed frequently throughout the year at school council meetings by principals and must be signed off by the school council chair to ensure their knowledge and endorsement of the schools’ priorities and strategies. School principals also provide regular updates to Division executive members through the COLT process to ensure progress and explore supports available from the division in implementing strategies identified at the school level. By November of the following school year the principal completes the results portion of the three-year plan and reports directly to the school council.

In an effort to provide stakeholders the assurance that the division is meeting its responsibilities, Northern Lights Public Schools makes the Annual Education Results Report available in its entirety online and regularly shares information about the division’s goals and priorities in the form of a Quarterly report shared in public board meetings. Northern Lights Public Schools also operates a Facebook page, and Instagram and Twitter accounts. Social media platforms are regularly monitored by division staff to address questions posed by stakeholders in as close to real time as possible. The division also uses School Messenger, which allows the division, schools, and individual teachers with opportunities to connect directly with students and parents.

The Annual Education Results Report was presented to the Board of Trustees at a public meeting on January 23, 2023. The approved report was posted to our website at nlpsab.ca and electronic copies were provided to school administrators and school council chairs.  Print copies are available to the public upon request, at no charge, by contacting our Division Office at 780-826-3145. Electronic copies can be found at https://www.nlpsab.ca/accountability.  Northern Lights Public Schools also develops and provides, in conjunction with school councils, Three-Year Education Plans. Copies of these school plans are provided to School Council members and are available on school websites.