New goals will help improve P.E.I. schools, says Education Department

Public confidence and student well being are being added to Prince Edward Island educational goals, says the Island's Education Department.

Literacy and numeracy will continue to be priorities, but feedback from students, parents, teachers, principals and the District Advisory Councils show the need for additional educational opportunities, says Tammy Hubley-Little, the department's leadership and learning director.

• Education advisory council meetings gather valuable information
• P.E.I.'s new Education Act is now in place

"Public confidence would include things like community engagement, partnerships with our stakeholders and of course, the all-important communication piece," said Hubley-Little.

We want to see that a student is actually gaining as they go through school.- Tammy Hubley-Little

"The well-being component would look at character development of our students, executive functioning — things like task completion, being able to prioritize, as well as mental health."

Hubley-Little said the department heard a lot about mental health from the district advisory councils.

'Focused and strategic'

"What we're asking and tasking, I guess, schools to do is to be very focused and strategic in these areas. So in some cases, it's going to be a celebration and a recognition of what's already been happening," said Hubley-Little

"And in other cases, it will be let's take a look at how we can improve, what can we do to ensure that our students are experience high levels of wellbeing. And of course, all of that fits under high-quality education."

Goals for each school

Principals across P.E.I. have also been asked to work with staff to come up with goals for their schools.

"What is different this year is we are asking schools this year to write three-year goals and as the years progress, we'll be monitoring how well they're moving towards those goals and then asking them to adjust their strategies as we get feedback throughout the year."

Hubley-Little said principals and staff will be asked to identify individuals students who are struggling and assess their gains.

"Simply doing the same thing year after year, it might keep a student where they are in their achievement but we want to improve that. We want to see that a student is actually gaining as they go through school."

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