The+Cultural+Conditions


 * //CULTURAL CONDITIONS //**

**//As we look at our instructional practices in CESD, we believe in a… //**
 * 1. CULTURE OF INCLUSION:** //TQS 1 (application of pedagogical knowledge, skills and attributes is based in their ongoing analysis of contextual variables)//

- The goal of a culture of inclusion is to provide all students with **the most appropriate learning environments and** **opportunities** for them to best achieve their potential (Government of Alberta, 2010b). - Inclusion means ensuring that each student belongs and receives a quality education no matter their ability, disability, language, cultural background, gender or age (Government of Alberta, 2010b). - The teacher accepts responsibility for all students learning, including those with diverse learning needs. - The teacher thinks and acts in a way that demonstrates universal acceptance of, and belonging for all students. - An inclusive culture (classroom, school, district) asks: - An inclusive culture requires: collaboration, shared leadership, a team-based approach, a link between school and community, persistence in finding solutions, a connection to family, an individual approach, a culturally appropriate approach, a focus on strengths, and shared decision making.
 * What does success look like for each student?
 * What will each student need to be successful?
 * What supports and services are required (universal, targeted, individualized) and how will we use them?
 * How will we measure success for each student? (Government of Alberta, 2010b).

- As an organization we believe in continuous improvement. - High quality research in conjunction with the practical knowledge of teachers is used to inform our work as we strive for continuous improvement. As professionals, we continually challenge ourselves, our beliefs and our practices in light of research and understanding of best practices. - Research and practice are interconnected: research informs practice and practice informs research (Government of Alberta, 2011a, p. 2) - At all levels of responsibility, clear-cut, specific **goals** for teaching and learning are established. These goals: - We use **data** to measure our progress towards achieving our goals. While data “will never be totally accurate or reliable…in the hands of conscientious professionals, they promote successful, goal oriented effort” (Schmoker, 1999, p. 49). - Data helps us answer the primary question, “What do we do next?” To use data effectively, we must continue to ask ourselves: - The teacher “meets regularly with colleagues in professional learning communities… to analyze student performance data and samples of students’ work and discuss instructional strategies that the data indicate are producing positive results” (Westerberg, 2009, p. 92).
 * 2. CULTURE OF USING RESEARCH AND DATA TO INFORM OUR WORK:** //TQS 5 (engage in a range of planning activities); 9 (gather and use information about students’ learning needs and progress)//; //11 (teachers are career-long learners)//
 * Convey a message that we are all capable of improvement
 * Provide a basis for decision making, for ways to organize and execute instruction
 * Enable teachers, schools and the district to gauge student success
 * Promote professional dialogue (Schmoker, 1999).
 * What are data telling us? What problems or challenges do they reveal?
 * What can we do about what data reveal? What strategies should we brainstorm? What research should we consult?
 * What are data telling us about how effective our current efforts are in helping us to achieve our goals? (Schmoker, 1999, p. 49).

- All schools see the building of literacy and numeracy as critical competencies for student success. All teachers take responsibility for literacy and numeracy development of all students. LITERACY: - “The teacher plans to successfully advance student literacy skills in the respective disciplines as an essential way of learning for all students in the classroom” (Government of Alberta, 2011d). - The teacher knows that for students to use literacy more effectively to learn in content-area subjects, he/she must have a deeper understanding of what literacy means in his/her subject areas.
 * 3. CULTURE OF LITERACY AND NUMERACY:** //(in draft version of new TQS)//
 * Each academic discipline has its own particular text features, formats and vocabulary
 * Students need to develop literacy skills that transcend subject areas as well as the subject-specific applications of those skills. This is particularly so in junior and senior high, where students experience the shift to content area/disciplinary learning, they receive the help from teachers to develop the confidence and skills necessary for these specialized academic literacies (Government of Alberta, 2010c).
 * Chinook’s Edge recognizes the importance of building literacy skills for all students. As such, a literacy framework has been developed to support teachers’ understanding and skill level to support their students: []

NUMERACY: - The goal of incorporating numeracy into all of our subject areas “is to develop individuals who can cope confidently and competently with everyday situations demanding the use of mathematical concepts, as well as developing their ability to learn new concepts when necessary. What is desired are students who know **how** to compute, measure, estimate and interpret mathematical data, know **when** to apply these same skills and techniques, and understand **why** these particular processes apply” (Saskatchewan Education, n.d.). - The test of numeracy is whether a person naturally uses appropriate mathematics strategies and skills in many different contexts. Numeracy is the mathematics everyone needs for life, not the mathematics needed by specialists (Government of Alberta, 2011c). //*Note: A 2011 Discussion Paper has been developed by Alberta Education but is not yet available for public release. As the discussions and strategies around numeracy continue in the province, this section of the QLE will continue to be developed.//

- We learn together by being //engaging in a purposeful way// around issues of instructional importance (Westerberg, 2009). - A clear target has been co-established by the learning community so that all members know the goal expected to be achieved by the end of a given period of time. - Engaging through learning communities “is all about teachers and school leaders working together to develop effective instructional practices, studying what works well in classrooms, and doing so both with rigorous attention to detail and with a commitment to improving not only one’s own practice but that of others” ( Mourshed, Chijioke, & Barber, 2010, p. 74).
 * 4. CULTURE OF ENGAGING THROUGH LEARNING COMMUNITIES:** //TQS: 11 (teachers are career-long learners)//