Saskatchewan Rivers School Division report on student achievement shows the division continues to outperform the province in First Nation, Métis and Inuit (FNMI) graduation rates.
Superintendent Jennifer Hingley presented the report at Monday’s school division board meeting.
Hingley presented numbers from Early Years Evaluation (EYE), developmental reading assessments for Grades 1, 2 and 3, graduation rates, both on time and extended, and credit attainment for Grade 10 to 12.
The province monitors graduation rates for Non-First Nation, Métis and Inuit students (Non-FNMI), First Nation, Métis and Inuit (FNMI) students.
Hingley said that overall the results have improved but they are still not where they want to be.
“We’re on that cycle of continuous improvement,” she said. “One of the things that I think we want to highlight is that our students, given more time, are able to achieve the goal of graduation.
For 2024-2025, the three year graduation rates for Saskatchewan Rivers for all students was 69 per cent. It was 86 per cent for non-FNMI, and 56 per cent for FNMI. The provincial average for all students is 79 per cent, for non-FNMI it is 89 per cent and for FNMI it is 48 per cent.
Five-year graduation rates in Saskatchewan Rivers were 83 per cent for all students, 95 per cent for non-FNMI and for FNMI it was 73 per cent. In the province, the average for all students is 87 per cent, for non-FNMI was 93 per cent and for FNMI was 67 per cent.
“More time is critical for some students,” Hingley said. “In terms of our reading, it also shows us that when you pull those reading instructional strategies up into the middle years, students can close the gap on their reading.”
Sask. Rivers developmental reading assessments showed 36.8 per cent of all students, 25.7 per cent of FNMI students and 58.3 per cent of non FNMI students were reading at Grade 1 level.
In Grade 3 there were 56.1 per cent of all students, 49.8 per cent of FNMI students and 64.1 per cent of non FNMI students reading at grade level. Hingley questions the use of Grade 3 as a baseline because student continue to grow as readers.
“We need to kind of question the narrative around if you can’t read by the end of Grade 3, That doesn’t mean you’re not going to be a reader. When we use a strong systematic model of literacy that includes phonics, phonemic awareness, along with reading comprehension, students can learn to read beyond those levels,” Hingley said.
EYE (Early Years Evaluation) shows how ready students are for Grade 1. Students are broken up into three tiers after being evaluated. Tier 1 requires quality classroom instruction.
Tier 2 requires quality classroom instruction plus targeted small group instruction and Tier 3 requires quality classroom instruction and individualized instruction.
The fall 2024 data set showed 62.1 per cent of students required Tier 2 and 3 supports, in spring this number was reduced to 36.9 per cent with 65 per cent moving into Tier 3.
The report also included math statistics for the division. In Kindergarten 62.15 per cent of students had achieved proficiency in understanding numbers using the assessment tool.
“Math is something that we are continuing to work on as well and have a plan for with regard to strong math instruction and using a screener, but clearly our data also tells us that we have to focus more of our time and attention on math,” she said.
She said that both the student achievement and learning improvement plan (LIP) report which was presented by staff from John Diefenbaker School that same night showed the importance of teaching and learning models acting in complement.
“There’s lots of crossover between the way we teach literacy and the way we teach math. Some of those strategies of explicit instruction, targeted learning, flexible learning, small group instruction. Those things transfer into any subject area,” Hingley said.
She added that you cannot have one report without the other.
“I would just say that we’ve worked really hard on literacy, and we’re working hard on math, and we hope to see the results in the next few years,” Hingley said.
The report also highlighted how Indigenous learning permeates all parts of the division’s work.
“We really believe that utilizing Indigenous teaching methodology will strengthen education for all students, and so it’s foundational in our learning models,” Hingley said.
michael.oleksyn@paherald.sk.ca
