Public X
Private 
Report No. 2016-09-40
Date September 28, 2016
HALIFAX REGIONAL SCHOOL BOARD
Summary Report on Schools’ Progress with Improvement Goals
PURPOSE:
To provide the Governing Board with a report outlining schools’
progress towards meeting school improvement goals during the
2015-16 school year.
BACKGROUND:
In November 2015, the Governing Board received a report from
the Office of the Auditor General, detailing their findings after
completing an audit of the Halifax Regional School Board.
Recommendation 2.7 of the Auditor General’s report states: The
governing boards of Chignecto-Central, Halifax and Strait
Regional School Boards should require management to provide
appropriate information to allow the boards to understand
whether goals outlined in the continuous school improvement
process have been achieved.
In response to this recommendation, the Governing Board
requested that starting in 2016, management will be required to
provide a summary report outlining the progress schools are
making toward their annual improvement goals (Appendix A).
It was moved and seconded (Yee/Blumenthal-Harrison) that the
Superintendent provides an information report at the September
2016 Regular Board Meeting, with regards to School Progress
with Annual Improvement Goals for the school year 2015-2016 as
per Recommendation 2.7 of the Auditor General’s November 2015
report.
CONTENT:
Schools follow the guidelines for Student Success Planning as
outlined by the Department of Education and Early Childhood
Development. Each school is required to have a math and a literacy
improvement goal based on a review and analysis of Provincial
and school-based student achievement data. The process begins
with the staff completing a school self-assessment. Goals are
selected in areas where student achievement needs to improve.
Each goal outlines strategies (actions) and data sources to support
improving student achievement in identified areas.
When schools have successfully achieved their goals they are
recognized for their improvement and deemed – an improving
school. The school improvement process generally follows a fiveyear timeline. As schools reach success with their math and
literacy goals they establish new goals that reflect areas where
current student achievement data indicates improvement is needed
and begin the process again.
The five-year cycle of school improvement:
 Year 1- School completes a self-assessment and develops a
School Improvement Plan with a math and literacy goal.
 Year 2- Implementation of strategies to support
improvement with math and literacy goals. During this
year, the school engages in the collection of baseline data
in goal areas to determine progress in subsequent years of
the improvement cycle.
 Year 3- Implementation of strategies to support
improvement with math and literacy improvement goals.
Data collection continues in goal areas to determine
progress.
 Year 4- Implementation of strategies to support
improvement with math and literacy improvement goals.
Data collection continues in goal areas to determine
progress.
 Year 5- School demonstrates, through Provincial and /or
school-based student achievement data, that they have
improved in goal areas and are deemed- an improving
school.
Throughout the five-year improvement cycle, schools publish a
detailed Report to the Community each fall. This report provides
detailed information about school improvement goals and progress
towards meeting the goals. Parents and community members can
access reports through the school and HRSB websites.
COST:
N/A
FUNDING:
N/A
TIMELINE:
N/A
APPENDICES:
Appendix A: Summary Report on Schools’ Progress with
Improvement Goals
RECOMMENDATION:
That the Governing Board accept this report for information.
COMMUNICATIONS:
Report published on the Halifax Regional School Board website on
September 23, 2016.
FROM:
Susan Tomie, Director, School Administration, [email protected],
(902) 464-2000 ext. 2275
Appendix A: Summary Report on Schools’ Progress with Improvement Goals
Year 1
AJ Smeltzer JH
Leslie Thomas JH
Halifax Central JH
Highland Park JH
Eric Graves JH
Millwood High
Halifax West
Sackville High
Sunnyside Elem
William King Elem
Beaver Bank-Kinsac
Cavalier Drive
Caudle Park
Harrietsfield
Basinview Drive
Smokey Drive
Admiral Westphal
Ian Forsyth
Sycamore Lane
George Bissett
St. Joseph’s- A. McKay
Harbour View
Bedford-Forsyth
Education Centre
Year 2
Ash Lee Jefferson
Bedford South
Brookside JH
Burton Ettinger
Citadel High
Dartmouth High
Eastern Passage Educ Centre
Graham Creighton JH
Harry R. Hamilton
Hawthorn
Inglis Street
John MacNeil
Joseph Howe
Michael Wallace
Millwood Elementary
Musquodoboit Rural High
Musquodoboit Valley Ed Centre
Nelson Whynder
Oyster Pond
Rockingham Elem
Rockingstone Heights
Rocky Lake JH
Ross Road
Sackville Heights Elem
Shannon Park
Shatford Memorial
Sir John A. Macdonald HS
Sir Robert Borden JH
Southdale-North Woodside
St. Agnes JH
St. Stephen’s Elementary
Westmount
School Improvement Cycle 2015-16
Year 3
Alderney
Astral Drive Elementary
Beaver Bank Monarch
Bell Park Academic Centre
Caldwell Road Elem
Caledonia JH
Central Spryfield
Chebucto Heights
Colby Village
Cole Harbour District HS
Colonel John Stuart
Crichton Park
Duncan MacMillan HS
Dutch Settlement
East St Margaret’s
Fairview Heights
Fairview Junior High
Five Bridges JH
Gaetz Brook JH
Georges P. Vanier JH
Gorsebrook JH
Holland Road
John Martin JH
Lockview HS
Mount Edward
Park West
Porters Lake
Prince Andrew HS
Saint Mary’s Elem
Seaside
Sheet Harbour
Sir Charles Tupper
Tallahassee
Tantallon Junior Elem
Tantallon Senior Elem
*The process is cyclical; schools move through years 1-5 and then start again.
Year 4
Astral Drive JH
Atlantic Memorial/ Terence Bay
Atlantic View
Auburn Drive HS
BLT Junior Elem
BLT Senior Elem
Bel Ayr
Bicentennial
Cunard JH
Eastern Shore District High School
Elizabeth Sutherland
Grosvenor-Wentworth Park
Hammonds Plains
Hillside Park
Humber Park
J.L. Ilsley HS
John W. MacLeod - Fleming Tower
Lakefront
LeMarchant- St. Thomas
O’Connell Drive
Ocean View
Oxford
Prospect Road
Ridgecliff
Robert Kemp Turner
Sackville Heights Junior High
St. Catherine’s Elem
Upper Musquodoboit
Waverley Memorial
Year 5
Clayton Park JH
Ellenvale JH
Herring Cove JH
Madeline Symonds
Charles P. Allen HS
South Woodside
Brookhouse
Duc d’Anville
Harold T. Barrett JH
Springvale
Joseph Giles
Kingswood
Oldfield
Portland Estates
Sambro
St. Margaret’s Bay
School Improvement Cycle 2015-16
Year 1
Year 2
23 schools
32 schools
 22 schools
 32 schools
completed the
established
self-assessment
baseline
and
data in
developed a
math and
new school
literacy
improvement
goal area
plan
 1 school
requires
additional
time to align
self-assessment
with school
improvement
plan
Year 3
35 schools
 11 schools
made progress
toward their
literacy goal
only
 3 schools made
progress
toward their
math goal only
 6 schools made
progress
toward both
their math and
literacy goal
Year 4
29 schools
 4 schools made
progress toward
their literacy goal
only
 8 schools made
progress toward
their math goal
only
 6 schools made
progress toward
both their math
and literacy goal
 15 schools have
yet to show
progress
toward their
math and
literacy goal
*Progress is measured by school-based and Provincial student achievement data.
 11 schools have
yet to show
progress toward
their math and
literacy goal
Year 5
16 schools
 2 schools were
recognized as
improving math
achievement in goal
area
 8 schools were
recognized as
improving both math
and literacy
achievement in goal
area
 6 schools have yet to
show improvement
toward their math and
literacy goal