Today, September 8, is International Literacy Day! This year’s focus is on literacy teaching and learning in the COVID-19 crisis and beyond, with a focus on the role of educators and changing teaching practices.

At the Black Gold School Division, we’re focused on improving student achievement through increasing teacher efficacy. In fact, our Board of Trustees began a Division-wide project in 2020-2021 to develop greater teacher efficacy in literacy, numeracy, and wellness in both English and French.

Over the two years of this project, the percentage of students who were at risk of not successfully passing their grade level in Numeracy and Literacy dropped from 25.5% to 20.4%.

Another indicator of the success of this initiative is that teachers are more engaged and confident in analyzing their data and use the information to allow them to better tailor their instruction to meet the needs of their students.

“Increased literacy leads to higher employment rates, higher wages, and increased job satisfaction,” said Curriculum Manager Terri Reid. “It has been fantastic to watch our teachers embrace increased literacy support for students. I am very pleased to see the difference our teachers are making in the lives of their students today and for a lifetime.”

“This project has shown a positive impact on student achievement,” said Board Chair Esther Eckert. “It aligns well with our strategic priorities of success, wellness, and engagement and partnerships, and we believe our model can be easily replicated by other school boards to achieve similar outcomes.”