LE2-5 - Knowing Your Students: Engagement, Equity/Inclusion and Achievement

 

As noted in Learning for All 2013, page 33, “knowing your students is a starting point for effective planning of assessment and instruction…..”

Use the websites noted in the chart to review key strategies, supports, ideas, and beliefs, etc. that allow us to know our students through the lenses of Engagement, Equity/Inclusion, and Achievement.

Strategies/Supports/Ideas/Beliefs etc.
Engagement Engaging Students - Principals Want to Know Equity and Inclusive Education in Ontario Schools	Three types of engagement that might need to be considered when trying to improve engagement:  1. Social 2. Academic 3. Intellectual Belief that all students are capable of learning and all staff members are capable of bringing about change. Engagement in the classroom requires intentional inquiry based learning that is meaningful and interesting to students. Assessment should require students to think deeply about their learning of new things and how they might go further. Relationships should be built on trust and respect. Teachers should work together to improve their practices. To figure out who the 25% of students are in a given school who have low engagement, look for low achievers, behaviour problems, signs of anxiety/depression. These students need advocacy and support at school. Regular check-ins, encouragement, celebrations of success, etc. are helpful when working with disengaged students. Extracurricular activities should be available to those students who are disengaged. Find activities that they are interested in and ensure they are able to find success. Consider ways to highlight unrecognized talents. Ask for feedback from the students about what they are interested in. Ask students what they need in order to feel more engaged in their life at school. Honouring student voice is empowering and students will begin to advocate for themselves.
Equity/Inclusion Ontario’s Equity and Inclusive Strategy - Quick Facts	Equitable and inclusive education are directly connected to student achievement. Because children with special education needs may be at risk of lower achievement, it's important to ensure that they are supported (i.e., feel safe, comfortable, and accepted at school). Feeling unsafe, unaccepted, or isolated at school can lead to behaviour problems, lack of engagement, lower achievement, and higher dropout rates. Parent engagement is key to improving student engagement.
Achievement Learning For All 2013, pages 11-26	Achievement gaps among groups of students are connected to various factors (or combinations of factors), including gender, ethnocultural background, socio-economic status, special education needs, and language proficiency.  Learning gap is the gap between a student's actual achievement and their potential for achievement. Improvement in achievement requires input from all parties involved: students, parents, educators, community partners. There must be a focus on student strengths and struggles, and appropriate instruction and assessment strategies must be in place.  Instructional approaches:  1. Universal Design for Learning (UDL) -- what's necessary for some is useful for all  (e.g., assistive technology) 2. Differentiated instruction -- adapt instruction to meet the differing needs of students (strengths, interests, learning styles, readiness) 3. Tiered approach -- using assessment and instructional interventions to address academic and learning needs (including behaviour needs)