The Red Deer Public School District is seeing progress in some improved education results, despite being below provincial averages in many key metrics.
The division’s annual education results report (AERR) shows poorer dropout and high school completion rates for 2011-12, the most recent year records are available, though student scores on provincial exams generally remain higher than provincial averages.
The dropout rate of 3.3 per cent registered just below the provincial average and though it was up from the year before, the figure reflects positive movement over a five-year period.
The high school completion rate (within three years) too, at 72.6 per cent, is down from 2011 but up markedly over 2008’s figure of 67.6 per cent. The provincial average is trending upwards, at 74.8 per cent for the most recent year.
A notably challenging curriculum and the attraction of big bucks in the oil patch may be the reason only three out of four Alberta teens finish high school within three years, said Red Deer Public deputy superintendent Stu Henry.
He said the division feels like it is making progress in keeping students in school and getting them their diplomas, thanks to a focus on inclusive learning and literacy.
“In a province like Alberta, we should have more than three out of four kids graduating in three years,” said Henry.
He cited recently-developed initiatives designed to improve high school completion rates, such as the Reading College and Bright Start programs for younger students.
The Finish Line program, meanwhile, targets students who get close to graduating before leaving school for one reason or another.
“(The co-ordinator) just tracks kids down and invites them back into education one way or another, whether that’s physically coming back and taking a class or whether she arranges the correspondence for them through distance learning, or arranges for work experience credits,” said Henry.
Given four years to complete their education, 80 per cent of the cohort that entered high school in 2008 had earned their diploma, up from 73.5 per cent who had done so in three. Henry said 49 students were part of the Finish Line program last year, and all of those students have now either graduated or are in line to graduate this year.
The division surpassed the provincial averages in most categories relating to provincial achievement tests and diploma exams taken earlier this year, but is five per cent below the provincial average when it comes to students transitioning to post-secondary education within six years of their entering high school.
And while statistics on transition rates and test scores within the division for aboriginal students are above provincial averages, high school completion and dropout rates are worse than already shockingly low provincial rates — 43.9 per cent and 8.5 per cent, respectively.
Though the division’s dropout rate fell two points to 9.5 per cent in 2011/12, its high school completion rate fell sharply to 40.9 per cent.
Henry said the division has completely restructured the way it funds aboriginal student services, earmarking dollars directly to schools for each such pupil. Those dollars, said Henry, have to be spent on either providing a direct benefit to struggling aboriginal students, providing cultural awareness to the entire school population, or training staff to deal with aboriginal student issues.
The division has a new First Nations, Métis and Inuit co-ordinator and three FNMI teachers. According to Henry, there are 1,229 FNMI students in the division, which boasts a total enrolment of 10,500 students.
Overall, Red Deer Public’s results show it lagging far behind the Red Deer Catholic Regional School Division in most areas. For all students, the local Catholic completion rate was 85.6 per cent, the dropout rate was 1.4 per cent, and the transition rate was 66.1 per cent; for aboriginal students the numbers were 59 per cent, 5.8 per cent, and 54 per cent, respectively.
When asked why the discrepancy exists within the city, Henry said it may have something to do with the Catholic division’s lower student numbers. The Catholic division has an enrolment of 7,700 students.
mfish@www.reddeeradvocate.com