37 anglophone schools in N.B. to test 2 monthly professional learning days
New Brunswick will add up to two professional learning days a month for staff at some schools in a pilot project starting this fall, Education Minister Claire Johnson says.
At 37 anglophone schools across the province, teachers will get up to 10 more days for professional learning, planning or training during the school year.
"This is not a day off," Johnson said at the announcement Friday in Saint John. "Teachers are going to be working hard on these days and doing things that are intentional and specific, because teachers have told us this is what they need, this is what they want.
"They've consistently told us that they need more time to learn, more time to plan, more time to collaborate with colleagues and to reflect on students' progress."
Johnson said the days will fall on Fridays "to minimize disruptions for families."
She said the New Brunswick Teachers' Association and the Anglophone school districts consulted with parents from the school support committees and looked at other jurisdictions to see what is being done elsewhere.
Johnson said francophone schools have been doing this for a while now and undertook a similar pilot a few years ago.
Those results have been promising in terms of teacher happiness and improvements with literacy, numeracy and curbing chronic absenteeism, she said.
The anglophone pilot, she said, will be heavily evaluated with check-ins throughout the year and the tracking of teacher engagement and satisfaction and student success.
The pilot will create additional student days off each month, but John said she believes it will also help with chronic absenteeism.
"When we know we're going to have a specific day off, and that's why it needs to be predictable, then students know that they're going to have a catch-up day, they're going to have a day to rest, which means that they may be going to school the rest of the time," she said.
Knowing the specific Fridays in advance could also allow for better planning of sports tournaments so that students don't need to be absent for sports as much, she said.
The learning time at participating schools will be the same as it is in provinces showing the best results in recent assessment tests, the government said.
Parent Laura Lynn Steeves, whose son is next year's student council president at Harbour View High School in Saint John, attended the news conference and talked to reporters afterward.
From conversations with her son, she said, she believes the pilot will be a chance for students to better balance academics with their extracurricular activities and community involvement.
"I think it's going to help all students from all aspects, even students that are struggling," she said. "It's going to give them a day to sort of breathe, you know, spend some time at their own pace, working within their limits."
Steeves, who is also the chair of Harbour View's parent school support committee, said she thinks the pilot will also help with teacher retention and recruitment because it will give them needed days for curriculum and lesson planning.
Peter Lagacy, the president of the New Brunswick Teachers' Association, said having the time to plan and "do your job well" has been lacking.
He said 136 schools stepped up to volunteer for the pilot, but the selection of 37 schools provincewide is a good sample size.
Lagacy agrees the project will likely have an effect on chronic absenteeism.
"One thing that we understand for sure is that, you know, the most important piece in a child's education is the teacher," he said. The pilot will allow teachers to have well-planned lessons, collaboration with other professionals and the ability to look at a student's individual support needs, he said.
"I think [if] we can make that connection and make a better connection, then we'll certainly see absentee rates improve."
The following schools will be part of the pilot:
Anglophone West
Bath Community School
Bristol Elementary School
Carleton North High School
Florenceville Middle School
Florenceville Elementary School
Centreville Community School
Anglophone North
Napan Elementary School
Nelson Rural School
King Street Elementary School
Dr. Losier Middle School
James M. Hill High School
Parkwood Heights Elementary School
Terry Fox Elementary School
Superior Middle School
Bathurst High School
Miramichi Rural School
Anglophone South
Sir James Dunn Academy
Vincent Massey Elementary
Harbour View High School
Saint John High School
St. Malachy's Memorial High School
Simonds High School
Fairvale Elementary School
Rothesay High School
Kennebecasis Valley High School
Quispamsis Middle School
Anglophone East
Harrison Trimble High School
Queen Elizabeth School
Beaverbrook School
Magnetic Hill School
Birchmount School
Maplehurst School
Northrop Frye School
Havelock School
Petitcodiac Regional School
Salisbury Elementary School
Salisbury Regional School
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