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Ellerslie Campus

 

School/District Information

School Name: Ellerslie Campus (Grades K–9)
District Name: Edmonton Public Schools
School Address:  521-66 Street S.W., Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6X 1A3
School Phone: 780.988.5556
School Fax: 780.988.8073
Superintendent: Henry Madsen
Superintendent E-Mail: henry-madsen@epsb.ca
Web Address: http://ellerslie.epsb.ca/

Demographics

Number of Students: 610
Number eligible for Free and Reduced Lunch: NA
Percent of Limited English Proficient: 32%
Percent of Special Education:  11%
Racial/Ethnic Percentages:

  • White: NA
  • Black: NA
  • Hispanic: NA
  • Asian/Pacific Island: NA
  • Other: 10% (self identified as Aboriginal)

 

Student Achievement Data:

Elementary Reading and Writing Data

Grade 1
Ellerslie Reading Scores
(% at or above
grade level)
District Reading Scores
(% at or above
grade level)
Ellerslie Writing Scores
(% at or above
grade level)
District Writing
Scores
(% at or above
grade level)
2005/06
96.3
90.8
97.1
89.6
2006/07
100
90.5
97.6
88.9
2007/08
96.3
89.7
96.3
90.1
2008/09
97.3
88.8
97.7
88.1
2009/10
94.8
90.0
100
89.5

 

Grade 2
Ellerslie Reading Scores
(% at or above
grade level)
District Reading Scores
(% at or above
grade level)
Ellerslie Writing Scores
(% at or above
grade level)
District Writing
Scores
(% at or above
grade level)
2005/06
100
86.1
100
90.7
2006/07
73.8
87.4
87.5
91.1
2007/08
80.5
87.3
92.7
93.0
2008/09
88.6
84.4
97.7
88.6
2009/10
85.7
83.8
98.2
89.2

 

Grade 3
Ellerslie Reading Scores
(% at or above
grade level)
District Reading Scores
(% at or above
grade level)
Ellerslie Writing Scores
(% at or above
grade level)
District Writing
Scores
(% at or above
grade level)
2005/06
95.7
86.3
100
89.2
2006/07
100
85.7
100
90.3
2007/08
100
86.3
100
91.0
2008/09
90.7
83.9
90.7
88.3
2009/10
95.7
83.5
93.5
87.9

 

Grade 4
Ellerslie Reading Scores
(% at or above
grade level)
District Reading Scores
(% at or above
grade level)
Ellerslie Writing Scores
(% at or above
grade level)
District Writing
Scores
(% at or above
grade level)
2005/06
90.6
84.1
100
87.9
2006/07
90.9
84
100
88.6
2007/08
88.2
83
97.9
88.9
2008/09
86.5
81.3
100
86.9
2009/10
89.8
83.2
95.9
86.7

 

Grade 5
Ellerslie Reading Scores
(% at or above
grade level)
District Reading Scores
(% at or above
grade level)
Ellerslie Writing Scores
(% at or above
grade level)
District Writing
Scores
(% at or above
grade level)
2005/06
97.4
84.1
97.5
86.6
2006/07
81.2
84.5
100
87.3
2007/08
89.2
83.9
97.3
88
2008/09
92.9
81
98
86.5
2009/10
92.5
82.4
96.2
85.0

 

Grade 6
Ellerslie Reading Scores
(% at or above
grade level)
District Reading Scores
(% at or above
grade level)
Ellerslie Writing Scores
(% at or above
grade level)
District Writing
Scores
(% at or above
grade level)
2005/06
97.9
84.7
93.8
85.8
2006/07
100
85.4
100
88.1
2007/08
88.3
84.3
97.7
88.4
2008/09
97.2
82.5
100
87.8
2009/10
94.6
82.5
96.4
85.4

 

Junior High Reading and Writing Data

Grade 7
Ellerslie Reading Scores
(% at or above
grade level)
District Reading Scores
(% at or above
grade level)
Ellerslie Writing Scores
(% at or above
grade level)
District Writing
Scores
(% at or above
grade level)
2005/06
93.2
90.8
82.4
89.6
2006/07
83.3
90.5
86.0
88.9
2007/08
91.9
89.7
91.7
90.1
2008/09
97.7
84
90.5
86.5
2009/10
94.3
84.0
100
86.5

 

Grade 8
Ellerslie Reading Scores
(% at or above
grade level)
District Reading Scores
(% at or above
grade level)
Ellerslie Writing Scores
(% at or above
grade level)
District Writing
Scores
(% at or above
grade level)
2005/06
82.9
86.1
78.5
90.7
2006/07
90.4
87.4
93.2
91.1
2007/08
84.7
87.3
82.8
93.0
2008/09
86.8
82.3
81.5
87
2009/10
87
81.9
100
85.7

 

Grade 9
Ellerslie Reading Scores
(% at or above
grade level)
District Reading Scores
(% at or above
grade level)
Ellerslie Writing Scores
(% at or above
grade level)
District Writing
Scores
(% at or above
grade level)
2005/06
79.0
86.3
82.2
89.2
2006/07
81.1
85.7
96.2
90.3
2007/08
93.1
86.3
94.3
91.0
2008/09
92.6
82.5
97.5
88.4
2008/09
92.6
82.5
97.5
88.4
2009/10
89.4
82.3
100
87.6

 

Provincial Achievement Test Results
Cohort Data
Grade 3
% Ellerslie Language Arts Acceptable Standard
% Province Language Arts Acceptable Standard
% Ellerslie Language Arts Standard of Excellence
% Province Language Arts Standard of Excellence
2005/06
72.0
81.3
4.0
14.1
2006/07
100.0
80.3
17.5
17.7
2007/08
78.0
80.1
17.1
16.1
2008/09
83.7
81.3
30.2
18.2
2009/10
87.0
81.6
23.9
19.5
 
% Ellerslie
Math
Acceptable Standard
% Province
Math
Acceptable Standard
% Ellerslie
Math
Standard of Excellence
% Province
Math
Standard of Excellence
2005/06
80.0
81.4
28.0
27.1
2006/07
97.5
79.4
42.5
23.3
2007/08
92.7
78.3
29.3
24.0
2008/09
86
79.2
25.6
11.3
2009/10
96.4
83.3
19.6
18.9

 

Provincial Achievement Test Results
Cohort Data
Grade 6
% Ellerslie Language Arts Acceptable Standard
% Province Language Arts Acceptable Standard
% Ellerslie Language Arts Standard of Excellence
% Province Language Arts Standard of Excellence
2005/06
85.7
90.1
20.4
15.9
2006/07
95.5
80.3
31.8
19.8
2007/08
86.0
81.1
30.2
21.0
2008/09
94.6
81.8
35.1
18.9
2009/10
96.4
83.3
19.6
18.9
 
% Ellerslie
Math
Acceptable Standard
% Province
Math
Acceptable Standard
% Ellerslie
Math
Standard of Excellence
% Province
Math
Standard of Excellence
2005/06
83.7
74.5
14.3
15.3
2006/07
81.8
73.3
4.5
14.4
2007/08
74.4
73.9
18.6
15.7
2008/09
89.2
75.8
43.2
16.5
2009/10
94.6
72.8
17.9
16.3
 
% Ellerslie
Science
Acceptable Standard
% Province
Science
Acceptable Standard
% Ellerslie
Science
Standard of Excellence
% Province
Science
Standard of Excellence
2005/06
89.8
77.7
32.7
28.1
2006/07
84.1
74.7
18.2
26.8
2007/08
92.9
74.3
40.5
24.4
2008/09
91.9
76.1
43.2
25.2
2009/10
92.9
76.6
33.9
27.0
 
% Ellerslie
Social Studies
Acceptable Standard
% Province
Social Studies
Acceptable Standard
% Ellerslie
Social Studies
Standard of Excellence
% Province
Social Studies
Standard of Excellence
2005/06
87.8
78.2
28.6
23.2
2006/07
88.6
77.0
31.8
22.7
2007/08
90.5
77.4
50.0
24.2
2008/09
*
*
*
*
2009/10
94.6
70.9
32.1
16.7
* No results are available during the first year of testing new curriculum

 

Provincial Achievement Test Results
Cohort Data
Grade 9
% Ellerslie Language Arts Acceptable Standard
% Province Language Arts Acceptable Standard
% Ellerslie Language Arts Standard of Excellence
% Province Language Arts Standard of Excellence
2005/06
79.4
77.4
13.7
13.6
2006/07
85.9
77.5
16.7
14.8
2007/08
87.7
76.5
17.8
14.8
2008/09
84
78.7
13.6
14.7
2009/10
81.6
79.3
26.5
15.0
 
% Ellerslie
Math
Acceptable Standard
% Province
Math
Acceptable Standard
% Ellerslie
Math
Standard of Excellence
% Province
Math
Standard of Excellence
2005/06
54.5
66.4
8.9
17.0
2006/07
67.5
65.2
13.0
17.8
2007/08
84.9
64.5
27.4
17.8
2008/09
74.1
65.9
18.5
18
2009/10
71.1
64.0
33.3
19.0
 
% Ellerslie
Science
Acceptable Standard
% Province
Science
Acceptable Standard
% Ellerslie
Science
Standard of Excellence
% Province
Science
Standard of Excellence
2005/06
55.4
66.7
6.9
13.5
2006/07
71.4
68.8
10.4
14.6
2007/08
83.6
68.4
11.0
12.9
2008/09
86.4
71.6
12.3
15.8
2009/10
78.3
72.9
17.4
17.8
 
% Ellerslie
Social Studies
Acceptable Standard
% Province
Social Studies
Acceptable Standard
% Ellerslie
Social Studies
Standard of Excellence
% Province
Social Studies
Standard of Excellence
2005/06
64.4
71.9
5.9
19.0
2006/07
70.1
70.6
11.7
19.0
2007/08
83.6
71.0
17.8
19.2
2008/09
*
*
*
*
2009/10
81
68
35.7
18.8
* No results are available during the first year of testing new curriculum

 

Prior Level of Achievement Cohort Data

For each group of students who write a provincial achievement test in the province of Alberta, the Department of Education makes a statistical prediction about how the students should perform on the next standardized provincial assessment they write. The actual scores are reported and compared with the predicted result to help schools determine the validity of the programming they provide. The scores are reported as (+) significantly above, (=) not significantly different from or (-) significantly below.

 

 
Difference Between Predicted Score and Actual Score
Grade 6
Language Arts
Math
2005/06
1.2 (=)
0.8 (=)
2006/07
4.6 (+)
-4.6 (=)
2007/08
5.9 (+)
4.1 (=)
2008/09
7.6 (+)
7.0 (+)
2009/10
2.0 (+)
0.1 (=)
 
Grade 9
Language Arts
Math
2005/06
3.3 (+)
-0.2 (=)
2006/07
5.1 (+)
5.3 (+)
2007/08
5.6 (+)
11.8 (+)
2008/09
4.8 (+)
4.2(+)
2009/10
1.8(=)
7.2 (+)

 

This data shows that the students of Ellerslie Campus are performing higher than expected in grade 6 Language Arts, Grade 9 Language Arts and Grade 9 Math.

 

Please comment on any aspect of the data that you believe is particularly significant.

When we began our PLC work four years ago, Ellerslie Campus was a school with a broken culture. Long standing ineffective school practices lead to teacher frustration and poor student achievement and behavior. We began our PLC journey in hopes of creating a completely different school environment, one that was based on excellence instead of mediocrity. To accomplish this goal, the adults in our building needed to act differently and we used the three big ideas and the four guiding questions as a template for our work. The piece of our data that best represents the collective efforts of all of our staff members is the dramatic increase in grade 9 achievement. While our school achievement has been increasing the achievement trend in our province has been on the decline.

Please present additional information that indicates your efforts to build a professional learning community have had a positive impact on students and/or teachers.

The power of a Professional Learning Community is that it puts decision making power into the hands of the people who should be making the decisions. Once given this opportunity my staff flourished and became a very focused group. They began to believe that the problems in student learning they had experienced in the past could be overcome by collective intelligence. Data from our district satisfaction surveys reflects their satisfaction with their school. Some examples from our staff survey are:

Question
2006
%
2007
%
2008
%
2009
%
Staff work as a team in your school
79
85
96
96
School is a good place to work
83
90
100
100
School is a safe place to work
87
90
100
97
School is focused on student achievement
92
97
100
100
Principal provides effective leadership
87
93
100
100
Accountability system shapes instructional practice
96
96
100
100

In addition to our staff, I believe that our students benefited from our PLC work. Our teachers were more able to meet their needs and I feel that this contributed to an improved school experience. Some of our elementary student survey results that indicate their satisfaction are as follows:

Question
2006
%
2007
%
2008
%
2009
%
Do you find school work interesting
69
84
84
90
Feel safe during recess
87
91
97
90
Report card is helpful to you
89
84
92
95
Like being in school
84
93
90
90
Principal is a good leader
87
97
98
98
Teacher helps you when needed
93
95
97
97
Teacher expects you to do your best
98
100
98
99

Some of our junior high student survey results that indicate their satisfaction are as follows:

Question
2006
%
2007
%
2008
%
2009
%
Do you find school work interesting
65
77
72
71
Are your classes challenging
86
77
80
80
Know how you are expected to behave
93
97
91
94
Are you expected to do your best
94
100
97
97
Principal is a good leader
61
81
81
80
Teacher helps you when needed
80
86
87
86

 

Please elaborate strategies you have found to be effective in the following areas:

1. Monitoring student learning on a timely basis.

All teachers at Ellerslie are part of subject, divisional and vertical collaborative teams. Our collaborative team worked together to create essential outcomes for each subject in each grade, regardless of whether or not they taught the grade. This process ensured that all staff was crystal clear on not only the outcomes of their grade but the grade levels before and after them as well. With these outcomes our teams created a scope and sequence for learning for all ten years a child will attend Ellerslie Campus. To ensure equity of instruction, our collaborative teams created common summative assessments based on the ELO’s and included them in our scope and sequence. These common assessments are collaboratively marked and the data is shared within the collaborative team. This data helps to determine the effectiveness of our instructional practices and aides our teachers in their efforts to continuously improve. In addition to our summative assessments, our collaborative teams have also examined and incorporated formative assessments into their daily practice. The information gathered through our assessment process allows our teachers to accurately determine the strengths and weaknesses of each individual student to determine who requires additional time and support.

2. Creating systems of intervention to provide students with additional time and support for learning.

Over the last three years we have developed a systemic approach to providing additional time and support for the students of Ellerslie Campus. It is ever evolving as we continuously monitor the effectiveness of our strategies on student success. See our current Pyramid of Interventions.

3. Building teacher capacity to work as members of high performing collaborative teams that focus efforts on improved learning for all students.

I feel that there are several keys to creating a high functioning team they are as follows:

  1. Teachers have to believe that the work they are doing will have a positive impact on their ability to meet the needs of their most difficult students. The traditional school where teachers work in isolation and are left to handle all of their of achievement issues practically guarantees failure. The result of this approach is the creation of winners and losers. Teachers who are naturally able to overcome the majority of issues due to vibrant personality, hard work or a combination of both come out as winners. This is the teacher that all students and parents want. The teachers who struggle to meet the needs of their students due to inexperience, lack of support, environmental factors, etc, often lose their passion for the work they do and begin to believe that the results they achieve are all that is possible. These are the teachers most likely to blame their students or their parents for the results they are achieving. They often lose confidence in their abilities and don’t want to collaborate for fear of being discovered by their colleagues. Therefore, I believe that before the teams can begin to collaborate, the keeper of the vision (the principal in my case) needed to do an excellent job in instilling hope. The rationale for proceeding down this path needed to be clear in order to minimize the change stress.
  2. The second key to success I believe lies in ensuring that the first collaborative project allows for all teachers to participate in the discussion and contribute to the result. In the case of Ellerslie Campus, we chose to begin our collaborative work by examining curriculum to determine essential learning outcomes. Even if a teacher is resistant to the idea of collaboration it is very hard for them to defend the position that they don’t want to discuss curriculum. I have found that this process leads to teachers who are motivated and engaged in the completion of the task as they begin to see the relevance and benefit to their classroom.
  3. The third key is that teachers need to be allowed to make decisions regarding the direction of the collaboration. If their decisions are constantly overrule by the administration the teachers will quickly lose their enthusiasm for this new method of operation. The principal should participate by continuing to communicate the desired end result but the path to the result should be teacher driven. Allowing teachers to make decisions creates ownership and accountability for the results.
  4. Collaborative teams must be allowed to make mistakes. Part of building trust is accepting that mistakes might happen. The principal should not abandon the process and try and control the direction if the results are initially not favorable. Changing practice is a messy business that sometimes does not yield an immediate change in results. Having faith and patience in the ability of the collaborative teams to achieve the desired results will build trust and eventually lead to a committed high functioning team.
  5. Ellerslie staff report student progress a minimum of 10 times each year.  These reports go home to parents and include both formative and summative assessment.  The reports are designed to focus on what students need to do to improve their performance. 

 

List awards and recognitions your school has achieved:

We have not received any awards but we have received considerable attention from other district schools. I am part of a district principal support group of 20 elementary/junior high schools who have begun the process of becoming PLC schools. This was a direct result of the increased achievement at Ellerslie Campus. In addition, our teachers are beginning to be recognized for the work they do as several have been nominated for Provincial Excellence in Teaching Awards.