School Review (2007/2008)
Martin Browne School participated in a school-wide review in the 2007/2008 school year. This review helped to shape our School Improvement Plan.
"This Review was designed to provide all of those interested in the quality of education at Martin Browne School with a picture of their school as perceived by various stakeholder groups. The Review provided an opportunity for students, teachers, administrators, support staff, and parents/guardians to become involved in thinking about the school and its future."
Specifically, this school effectiveness review was undertaken:
1) To identify those areas in which the school is performing well;
2) To suggest areas in which aspects of school life can be improved;
3) To suggest ways in which the various stakeholders can work more effectively together;
4) To provide a picture of the school as perceived by the various stakeholders;
5) To celebrate the successes of the school; and,
6) To provide information to be used in planning for the future.
Martin Browne School Review Final Report 2.pdf
Commendations from the Review Report:
School Vision and Mission Statement:
People were asked in what ways this school exhibits a sense of vision and purpose. There was a consistent and very positive response to this question from staff and parents. The following comments reflect the sense of vision and purpose at Martin Browne School:
- Daily school life lives up to the mission statement. (Teacher)
- The school works on a set of values and they incorporate them into their planning and activities. (Human Services Provider).
- [The principal] is a good leader who has aligned our school’ vision statement with its daily activities (Teacher)
- The emphasis on literacy here is very good. (Parent)
- Not having a big gymnasium has in some ways been helpful in that the students are able to go out to have skating and swimming lessons. (Parent)
- The mission is to create a caring climate. (Educational Assistant)
- There is excellent team work among teachers and support staff. (Teacher)
- There is a small school, community atmosphere. Teachers all know the children well. The staff really care about the kids. (numerous parents)
Professional Community:
It is very rare that an entire staff (support and professional) respond as positively to questions related to “professional community” as the Martin Browne staff does. The data suggests that the work environment in general and staff collegiality in particular makes this school a good place to work. Effectiveness research suggests that if the workplace is happy, yet properly focused upon students, then children benefit.
The comments of various individuals points to Martin Browne as having a very positive professional community:
- I still love Monday mornings. I always come to work with a smile. (Teacher).
- Great place to share ideas. (Teacher).
- Teachers are given many opportunities for collaboration. (Teacher).
- Collaboration is encouraged and facilitated by giving time for collaboration within our school day once a week. (Teacher)
- We don’ feel we are any lesser than the teachers. (Educational Assistant)
- I am proud to work here. (Educational Assistant).
- The professional climate is excellent. The entire staff works as a team where compromise and cooperation are constants. Collaboration happens both formally and informally and is ongoing. Every staff member has input and all are treated with respect. (Teacher).
- This school has a good principal and staff. They work well together. (HumanService provider).
- The teachers and staff are exceptional. (Parent).
- The staff is top notch. (Parent).
- The teachers are willing to take risks and try new things. (Parent).
School Climate:
Within effective schools, concerted attention is devoted to the creation and maintenance of a safe, caring environment that is conducive to learning. Additional perspectives on school climate were provided in the variety of verbatim and interview comments of respondents. These provide interesting elaboration and viewpoints on the data described above:
- The small size allows for a very intimate learning atmosphere. All teachers know the students. The students all play together no matter their age difference [and] I believe this greatly reduces the occurrence of bullying. (Parent).
- Small school. Big hearts! (Parent).
- I appreciate how comfortable my kids are at the school. (Parent).
- I like that the doors are locked during the day –ensures safety. (Parent).
- My child’ needs were looked after in the most caring, professional and genuine manner. I feel the kind of attention she received will benefit her for entire schooling life. (Parent).
- I love coming to school because of my teachers and friends. (Student).
- We all care about each and everyone around us each day. (Educational Assistant).
- The closeness and feeling of community is unique. (Teacher).
- We have nice families and parent volunteers. (Teacher).
Responsive Curriculum and Instruction: Academic Emphasis
Many comments were made in the surveys and interviews concerning the academic work of the school. These provide valuable elaboration on the data described above:
- Teachers in other schools say there are smart students coming out of this school. (Parent)
- This is an outstanding school and it doesn’ get the respect it should because it doesn’ have a gym. (Parent).
- I would like to see the students have more computer time. (Parent).
- We need to improve on our technology, our gym equipment, playground and our resource room [equipment]. (Educational Assistant).
- We could improve our use of technology/computers to directly support or enhance student learning. (Teacher).
- Small group reading and Early Reading Intervention are very successful. (Teacher).
- Parental support for our reading programs is a strength at our school. (Teacher).
Responsive Curriculum and Instruction: Instructional Strategies
Consistently high ratings across all groups of respondents suggested that teachers in this school are providing students with a high caliber of instruction. The data would therefore suggest that the school’s emphasis upon “multiple intelligences” is having a positive impact upon students. The following comments were made regarding aspects of instructional strategies:
- A school of this size lends itself to change because of its great atmosphere and willingness to try new things. (Parent)“Teachers are creative and they make learning fun for students. (Parent).
- We are impressed with the different teaching methods in use. (Parent).
- We like the fun activities. (5 Grade 3 students).
- Staff is expected to develop professional growth plans and Deb[principal] monitors our progress. (Teacher).
- We share teaching ideas a lot here. People are very co-operative and helpful.(Teacher).
Overall Rating of Martin Browne School
Students and parents were asked to rate Martin Browne School by giving it an overall grade (A: excellent to F: very poor). The ratings are summarized in Table 17.
Table 17
Overall Ratings of Martin Browne School
Rating % of Each Group
Parents/Caregiver Grade 3
A (Excellent) 40 73
B (Good) 43 18
C (Average) 13 3
D (Poor) 2
F (Very Poor)
Don’t Know 4 6
As illustrated in Table 17, 83% of the parents, and 91% of the Grade 3-6 students perceived the school to be ‘good’ or ‘excellent.’
Table 18 : Most Frequent Comments: Strengths and Needed Improvements
What are the strengths of the school?
Parents Teachers EA’s/Staff Students
1. Caring climate Caring climate Caring climate Friends/nice kids
2. Small size Staff team work Staff team work Gym
3. Good staff Admin./leadership Programs Teachers/staff
4. Programs Family support Admin/leadership Fun activities
5. Communication w/parents Resources Students Computers
What can be improved?
Parents Teachers EA’s/Staff Students
1. Gym Space Space Gym
2. More computers Computers/use Computers/use P’ground eqp
3. Portables Playground eqp. Playground eqp Computer
4. Communication w/parents Divisional expectations School cleanliness Space
School Goals Based on Conclusions of Report:
Priority 1: Higher Oral Language Achievement (AISI)
Maintain High Mathematics Achievement
- Goal 1: Students in Grades 1-3 will demonstrate increasing skill and confidence in oral language development.
- Goal 2: Kindergarten students will demonstrate phonemic awareness skills at or above the 25th percentile.
- Goal 3: By the end of Grade 3, the percentage of students achieving the acceptable standard as measured by the Alberta Provincial Achievement Tests will be maintained or increased.
- Goal 4: By the end of Grade 3, the percentage of students achieving the standard of excellence as measured by the Alberta Provincial Achievement Tests will be maintained or increased.
Priority 2: Equitable Opportunities
- Goal 1: The percentage of students attending more than 177 days of school (88.5 for Kindergarten) will increase.
- Goal 2: All students will have access to, and instruction in the use of current technology to meet the goals of the LPSD Technology Plan, and to support curriculum learning.
- Goal 3: By the end of June, 2009, the percentage of teachers indicating proficiency in integrating the use of technology in their daily instruction will increase, as measured by a Teacher Satisfaction Survey.
Priority 3: Smooth Transitions
- Goal 1: Parents express satisfaction that their children experience successful transition
- into Grade 4, as measured by a Parent Satisfaction Survey.
- Goal 2: Parents express satisfaction that their children are successfully transitioned into
- Kindergarten, as measured by a Parent Satisfaction Survey.
- Goal 3: Students are successfully transitioned between grades at Martin Browne, as
- measured by a Parent Satisfaction Survey.
Priority 4: System Accountability and Governance
- Goal 1: The School Community Council will work to improve SCC communication between home and school and to recruit new members.
Priority 5: Communication Plan
- Goal 1: The percentage of parents indicating satisfaction with the amount, quality of information, and timeliness of school communications will be at or above 95% as measured by the parent satisfaction survey which will be administered in June of each school year.
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