They’re a little puzzled over at the School District 52 offices these days, as they try to understand the latest statistics that show a decline in First Nations students attending local schools; this despite the fact there has not been a sizable drop in the First Nations population in the region.
While high school numbers are expected to decline over the next few years, the latest stats show a surprising drop in Kindergarten enrollment and drop in First Nations students across the board that will require a bit more study for an answer on.
The Daily News provided some background on the quest for answers in Tuesday’s paper.
Steady fall in student numbers surprises educators
By Kris Schumacher
The Daily News
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Pages one and two
Despite Prince Rupert’s total Aboriginal population remaining stable during the past year, the number of Aboriginal students enrolled in School District 52 has decreased.
The total number of students in School District 52 has decreased by 32 since last year. Total elementary enrollment for the 2008-09 school year is 1,393 students, down by only one from the previous year. At the secondary level, total student enrollment has decreased by 31, the first of what will be several years of steady decline in Grades 7-12 province-wide.
The total Aboriginal student enrollment across all grades in the district also decreased from the 2007-08 by 2.4 per cent, and Aboriginal students now account for 1,494 of the 2,593 students in SD52, precisely 57.4 per cent of the total student body.
“It’s been looking like (the number of Aboriginal students) has been increasing, because the other total populations have been decreasing while the Aboriginal population has been stable,” said Superintendent of Schools Eric Mercer.
“So, while the Aboriginal population is becoming a greater percentage of our total population (in Prince Rupert), there’s actually a 2.4 per cent decrease in the number of Aboriginal students enrolled in the school district.”
Kindergarten class sizes have shrunk by an average of 1.5 students per classroom since last year, with an average district class size of 15.5 students. From Kindergarten to Grade 3 the average class size has increased by 2.5 students to a 20.2 student average, which Mercer said can be attributed to a number of new families with young children in that grade range moving into the district. The intermediate Grades 4 to 7 classes have increased in size by an average of 1.6 students, and class sizes in Grades 8 to 12 have increased on average by 0.7 students.
“As you know, we are anticipating a greater drop in secondary, but we were taken aback little by the drop in Kindergarten and Aboriginal students,” said Mercer.
The number of elementary classrooms with more than three IEP (Individualized Education Program) students has decreased from 41 in the 2007-08 school year to only 25 currently.
That number has dropped significantly at the secondary level, with only 45 classrooms now containing more than three IEP students, compared to 81 in the 2007-08 year.
Mercer said another statistic, worth noting was that of SD52’s 351 identified IEP students, 254 are males and only 97 are female.
He noted that this may be something to take into account when looking at district student achievement, because male students across Canada are not achieving at the same level as female students in any subject area.
“Each of the school principals I cooperation with staff has made every effort to make each classroom the most effective learning situation possible given the resources,” said Mercer in his report to the board on class size and composition.
“Consultation meetings have been held with each teacher regarding classroom environments that have more than three identified students or have more than 30 students in the classroom… I believe that the current learning conditions present in our district are acceptable within the given parameters of resources available to us,” he concluded.
The Daily News provided some background on the quest for answers in Tuesday’s paper.
Steady fall in student numbers surprises educators
By Kris Schumacher
The Daily News
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Pages one and two
Despite Prince Rupert’s total Aboriginal population remaining stable during the past year, the number of Aboriginal students enrolled in School District 52 has decreased.
The total number of students in School District 52 has decreased by 32 since last year. Total elementary enrollment for the 2008-09 school year is 1,393 students, down by only one from the previous year. At the secondary level, total student enrollment has decreased by 31, the first of what will be several years of steady decline in Grades 7-12 province-wide.
The total Aboriginal student enrollment across all grades in the district also decreased from the 2007-08 by 2.4 per cent, and Aboriginal students now account for 1,494 of the 2,593 students in SD52, precisely 57.4 per cent of the total student body.
“It’s been looking like (the number of Aboriginal students) has been increasing, because the other total populations have been decreasing while the Aboriginal population has been stable,” said Superintendent of Schools Eric Mercer.
“So, while the Aboriginal population is becoming a greater percentage of our total population (in Prince Rupert), there’s actually a 2.4 per cent decrease in the number of Aboriginal students enrolled in the school district.”
Kindergarten class sizes have shrunk by an average of 1.5 students per classroom since last year, with an average district class size of 15.5 students. From Kindergarten to Grade 3 the average class size has increased by 2.5 students to a 20.2 student average, which Mercer said can be attributed to a number of new families with young children in that grade range moving into the district. The intermediate Grades 4 to 7 classes have increased in size by an average of 1.6 students, and class sizes in Grades 8 to 12 have increased on average by 0.7 students.
“As you know, we are anticipating a greater drop in secondary, but we were taken aback little by the drop in Kindergarten and Aboriginal students,” said Mercer.
The number of elementary classrooms with more than three IEP (Individualized Education Program) students has decreased from 41 in the 2007-08 school year to only 25 currently.
That number has dropped significantly at the secondary level, with only 45 classrooms now containing more than three IEP students, compared to 81 in the 2007-08 year.
Mercer said another statistic, worth noting was that of SD52’s 351 identified IEP students, 254 are males and only 97 are female.
He noted that this may be something to take into account when looking at district student achievement, because male students across Canada are not achieving at the same level as female students in any subject area.
“Each of the school principals I cooperation with staff has made every effort to make each classroom the most effective learning situation possible given the resources,” said Mercer in his report to the board on class size and composition.
“Consultation meetings have been held with each teacher regarding classroom environments that have more than three identified students or have more than 30 students in the classroom… I believe that the current learning conditions present in our district are acceptable within the given parameters of resources available to us,” he concluded.
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