At the end of March, Mountain View School Division superintendent Dan Ward will be presenting to the Council of Ministers of Education Canada.

MVSD was selected to present at the workshop in Ottawa because of their strategic plan and report.

Ward says the department was interested in how they separated their data for indigenous and non-indigenous students and how they target supports in schools to support the learning needs of all students.

“So we are going to present on that topic at CMEC in Ottawa in late March, in terms of how the division uses the data, how we present the data to schools, and how as school leaders, we use it to essentially guide our planning around supporting students to learn to  the best of their ability.”

The workshop will focus on elementary and secondary education, exploring topics such as student completion pathways, data-sharing, approaches to self-identification, usage of indigenous data, and linking quantitative and qualitative data.

Ward says MVSD can learn from other school divisions from across Canada and hear what those divisions do with their data and what initiatives they have to support indigenous learners.

“I’m very much looking forward to hearing what’s working in other parts of Canada. Of course, we have our own context and our own needs, but I think the division will benefit from learning from other divisions and districts, in terms of not only how they use their data, but how they plan to ensure every student is supported.”

Ward says it’s a great honour that the Mountain View School Division is the only rural school division that was nominated to present.

“I believe we provide a unique rural perspective on our programming.”