CTR school division reporting 2023-24 assurance survey results above provincial averages

By John Watson Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Christ the Redeemer (CTR) Catholic Schools have released their 2023-24 assurance survey results detailing student statistics related to excellence in education throughout the school division. 

According to the release, CTR is reporting above provincial averages in all 12 of Alberta’s required assurance measures.

“In CTR catholic schools, we are really pleased to see that overall, our results continue to be very strong in all areas required by the government, and that includes our academic results from students, and our assurance results from our community surveys,” said Andrea Holowka, superintendent of schools for the CTR division. “We really focus on research-informed practices that have high yield impact on student outcomes. We focus on ensuring our teachers are strong in their knowledge of curriculum and in pedagogical practices that allow students to be engaged in their learning.”

Holowka said CTR schools puts a strong emphasis on their data and look to their collected information in order to inform where the division wishes to improve their practices, as well as to invest in learning improvement.

Assurance surveys that are required by the province, as well as information collected that is unique to CTR fuels analysis and decision making within the division, both in regards to student education, and in areas related to the Catholic faith.

“We have additional engagement in each of our seven communities where we actually speak to various staff members, parents and our students to hear more about how our division is supporting them and areas where we can do better. We take that feedback and use that to help shape our education plan,” said Holowka. “It would be really easy for us to just say we are doing really well, but within that, we still go through our results analysis and look at each outcome and study that very carefully … our principals lead that work within their schools to look at the overall results and see areas of strength and areas where there needs to be continuous improvement.”

She explained part of being able to support students who may be outliers from the survey averages includes the placement of learning support staff in every school who watch for students who require more specific learning or behavioral support to be given the resources they need to succeed. 

This can range from strategies to be made available at a classroom level, or for support to be brought in from the division as a greater entity. 

Holowka estimated in Strathmore specifically, parental involvement scores are likely to see an increase following the opening of the Sacred Heart Church earlier this year.