Throughout the 2023-24 school year, staff have presented to the Board of Education regarding our data-driven work to improve. Last night, Chief Officers Susan Christopherson and Susanne Cramer updated the Board of Education on our district’s continuous improvement process and the Learning Framework. 

Our district is aligning school improvement work and accreditation through a systems approach with Cognia. Accreditation allows us to recognize our strengths and growth opportunities. One of the tools through Cognia is the Effective Learning Environment Observation Tool (eleot). It creates a shared understanding of a student's classroom experience. 

The Learning Framework helps us plan and prepare for effective delivery of curriculum in our classrooms. The eleot tool and our Learning Framework improve teaching and strengthen student engagement.

The Learning Framework

The Learning Framework is an all-inclusive resource that provides common language and a shared vision of student-centered teaching and learning. Collaboration among teachers, school leaders, and staff from Student and Community Services, Accountability and School Improvement, Curriculum and Instruction Support and Human Resources helped develop the Learning Framework. 

The components of the Learning Framework are:

• Learning Culture
• Learning Experiences
• Reflection and Results

The components define expectations for meaningful student learning experiences, creating a learning culture for students and educators, and using reflection and results to support educators in making instructional decisions. 

The Learning Framework is used for lesson planning and preparation, professional learning communities (PLCs), school improvement, coaching and professional development. 

Effective Learning Environment Observation Tool (eleot)

The eleot tool focuses on what students are learning, saying and doing. It helps staff understand:

• If the Learning Framework is implemented with integrity
• If our focused professional learning and coaching efforts are impacting student engagement
• The next steps for professional learning

Staff use eleot data to focus on learning engagement, review student data and track outcomes of instructional strategies and programs.

Next Steps

Throughout the 2023-24 school year, principals began working with the Learning Framework and completed Canvas training. The Continuous Improvement Steering Team meets monthly to self-assess, analyze evidence and align improvement processes. The Learning Framework is embedded into all leadership meetings, and school teams will complete the first eleot rounds by April 2024. During the 2024-25 school year, all schools will implement two rounds of eleot per semester.