Stakeholder Engagement
EICS is committed to engaging with all members of society as stakeholders in education. As we plan to achieve our mission to develop educational opportunities in the context of Gospel values, where students' gifts and talents are celebrated and nurtured through lifelong spiritual and personal experiences, we will need to address effective ways of bridging perceived ‘gaps’ in communication or involvement from our stakeholders through meaningful engagement processes.
Community assurance happens when community members, system stakeholders and education partners engage in cycles of continuous improvement within and across five domains:
- Student Growth and Achievement
- Teaching and Leading
- Learning Supports
- Governance
- Local and Societal Context
An Assurance Model for planning means that the EICS Board is committed to determining the level of confidence that our stakeholders have in our system. We endeavour to consider the insights of all our stakeholders, including:
- Students
- Parents
- School Councils, Catholic Education Parent Advisory Council (CEPAC)
- Principals, Assistant Principals, Certified Staff, Non-Certified Staff, Division Staff
- Alberta Teacher's Association, UNIFOR. CUPE, EICS Transportation Association
- Council of Catholic School Superintendents of Alberta, College of Alberta School Superintendents
- Board of Trustees
- Parish Priests, Bishops, Parish Members
- Grace Committee, Religious Education Network
- Community Members
- Indigenous Elders and Knowledge Keepers
- Universities and Colleges of Alberta
- County of Strathcona, City of Camrose, Fort Saskatchewan, and Town of Vegreville
- Government Agencies
EICS relies on a multi-method approach to involve stakeholders in providing feedback:
- Division Assurance Survey
- Focus Groups at the school and division
- Review of all data measures. government and local
- Active School Engagement process with school administrators
- Catholic School Review process at each school site
- Observations of classroom and school practices
- Review of local assessments and implementation of strategies to strengthen student learning
EICS is committed to reviewing our Education Assurance Plans on an ongoing basis with all stakeholders, identifying milestones and adjust according to the latest results from provincial and local measures and based on what we are learning from the implementation of the plan. Updated plans are published annually in the spring and reflect any adjustments made.
The following questions inform the school engagements and planning:
- How did you collaborate to develop your School Assurance Plan with staff, students and parents? What were the competing priorities? What are you learning from the results?
- What are the successes in each area? How did you celebrate your successes with your school community?
- What is the largest area for improvement identified for your school? Discuss the strategies and measures to address challenge areas.
- Priority Based budgeting. How have you actioned the School Assurance Plan priorities within your budget?
Division Communication
Family and community involvement in the life of schools and education enrich learning environments and directly contribute to student achievement.
In addition, our division connects with families and community members online in the following ways:
- Our Website
- YouTube
- School Newsletters