Empirical research over the last three decades has consistently indicated that the single most important environmental factor affecting student learning is the quality of teaching received, followed closely by the quality of instructional leadership in schools and across school systems.
In line with these findings, the Peace River School Division has developed a strong focus on ensuring the delivery of quality educational services in the core foundational areas of literacy and numeracy as essential to fostering students' overall academic development across grade levels and curricular areas.
The division has chosen the Collaborative Response philosophy and framework as the vehicle through which schools continue their efforts to create differentiated and inclusionary programs and services to help ensure academic success for all students.
Literacy
Alberta Education (2016) defines literacy as "the ability, confidence, and willingness to engage with language to acquire, construct, and communicate meaning in all aspects of daily living". In Peace River School Division, we know that literacy is much more than just reading and writing. We provide opportunities for students to build the skills necessary to make sense of the world around them by effectively responding to their literacy needs, with research-based and evidence-supported "best practices" in literacy instruction.
Numeracy
According to Alberta Education (2016), numeracy involves an ability, confidence, and willingness to engage with two main types of information: quantitative (that which can be measured and expressed as an amount), and spatial (describing the physical location and relationship between objects).
Numeracy instruction in the Peace River School Division places an emphasis on building conceptual understanding; more than memorization, quality numeracy education assists students in understanding how and why mathematical procedures work, as well as how to apply them in making informed decisions in daily life.
Learning Services
