Review of Foothills School Division French Immersion Program 2021-2022
The review of Foothills School Division's French Immersion Program for 2021-2022 covers aspects like student and parent satisfaction, language fluency levels, staffing, resources, and more. Recommendations include program planning for enhanced experiences and sustainability considerations. The study emphasizes ongoing improvement based on feedback from various stakeholders.
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Foothills School Division French immersion Program Review 2021-2022 Prepared by Shelley Zorn, French Services Facilitator April 27, 2022
The program review examined several dimensions of the French immersion program including student and parent satisfaction, reasons for taking French immersion, levels of language fluency, staffing, information needs, learning resources, professional development, funding, program promotion and marketing. METHODOLOGY The number of respondents for the surveys is as follows: Administrators: 12 Parents: 64 Students (Grades 4-6): 117 Students (Secondary): 180 Teachers: 17
This study represents but one element of a continuous process to highlight the achievements and successes of the Division s French immersion program and to identify its areas of growth and next steps. This process has pursued and must continue to pursue two key aims: learner engagement, support and success for all enhance and focus the work undertaken by the central office, school administrative and teaching personnel. Conclusions and Recommendations This report presents a number of recommendations, suggested in the surveys and during the focus group discussions with participants in the study. It is now up to the school teams and central office personnel to prioritize these recommendations and, if necessary, to clarify them further or even reword them. The real experts in this improvement process are the people who know best all strengths and areas of growth in this Division s six French immersion schools, the people who work in these schools every day.
Recommendation 1 Program Planning In order to create robust French immersion programming and to provide more experiences in the target language, it is recommended that the Foothills School Division undertake the required consultation and planning to consider the following: regionalize the Division 4 French immersion program at cole Secondaire Foothills Composite High School and add an additional course in French, for example physical education, science or math. offer at least one option course in French at the middle/junior high level. ensure that there is a bilingual school administrator in each immersion school. offer full day French immersion kindergarten at each elementary immersion school, where numbers warrant.
Recommendation 1 Sustainability As we look ahead to the sustainability of the French immersion program in the High River area, it is important to look back at the enrollment trends over the past 5 years.
Recommendation 2 Professional Affiliations That immersion teachers who have not already done so consider becoming a member of a professional organization established to meet the professional needs of French immersion teachers. Teachers are encouraged to stay current with research regarding the pedagogy of second language teaching and learning. attend a provincial or national conference related to second language teaching. access the provincial French Individual Teacher Bursary program to facilitate furthering their professional development goals.
Recommendation 3 Resources That the Foothills School Division review the French language print and digital collections of student literacy and numeracy resources in the immersion schools learning commons and enhance these collections over the next three years. 82% of secondary students would like to see more choice of French reading materials in their Learning Commons "maybe we could improve the amount of french literature in the library as there isn't many books there that haven't been in my previous school." "more french books and maybe a time where we go down to the learning comments and take a book to read at home to improve our reading because french books are very hard to find in Alberta" "bigger selection of french books in library" " Si on a plus de livres et selections en fran ais dans la biblioth que, je pense que l'immersion va etre meillure."
Recommendation 4 Facilitator That the Foothills School Division continue to have a French Services Facilitator to provide overall direction and support to the Division s French immersion learning community. Budget - Official languages in Education Program Grant Odyssey French Language Monitor Program Yearly DELF (Dipl me d' tudes en langue fran aise) exams Facilitate professional development Support Human Resources in filling French immersion teacher positions FSD representative on French Language provincial committees If possible, facilitate junior high trip to Quebec and senior high France exchange program Provide coaching and mentoring to first- and second-year teachers, and new curriculum implementation
Recommendation 5 Program Promotion That the Foothills School Division and the administrators of the Division s French immersion schools review their current plan, strategies, and materials to promote and market the French immersion program with a view to strengthening and enhancing this key component of the immersion program. Administrators identified these as the most effective strategies to market their program: Information evenings with packages available for parents and students Open house evenings School websites Media announcements and articles in local newspapers
Recommendation 5 cont... Parents who responded identified these as the most effective marketing strategies: Open house information evenings School websites Information on the Canadian Parents for French website Cultural events Displays of student work in hallways Teachers had similar recommendations as both administrators and parents: Cultural events Exchange to France/class trip to Quebec School website and newsletters Canadian Parents for French information
Recommendation 6 Translation That the Foothills School Division set aside some funds in its 2022-2023 budget and in the following years for the translation of materials. "More time to work on the work. We have to translate material, we often have to look through many resources to find vocabulary that is at our students' level, and we are always changing assessments or work to differentiate for student learning". "Translating makes my job more demanding."
Acknowledgements Executive team members, in particular Caroline Roberts, for her expertise, guidance and support in the entire process. School administration for being unwavering champions for the programs housed in their schools and in their school communities. Classroom teachers for their honesty, vulnerability and willingness to share successes and concerns for the program. Students for their openness, their ability to be candid, to share as well as to listen to other's opinions. Parents for their continued support of the program and desire to see it flourish. Jennifer Sanford for editing support.
