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How the Alberta government helps schools and school authorities build transparency, provide public assurance and demonstrate accountability in the education system.
The Alberta government has a system for schools and school authorities to consistently assess progress and demonstrate success called the Assurance Framework. The framework has 5 assurance areas with related performance measures that enable schools and school authorities to show their communities how they are performing each year. Schools and school authorities share their results with their stakeholders through their Annual Education Results Report (AERR) and engage with them to set priorities and build their education plan.
This approach helps the province, school authorities and schools track successes and continuously improve the quality of education for students and supports a transparent, accountable and responsive education system.
Alberta Education’s Assurance Framework came into effect on September 1, 2020, and replaced the Accountability Framework.
Assurance and accountability are linked. Alberta’s Assurance Framework is about building public trust and confidence that the education system is meeting the needs of students and enabling their success. Education partners throughout the system must demonstrate they are meeting their responsibilities across 5 assurance areas:
Student Growth and Achievement: The ongoing progress of students’ learning, relative to identified provincial learning outcomes that enable them to engage intellectually, grow continuously as learners, and demonstrate citizenship.
Teaching and Leading: Teachers and leaders apply appropriate knowledge and abilities to make decisions that demonstrate professional practice standards, which result in quality teaching, leading, and optimum learning for all students.
Learning Supports: Using resources to create optimal learning environments where diversity is embraced, a sense of belonging is emphasized and all students are welcomed, cared for, respected and safe.
Governance: Processes that determine strategic direction, establish policy and manage fiscal resources.
Local and Societal Context: Engagement practices that enable the education system to proactively respond to the learning needs and diverse circumstances of all students.
For more information about the Assurance Framework, see Section B, Funding Manual for school authorities.
School authorities get equitable funding and have flexibility to use their resources to meet students' learning needs. In return, school authorities are responsible for providing assurance to their local stakeholders, Alberta Education and the public that they are fulfilling their responsibilities and students are successful.
One of the key ways that school authorities demonstrate accountability and provide assurance is through the development and publication of their education plans and AERRs.
School authority planning and results reporting is a continuous improvement cycle that involves:
School authority education plans identify priorities, outcomes, measures and strategies to improve in key areas while the AERR provides the results achieved from implementing the plan. The results used to develop the education plan and report performance in the AERR come from provincial and local measures (see Performance Measures).
School authorities are expected to engage students, parents, staff and community members in the planning process to establish key priorities and other elements of their education plan. They are also required to share results and report their progress on achieving those priorities.
Education Plans and AERRs are public documents that are posted annually on a school authority’s website by May 31 and November 30, respectively. For more information about these documents and how they are developed, please contact your local school authority.
Local stakeholders, including parents and community members, can support school authority assurance and accountability in a variety of ways, including:
As part of providing public assurance, Alberta Education staff meet with school authorities to review their education plans and AERRs, and to support their improvement process. Through their education plan and AERR, school authorities are expected to demonstrate that they have:
For more information on school authority planning and results reporting see Section K, Funding Manual for school authorities.
Schools are expected to:
School authorities are responsible for ensuring that schools meet these expectations and for determining the specific requirements for school education plans and results reports. For further information about the school and school authority results, education plan and AERR, please contact the school or school authority directly.
Alberta Education assesses performance broadly and consistently across all school authorities. School authorities report their performance on the AEAMs in their AERR and use the results to develop their education plan.
In addition to the AEAMs, school authorities provide results from local measures and descriptive information aligned with the assurance areas. This local component complements the provincial measures, enabling a balanced assessment of school authority progress and performance.
Assurance Area | AEAM | Local Component |
---|---|---|
Student Growth and Achievement |
|
*No required elements for this domain. |
Teaching and Leading | Survey measure of Education Quality | Local measures/data and information demonstrating teaching & leadership quality |
Learning Supports | Survey measures of Welcoming, Caring, Respectful and Safe Learning Environment and Access to Supports and Services. | Local measures/data and information demonstrating:
|
Governance |
|
Local measures/data and information demonstrating:
|
Local and Societal Context | Local measures/data and information about the school authority |
In addition to the required AEAMs, Alberta Education provides results for a number of supplemental measures that school authorities can use for the education plan and AERR, such as:
AEAMs are evaluated for:
Taken together, this information shows how well each school authority and school are doing to reach their goals. It also shows which areas need more work.
Each year, the government sends surveys to teachers, students and their parents or guardians. The surveys gather feedback on the quality of education provided by school authorities and their schools. The surveys ask the same questions each year to make sure we measure how schools are performing over time.
Teachers and students complete surveys online. Parents receive a survey by mail and have the option to complete it online or on paper. Parents with more than one student in an eligible grade will receive a separate survey for each child.
In public, separate and Francophone schools, students in Grades 4, 7 and 10, as well as their parents, receive surveys. In schools with fewer than 120 students in Grades 4 to 12, the survey includes all students in Grades 4 and above, as well as their parents. All teachers receive the survey every year.
In most charter and private schools all students in Grades 4 and above, as well as their parents, are included in the survey. All teachers in these schools receive the survey every year as well.
Responding to the survey is voluntary. The surveys give important feedback that helps schools improve, so government encourages Albertans to complete them.
All responses remain anonymous. Results are calculated at the provincial, school authority and school level. Results for groups with fewer than 6 responses are not reported.
Survey examples
Results shared here support transparency of the education system.
AEAM results are provided back to schools and school authorities for the purposes of their planning and reporting. For further information about the school or school authority results, education plan and AERR, please contact the school or school authority directly.
There is alignment between select provincial AEAM results and performance measures incorporated in the ministry’s Business Plan and Annual Report. The Annual Report provides comprehensive provincial results analysis and communicates progress towards achieving the outcomes outlined in the Business Plan. The performance measurement framework used in provincial reporting is detailed in the Business Plan and Supplementary Performance Measures Summary (PDF, 149 KB) and Business Plan and Supplementary Measures Backgrounder (PDF, 74 KB).
The 2021 AEAM report and overall summaries reflect the most current results for the AEAM measures. There are no reportable results for the 2020/21 Provincial Achievement Tests (PATs) and Diploma Examinations as participation was significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The following summaries are updated in the Fall and present school jurisdiction results at a glance in a one-page document:
Connect with the System Assurance Branch:
Hours: 8:15 am to 4:30 pm (open Monday to Friday, closed statutory holidays)
Phone: 780-643-9193
Toll free: 310-0000 before the phone number (in Alberta)
Fax: 780-638-4197
Email: [email protected]
Address:
System Assurance Branch
System Excellence, Alberta Education
2nd Floor, 44 Capital Boulevard
10044 108 Street
Edmonton, Alberta T5J 5E6
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