The Calgary Board of Education says it is trying to increase three-year high school completion rates across all cohorts, as well as narrowing the gap for English as an Additional Language Learners (EALs) and Indigenous students.
According to a report published prior to Tuesday’s board meeting, 89 per cent of the All Students cohort completed five years of high school in the 2023-2024 academic year. This is higher than the provincial average, the first time in five years.
Five-year high school completion rates for special education students were also higher than the provincial average at 79.6 per cent and 77.4 per cent, respectively.
However, 83.5 per cent of EALs completed five years of high school compared with the provincial aveage of 88.1 per cent.
Around 58.4 per cent of self-identified Indigenous students completed five years of high school compared with the provincial average of 69.4.
The CBE three-year high school completion rate for all students declined significantly at 80.4 per cent in the 2023-2024 academic year, which is in line with the provincial average. Around 81.1 per cent of all students finished three years of high school in the 2022-2023 school year, according to the CBE’s Annual Education Results Report published late last year.
However, the CBE said it has closed the gap between its three-year completion rate and the province’s despite challenges during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The CBE noted that many students within the three-year high school completion cohort made the transition to high school in the 2020 fall semester, months after schools were shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Social distancing, minimal gatherings, transitions to and/or pivoting between online and in-person learning, and disruption to typical high school activities impacted the overall high school experience and continued to impact the overall well-being of students,” the report read.
“These students may not have had the opportunity to participate in clubs and other activities that foster a sense of connection and belonging, which can be factors that play into high school completion.”
The CBE also noted that the “ongoing massive intake of students” in the 2023-2024 academic year, especially EALs in the high school level, may have impacted three-year high school completion rates. Around 66.2 per cent of EALs in the CBE system completed three years of high school, compared with the province’s 72 per cent.
The report also said the three-year high school completion rate for Indigenous students declined by one percentage point but did not classify it as “statistically significant.”
“Although we did not see an improvement over three years, the decline was not statistically significant, indicating some level of stability, suggesting that the supports and actions associated with targeted attendance supports and holistic student supports may be proving successful given the impact, and potentially disproportionate impact, that pandemic may have had on this cohort,” the report read.
Strategies needed to increase high school completion rates: CBE
The report also outlined strategies that are needed to empower students to complete high school. In particular, the CBE highlighted its Holistic Transition Plan which was developed to transition Grade 9 Indigenous students entering Grade 10. The district also highlighted its graduation coaching program for Indigenous students at 17 schools, which aims to provide them direct and holistic supports and resources.
CBE staff will also participate in Maatoomsii’Pookaiks, a system-wide Indigenous Education Professional Learning Day focused on the implementation of the Indigenous Holistic Lifelong Learning Framework. The program’s name was gifted to the CBE by Piikani Elder Leonard Bastien in 2022 and means children first.
The CBE says it will also support “digitally enabled assessments” for special education students, which is used widely especially in high schools.
The district will also hire Off-Campus Coordinators to explore career-focused, alternative pathways for high school completion, such as in-person visits to training centres for the trades to earn work experience credits.
For EALs, the CBE said it will implement a three-part high school series focused on enhancing programming.
