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Canyon Falls Middle School
Our Learning Plan

​​2022-2023 Learning Plan

CMS School Learning Plan 2022-2023.pdf​​



Inclusive Evidence Base.PNG

What Kinds of Evidence Will We Collect?


How to best frame our evidence of learning is something that as a school we are beginning to unpack and wrestle with.  Our main guiding question from The Spirals of Inquiry (Halbert & Kaser) guiding this work is:  "How do we know that what we are doing is making enough of a difference for our learners?"  Research is clear that no matter what initiative you undertake, you will see change, but change and improvement can be two completely different things.  What we choose to collect as evidence of our actions and school improvement is very important.  The graphic titled "An Inclusive Evidence Base" comes from an article in the Stanford Social Innovation Review (Lisbeth B. Schorr, "Broader Evidence for Bigger Impact," Stanford Social Innovation Review, Fall 2012) and it states that to have a better idea of an impact, we need to examine evidence from a variety of sources:

  • Evidence from Experimental Evaluations (ie. formal studies)
  • Evidence from Non-experimental Evaluations (ie. report card data)
  • Evidence from Other Research (ie. studies and scholarly papers around the same initiatives)
  • Evidence from Practice and Experience (ie. what we experience, observe, and collect in schools every day)

In short, research is clear:  the better we do in broadening our evidence base, the better idea we will have of the positive impacts our work is making.  As a staff, as we move down the road of collecting evidence to inform our practice over time, we will use this framework to guide our thinking about the collection and analysis of our evidence.


Why Inquiry?


So, why choose Inquiry as the vehicle for school improvement?  Traditionally, the school planning process has been a positive experience that focused on data collection and data analysis, and then saw schools put in systems or programs to improve that data.  Schools would show improvements in their data, or not, and would adjust strategies and goals as needed from year to year.  Strategies are important, but unless we focus on shifting the pedagogical core (the learning experience of our learners every day) in every setting, we will not see transformative change.

Data is still central to school improvement, but what Inquiry adds to this overall process is a real focus on systems of professional learning over time that is rooted in curiousity about individual student needs.  Inquiry is a systemic and informed approach to school improvement that involves all stakeholders in a school community – school administration, staff, students, and parents/guardians – to be involved in this transformative process.  School districts around the world have been using Inquiry to guide their practice for some time, and as a result have been seeing more authentic, meaningful school improvement occur that focuses on students and their experience.

The Spiral Playbook is an Inquiry model out of British Columbia, stemming from the work of Judy Halbert and Linda Kaser.  The model has us ask questions as a learning community to uncover what is really going on for our students in our classrooms, to structure professional learning around what will make a difference for our students, to take informed action, and then to measure if it made enough of a difference.  The Spiral of Inquiry framework allows for constant checking and re-checking over time.  By having our students at the center of our school's Inquiry, and by collaboratively tailoring learning and actions to improve their learning experience, our school will dynamically improve over time in a living, and breathing reflection of our school's learning journey.