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IoT – Big Data Education Summit

CSBA President Floyd Martens will be speaking at the IoT Big Data Education Summit taking place October 17-18. 

This is a one-of-a-kind conference focused on challenges our education system is facing today and the opportunities and challenges of applying new technologies in education. Hear from senior educators from School Boards & Universities across Canada as well as leading technology companies.

Topics include:

  • Building 21st Century Education System
  • Making Education Relevant and Efficient – A School Trustee’s Perspective
  • An Exploration of the Success, Struggle, and Promise of Digital Education to Personalize Learning
  • Challenges Faced by Canadian Education System and Opportunity to Improve
  • Forces of Change: Universities in the Digital Era

Download the conference brochure for full speaker overview and the agenda.

Note: Early birds are available till Sept. 8 and educators have a special price.

For more information and to register: visit the conference website, email info@iotevents.ca or call 416-597-5751.

 

 

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Honorary Members – Gail Anderson and Brian Shortall

From time to time, contributions and achievements go above and beyond. We would like to congratulate Gail Anderson and Brian Shortall in recognition of their long and distinguished career, contributions and leadership at the Canadian School Boards Association and their unwavering commitment to quality education for all of Canada’s students.
 
Both have been granted Honorary Membership of the Canadian School Boards Association.
 

Short Film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KivJMhIOop4&feature=youtu.be

Bio: Gail has been Executive Director of OPSBA for 17 years. She served as Associate Executive Director and Executive Director of the Association of Large School Boards of Ontario.  She played a pivotal role in establishing organizational culture and values, leading the human resources, operations and legal dimensions that contribute to OPSBA’s success. Gail has a BA and a certificate in Personnel and Industrial Relations, a MA in Educational Administration and completed the course requirements as a doctoral candidate from the University of Toronto. She was a founding member of the Cdn. Association for Practical Study of Legal Issues in Education (CAPSLE), member of the Ontario Association of School Business Officials, President of Ontario Education Services Council and helped create the Canadian Centre for Quality Education and Opportunity. Gail took a lead role in the restructuring of the Canadian School Boards Association, helping to revitalize its role as the voice of public education in Canada and creating a collaborative approach in delivering on key priorities and presenting a dynamic communication strategy.

Short Film: https://youtu.be/vwbbok-v3DQ

Bio: Brian was appointed Executive Director / CEO of the Newfoundland and Labrador School Boards Association in September 2004.  Since 1969, he has served as a junior and senior high school teacher, high school principal, School District Superintendent  and Director of Education for the Avalon East School Board.  He was President of the Newfoundland Teachers’ Association, President of the Canadian Teachers’ Federation and chaired the Canadian Teachers International Development Assistance Program for two years.  He has also been a Director of the Canadian Education Association and was an active participant in the Canadian Association of School Administrators. Some of the awards that have recognized Brian’s accomplishments and contributions to education include; the Newfoundland & Labrador School Boards Association Education Award, the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal, the Canadian Teachers’ Federation Special Recognition Award for Meritorious Service, and most recently, Life Honorary Membership in the Newfoundland  and Labrador Teachers Association. Brian has an extensive background in school district leadership, educational change and organizational development.  He is also a member with Education Research & Development Corp. (ERDI), an educational organization enabling forums between Corporate Partner companies delivering programs, services and products to the learners and staff in the schools of Canada.  Brian is a graduate of Memorial University of Newfoundland and Ottawa University. He has been married to Claudia (who he insists is definitely his “Better Half”)  for 46 years, and they are the proud parents of 3 and grandparents of 7 grandchildren.

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NTGAE / Congress and the CSBA Annual Report!

We are proud and excited to kickoff the NTGAE and CSBA Congress on July 5th in Whistler hosted by BCSTA! We recommend that all trustees read the Pocket Guide detailing this year’s schedule, or visit csba2017.ca.

We would also encourage trustees to read our  2016-2017 Annual Report. We have been working hard as an organization to continue the work highlighted in our 2016-2019 Strategic Plan. This includes advocacy and research on our key priorities – Student Health and Wellness, Indigenous Education, and Governance – and growing our capacity to provide resources for more boards across the Country. Take a look! 

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CSBA Congress 2017 and NTGAE

 

SPEAKER SPOTLIGHT

 

 

Mohamed Fahmy spent 438 days in an Egyptian prison—unjustly jailed for conspiring with the Muslim Brotherhood, and for fabricating news for Al Jazeera during his tenure as bureau chief for the Qatari network in Egypt. He was released in 2015 following international outcry. While in prison, he conducted interviews behind bars with members of ISIS, Al Qaeda, and others, gaining rare insights into modern terrorism. Onstage, he talks about Middle East politics, ISIS, free speech, and the ongoing struggle for universal human rights.

He completed a riveting book titled The Marriott Cell based on his Kafkaesque trial, which is set for release on November 15th. The book contains exclusive interviews he conducted behind bars with political prisoners and extremists that provides the reader with rare insights on the terrorism dominating our headlines. It is currently being be developed into a feature film by The Development Partnership in the United Kingdom.

DISCOVER BEAUTIFUL WHISTLER, BC

During your stay in Whistler, you’ll have access to a full range of activities. Add extra nights to your stay and turn your business trip into a vacation!. Hiking, 

PEAK 2 PEAK Gondola experiences, biking, lakes, beaches parks, floatplane tours, helicopter excursions, golfing, Whistler’s acclaimed bike park, white water rafting, horseback riding and so more are at your door step!

See the Full List of Activities Here

CONFERENCE REGISTRATION

With unprecedented registration numbers for the 2017 National Trustee Gathering on Aboriginal Education growing each day, we encourage you to register ASAP to guarantee access to 2017’s conference in July.

Click Here to Register

 

 

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Charter of Commitment – Student Health and Well-Being

CSBA Committee on Student Health and Wellness is committed to working in partnership with government, non-government, and community partners to advocate for active healthy lifestyles. Benefits to creating healthy learning environments include: greater overall achievement, well-rounded students, decreased discipline problems and improved attendance, improved lifelong health, reduced disparities.   We are committed to demonstrating leadership and providing a national voice in responding to the health and wellness challenges of students across Canada.

After collaborating with several national partners, the CSBA is proud to adopt a Charter of Commitment to Student Health and Wellness. It provides a clear mission, terms of reference and a framework for our work. Find the full charter in the link below. 

Charter of Commitment – Student Health and Well-Being

 

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From the Desk of the President – May 2017


President Floyd Martens:

THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM ON THE DEFENCE…

 

News, being what it is, tends to focus on the sensational, scandalous, or shocking. And so it is not a surprise for our colleagues across the country or in the U.S. for that matter, that the role of public school boards is often criticized.
While this negative focus seems to be on very few Canadian School Boards, CSBA has garnishing much attention for the good work which goes on at most board tables across the country. In order to greater provide a national perspective, CSBA will be conducting a nationwide poll to develop a national trustee profile to show who and why Trustees/Commissioners do what they do. It will also provide information on the public cost for this governing body, which is a minuscule percentage of education budgets. We are collaborating on strategies with several partners to further educate the public on the considerable research showing the benefits of publicly elected governors in education. Even though efforts by provincial governments attempt to lessen the role of and splinter school boards, CSBA has recently passed policy providing for more representation at our table and a stronger, more national membership. Finally, good policy means boards regularly self-evaluate for performance and effectiveness. If you continue to put students at the centre of every decision you make you will be demonstrating the strength of democracy and public schools

 

CSBA WORK ON THE ISSUES

CSBA Members meet quarterly to discuss shared issues of national importance. We continue to work on our priority areas: Student Health and Wellness, FNMI Education and providing support for school boards across the country. In addition, we are actively working on strategies to show the importance of the role that well-governed school boards play and their positive impact on their communities.

ROLE OF SCHOOL BOARDS – The Saskatchewan government recently published a review of school board structure in which they considered the abolishment of elected boards. The public outcry however, was clearly in favour of keeping democratically elected school boards. Nationally, the role of school boards however has seen some erosion that diminishes their authority to govern. For more information, see our website for a Cross Country Snapshot: Worth looking into: Saskatchewan, Quebec, Ontario, British Columbia.

FIRST NATIONS, MÉTIS AND INUIT EDUCATION – Advocacy activities have included communications and meetings with the offices of INAC, provincial Premiers and the Prime Minister to call for appropriate funding for FNMI education as well as clarity on plans that will affect education following the Daniels vs. Canada case. Furthermore, we are working with and have offered our full support to the AFN and their initiatives in education. We have been following up on valuable resources provided by partners at the NCTR Round Table in January and have posted them on the CSBA website (including treaty maps, teacher resources and information to support recognition of treaty and traditional territories). Since January, we have completed work on a cross country portrait, also on our website, showing school board structure with FNMI representation, board progress with regards to the TRC Calls to Action and some promising practices today. Going forward, the committee will continue to monitor the framework that the federal ministries, INAC and FCSD are putting together on Childcare; gather information on voluntary self-identification of staff, trustees and students; examine existing agreements between First Nations communities and boards and look into permanency policy for Indigenous teachers.

 

Student health and wellness bannerSTUDENT HEALTH AND WELLNESS – After collaborating with several national partners, the CSBA has adopted a Charter of Commitment to Student Health and Wellness. It provides a clear mission, terms of reference and a framework for our work. The Charter is available on our website. Following some collaborative work with the Pan-Canadian Joint Consortium on School Health (JCSH) which represents the ministries of both Health and Education in all Canadian jurisdictions, we have added three outstanding tools to our Health and Wellness Resources, all of which are free and bilingual: Positive Mental Health Tool Kit, Youth Engagement Tool Kit, Healthy School Planner. As there is already significant work being done in individual jurisdictions on substance abuse, the SHWC committee will be doing a policy framework survey before providing recommendations for school boards on the Legalization of Cannabis. Our collaboration with Respect in Schools is being developed with a view to providing a ministry supported, national on-line training baseline on abuse, harassment and bullying for all adults who work with youth. The two recent issues of Facts on Education, published in collaboration with CEA address two health and wellness issues, providing research on The Most Effective to Ways to Support Student Mental Wellness and The Best Way to Successfully Integrate Recent Immigrants into Canadian Classrooms (see www.cdnsba.org). We are also working on a National School Health Checklist to help boards identify strengths and weaknesses in their schools.

COPYRIGHT – We continue to monitor the 2017 Federal review of copyright regulations and the impact changes could have on schools and students. CSBA is ready to defend “fair dealing” on a national scale, assisting at the CMEC coalition, with several other concerned partners.

 

 

PROVINCIAL ISSUES WITH POTENTIAL NATIONAL IMPACT :
British Columbia: Supreme court ruling (http://www.bcsta.org/TheLeader/index.php/2017/01/30/bc-

A Saskatchewan judgement requiring children to produce a baptismal certificate to attend Catholic schools (GSSD v. CTTS) has gone to appeal.

Federal: Taxation on Employee Health Benefits (https://www.mercer.ca/en/our-thinking/mercer-response-to-benefits-taxation.html

OTHER ACTIVITIES – Prime Minister’s Awards in Teaching Excellence
CSBA sits on the Advisory Board and several members are part of the selection committee for these prestigious awards for Teaching Excellence. The recipients were named and Prime Minister Trudeau distributed the awards this past month. The high quality of applicants makes it a very difficult process. If one of the teachers is from your district, you can be very proud. Our congratulations go out to:

Jim Crescenzo, Vancouver. B.C.
Johanna Gordon-Walker, Bella Bella, B.C.
Robert Hammer, Musquodoboit, N.S.
Erica Thompson, Fort McPherson, NWT
Beth Alexander, Toronto, Ontario
Don Ball, Mississauga, Ontario
Kathy Cepo, St. Thomas, Ontario
Thomas Doherty, Balmertown, Ontario
Rahim Essabhai, Toronto, Ontario
Manon, St-Hilaire, St-Jerome, Quebec
Andrea Regier, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

CSBA ANNUAL CONGRESS 2017

Whistler, BC, JULY 5-8 – The congress hotel block at the Fairmont is full, but 2 additional, adjacent hotels are still available. Please register now. Confirmed speakers include Charlene Bearhead, former Education Lead of the NCTR, Mohamed Fahmy, Canadian journalist formally imprisoned in Egypt and Yong Zhao, international speaker on innovation in education. The congress ends with a mountain top dinner that is separate from your registration, so please reserve if you are planning to attend.  www.csba2017.ca

 

 

 

 

 

COMING CSBA BOD MEETINGS:

CSBA Annual Congress, July 5-8, 2017, Whistler B.C.;

Oct. 15-16, 2017, Wendake, Quebec

 

* THE CSBA WEBSITE NOW PROVIDES ACCESS TO PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT MODULES FROM 8 PROVINCES ON ALL TOPICS THAT TOUCH ON GOOD GOVERNANCE.  THERE ARE MORE THAN 60 COURSES FOR TRUSTEES/COMMISSIONERS COVERING VIRTUALLY EVERY TOPIC. AVAILABLE IN TEXT OR WEBINAR FORM, MANY ARE ALSO BILINGUAL. PLEASE CHECK UNDER “RESOURCES.”


“A democratic form of government, a democratic way of life, presupposes free public education over a long period. It presupposes also an education for personal responsibility that too often
is neglected.”  


Eleanor Roosevelt

 

 

 

SINCERELY,

 

 

 

FLOYD MARTENS
PRESIDENT

2017 May – President’s Bulletin to download

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CSBA Research – Indigenous Education

Executive Summary

While education is the responsibility of the individual province or territory, the ways in which education for Indigenous students is organized varies across the country.

A large number of Indigenous students in Canada are educated for all or part of their education in provincial/territorial public schools. Many Indigenous students are educated in federally funded, band-operated schools using provincial curricula, but because these schools do not fall under the responsibility of provincial school boards associations they are outside of the scope of this survey. However, it is important to acknowledge that boards need to form a positive and value add relationship with all First Nations schools.

Since there are a variety of ways in which Indigenous peoples are organized in Canada, and given Indigenous populations as a percentage of the total populations vary across the country, it stands to reason that there will be variations in provincial structures for Indigenous education as well as in the emphasis being placed on implementing the Calls to Action. However, one reoccurring theme among the possible recommendations provided below is the importance of data sharing between all systems involved.

This document is a summary of what this survey found. Provincial school boards associations, ministries of education, as well as other organizations and key educational partners provided the following information in response to the survey questions. Read the link below for the full report: 

Cross-Country Overview of Indigenous Education Structure, Initiatives and Promising Practices

 

 

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“Fake news” versus evidence-based facts on School Boards

Stephen Hansen, an independent consultant with years of experience in education, provides a clear and firm rebuttal to a recent article that groups all trustees in with a few “bad apples.”  Never doubt for a moment that our Canadian education system, while far from perfect, is one of the most successful in the world and elected commissioners/trustees have been central to that success.

Read the complete article here:  

 

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From the Desk of the President – February 2017


CSBA WORK ON THE ISSUES

The CSBA Board of Directors come from each jurisdiction quarterly to discuss shared issues of national importance. We continue to work on our priority areas: Health and Wellness and FNMI Education as well as the pervasive threat to elected school boards and actions we can take nationally to show the importance and positive impact of their role.

 

ROLE OF SCHOOL BOARDS – Following last year’s failed bid by the Quebec Ministry of Education to abolish school boards in that province, the Saskatchewan government recently published a study to review structure and the role of governance in Education, raising the possibility that school boards may be abolished in that province as well. The SSBA is waiting for the results of the consultation, but the minister has acknowledged that “the vast majority of the people that took the time to make the submissions were in favour of elected school boards and roughly in favour of the status quo.” Following an amalgamation of 4 boards and being assigned appointed trustees, Newfoundland/Labrador successfully completed their first elections in several years this past November.

 

FIRST NATIONS MÉTIS AND INUIT EDUCATION – Advocacy activities have been focused on appropriate funding for FNMI education and in offering national support for the AFN initiatives in Student Wellness. The National Commission on Truth and Reconciliation recently brought education leadership together from across Canada, an excellent opportunity for CSBA to develop further relationships that could support boards and continue collaborations towards truth and reconciliation in education. Over the coming weeks, we will provide links/resources from several groups who have new and innovative resources. We will monitor the framework that the federal ministries, INAC and FCSD are putting together on Childcare: for more information, see Beyond baby steps: Planning for a National Child Care System. CSBA will attend The World Indigenous People’s Conference on Education (WIPCE) in Toronto July 24-29th.

 

STUDENT HEALTH AND WELLNESS – A Charter of Commitment to Student Health and Wellness is being developed in collaboration with several other national groups. The committee is reviewing and will provide recommendations on the education component of the report from the Task Force on the Legalization of Cannabis. We are meeting with the Pan Canadian Consortium on Student Health to establish how we can collaborate with the provincial Ministries of Health on issues of national concern, including concussions and mental health. Our collaboration with Respect in Schools is being developed with a view to providing a ministry supported, national training baseline on abuse, harassment, bullying for all adults who work with youth. Coming soon: the next CEA/CSBA joint publication FACTS ON EDUCATION that provides links to research on the most effective ways to successfully integrate recent immigrants into Canadian classrooms.

 

COPYRIGHT – We continue to monitor the 2017 Federal review of copyright regulations and the affect changes could have on schools and students, ready to defend “fair dealing” on a national scale.

 

PROVINCIAL ISSUES WITH POTENTIAL NATIONAL IMPACT :

1) British Columbia: Supreme court ruling

2.) Saskatchewan: Theodore Case (GSSD v. CTTS)

3.) Taxation on Employee Health Benefits: https://www.mercer.ca/en/our-thinking/mercer-response-to-benefits-taxation.html

4.) Manitoba: Funding for First Nations Students

 

PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM ON THE DEFENCE – It’s not news, even for our colleagues in the U.S., that the role of public school boards is continually being questioned. CSBA is working on providing you with strategies from many sources that educate the public on evidence based research on the benefits of publicly elected governors of the education system. But we must do our own homework. Before someone from government comes to evaluate your effectiveness as a board, visit cdnsba.org for helpful board self-assessment tools and make it a regular practice in policy. Lastly, good trustees are good because they put kids first. Put them at the centre every time you raise your voice to defend democracy and public schools.

 

MISCELLANEOUS

  • Congress 2017, Whistler, BC – The congress hotel block at the Fairmont is filled, but there are 2 additional, equally close and beautiful hotels still available. Please register soon. Confirmed speakers include Charlene Bearhead, served as the Education Lead with eat National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, Mohamed Fahmi, journalist, Yong Zhao, international speaker on innovation in education.

 

  • Next CSBA Board of Directors Meeting: April 29, May 1, 2017 – Ottawa, Ontario

 

Until next time…

Sincerely,

Floyd Martens, President, CSBA

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Fighting to keep the “public” in public education

When it comes to education governance, the national trend in recent years has been towards a troubling centralization of decision-making power, despite research that suggests school boards provide an effective way to improve student learning and increase local participation in school management.

“Communities historically have had lots of input into what transpires [in their schools] but over time, for a whole lot of reasons, we’ve started to move decision making further and further away,” says Floyd Martens, president of the Canadian School Boards Association. “But when it comes to the education needs of our children, is it one-sizefits-all? Not in the least.”

The Spring Edition of Education Today, published by the Ontario Public School Boards Association (OPSBA), features an article on the amalgamation process of school boards across the country. Several key CSBA members disapprove of the process, read more below:  

Canada’s School Boards – Fighting to keep the “public” in public education

Visit here for the full Spring Edition 2017 magazine of Education Today! 

 

Members