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Background Information

In 2015 Alberta Education initiated a collaborative research project to improve the outcomes for Indigenous students and invited Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to design the study. CASS, along with other partners in education, accepted the invitation to participate in this study. The report Promising Practices in Supporting Success for Indigenous Students was published in 2019.

In 2016, the government of Alberta established the Joint Commitment to Action (JCTA) guided by Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) calls to action and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The role of the JCTA was to collaboratively lead reconciliation through education. The JCTA has evolved to the Indigenous Education Reconciliation Circle providing a forum for educational stakeholders and Alberta Education to collaborate in a meaningful way on matters and issues related to Indigenous education and advancing truth and reconciliation.

The JCTA founding members, CASS, ATA, ASBA, AADE, ARPDC, NCTRC were funded by Alberta Education to provide professional learning to all K-12 teachers, pre-service teachers, education stakeholders, education staff and school and system leaders with targeted, progressive learning opportunities in First Nations, Métis and Inuit histories, perspectives, and experiences over three years (2016-2019).

In 2016, Alberta Education introduced draft professional practice standards , the Teacher Quality Standard (TQS-revised), Leadership Quality Standard (LQS -new)-and the Superintendent Leadership Quality Standard (SLQS-new) that now called upon teachers and school and system leaders to demonstrate a high level of competency for supporting First Nations, Métis and Inuit student achievement, integrating First Nations, Métis and Inuit education for all students into Alberta Schools and for establishing inclusive learning environments. All teachers and school and system leaders were expected to meet these competencies when the three professional practice standards were implemented in September of 2019.

Although school systems have made some progress in improving success for Indigenous students in the provincial school system, further advancement is required to achieve the outcome “First Nations, Métis and Inuit Students are successful in Alberta’s Schools.”

Currently, self-identified Indigenous students’ achievement results indicate a need for more intentional systemic leadership strategies to improve these results. The Alberta Education Assurance Measure Report provides further information on the results for self-Identified First Nations Métis and Inuit Students.