It’s the first week back for teachers in most parts of New Brunswick. With students returning next week, schools and districts are busy preparing and PDing teachers with the newest strategies and ideas.

I am lucky this week, as I have been invited by my district to attend the Professional Learning Communities at Work Conference here in Moncton. Led by Richard and Rebecca Dufour, the development and maintenance of PLC’s is gaining momentum as the most effective practice to increase student learning. The ideas here are great, and tie in strongly to the ideas I have been promoting surrounding teachers as learners.

The main premise is that schools / teaching teams need to focus on learning and be thirsty for data upon which to drive decisions. The use of common, teacher authored formative assessments is central to the learning process.

Out of this came this list of five strategies for improving test scores. Please enjoy with a grain of salt.

• Increase the drop out rate. Encourage low performers to quit.
• Eliminate electives…to heck with art, music and PE. Focus only on Math, Languages and science.
• Redraw school boundaries to include more students from higher socio-economic area within your school catchment.
• Have magnet school – sacrifice one of them to low performers to help the rest.
• Focus only on the kids on the bubble. Leave the highest (they’ll pass anyway) and the lowest (no chance anyway).

Just wondering to what extent any of these strategies are happening now.