New Red Deer resource centre will benefit teachers and students
One-stop shop for revised Career and Technology Studies program
Red Deer. . . Alberta’s students and teachers will benefit from a new coordinated Learning and Teaching Resource Review Centre set up to support the implementation of Alberta Education’s revised high school Career and Technology Studies (CTS) program.
A new CTS program, to be introduced this fall, will engage students in learning opportunities that will allow them to discover their interests in practical and purposeful ways.
The centre will house a collection of print, digital and online resources for the CTS program and serve as an access point to professional learning opportunities. Educators will be able to view resources and engage in professional dialogue, including face-to-face sessions, webinars, videoconferencing, and discussion boards. Alberta Education will ensure all standards are met prior to authorization of the resources reviewed and selected for implementation.
“The proposal put forward by Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools, and supported by surrounding school jurisdictions and Red Deer College, is an incredibly innovative partner support model,” said Minister of Education, Dave Hancock. “Red Deer has effectively created a regional ‘one-stop shop’ for the review and selection of resources to support the revised CTS curriculum. The resource review centre will complement the many activities and ongoing work associated with the revised CTS program as we move toward implementation.”
Red Deer Catholic Regional Division, in partnership with seven other school jurisdictions and Red Deer College (RDC), will use a $540,000 grant from the Alberta government to establish a review centre for educators. The centre will house teacher expertise and build capacity toward CTS resource implementation. The Red Deer centre, which will be located at RDC in the Library Information Common, will focus on resource review of three CTS clusters: Health Recreation and Human Services, Media Design and Communications Arts and, Natural Resources.
"We are really honoured to have been awarded this opportunity. We recognize that the CTS review centre will serve educators across our province,” said Paulette Hanna, Red Deer Catholic Superintendent. “The experience, and particularly the professional development that will take place over the next three years, will be invaluable. Participating teachers will gain tremendous experience that they will share with others and bring back to the classroom. Ultimately, all CTS students will benefit from an improved curriculum and even better teachers."
A similar pilot project was successfully run by the Calgary Board of Education in 2007 to support the CTS program’s other two clusters: Trades Manufacturing and Transportation, and Business, Administration, Finance and Information Technology.
The Red Deer grant will provide $180,000 per cluster over a three-year period from 2009/2010 to 2011/2012. The Red Deer partnership group has also committed $175,500 as an in-kind contribution over three years.
“Red Deer College is proud to be a partner in this project and we look forward to all of the opportunities that it will provide teachers and students in central Alberta,” said Ron Woodward, President of RDC. “Hosting the CTS review centre on our campus will provide an exciting opportunity to connect with teachers more regularly, increase their access to resources and help facilitate further excellence in learning, teaching and professional development. Through this innovative collaboration, we look forward to helping teachers and students in Alberta become even more successful.”
The seven partner jurisdictions in this project with Red Deer Catholic Regional Division and RDC are: Red Deer Public Schools, Chinook’s Edge Regional Division, Clearview School Division, Wild Rose School Division, Wolf Creek Regional Division, Battle River Regional Division and Wetaskiwin Regional Public Schools.
