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This manual and accompanying implementation handbook provide a framework for Saskatchewan community schools seeking to create the comprehensive, preventive, and empowering learning programs needed by Indian, Metis, and at-risk children. The introduction defines community schools and summarizes elements of the community schools best practices framework. Subsequent chapters address the issues and challenges in adopting a comprehensive approach; policy, vision, goals, principles, and strategies for community schools; the community school framework encompassing the student, program components, school effectiveness, and the community; roles and responsibilities of the community school council, the coordinator, teacher associates, the principal, teachers, support staff, students, community agencies, volunteers, government agencies, and Saskatchewan Education; and evaluation and accountability approaches. Six appendixes give guidelines for developing the community school plan, an evaluation guide for community schools, the continuum of parent and community involvement and partnerships, the community development process, a glossary of terms, and 57 references. The accompanying handbook provides step-by-step assistance in the implementation process. Building on the material in the manual, it gives outlines for meetings and workshops; duties of council members; decision-making strategies; communication skills and practices; the basics of holding meetings; steps in developing, implementing, and evaluating the community school plan; and reporting and support suggestions. Appendixes include a summary; sample meeting agendas, minutes, and evaluation; a code of ethics; and 16 references. (SAS)

These guidelines were developed for evaluating school resource materials to determine whether they are fair and equitable to the indigenous peoples of Saskatchewan. The document opens with a discussion of terms relating to indigenous peoples and briefly examines what the terms can mean in different contexts. The guidelines consists of 68 specific questions emphasizing the importance of cultural diversity, cultural identity, and cultural interaction. Each question is followed by a statement explaining the element of indigenous culture to which the question applies. The questions are categorized under eight topics: (1) general questions for all resources; (2) portrayal of cultural interactions; (3) portrayal of traditions and institutions; (4) portrayal of identity; (5) use of language; (6) use of visuals; (7) literature; and (8) oral literature (songs, poems, and stories). The questions can be used exclusively by evaluators, including teachers, or in cooperation with elementary and secondary students. The document includes 14 references. (TES)

The guiding principles of this handbook are that student evaluation should be an integral part of good teaching practice and be treated as an ongoing and comprehensive process that is pervaded by careful planning and systematic implementation. Evaluation is considered to be a critical element that influences teacher decision making and guides student learning. The main body of this volume is divided into four chapters presenting a plan of action emphasizing the explicit and systematic nature of decision making in an evaluation program. Chapter 1 describes how a teacher can take stock of his/her current student evaluation practice; Chapter 2 outlines a process for helping determine whether current practice should be modified; Chapter 3 extends student evaluation planning to include working with colleagues within a total school setting; and Chapter 4 explains the development and use of a variety of student assessment techniques. Time management suggestions and a bibliography of measurement texts offering specific techniques, texts addressing conceptual and research issues, journal articles and conference papers, and Saskatchewan Education publications complete the document. (LL)

This summary paper, the result of an ongoing collaborative process, presents an extended policy statement for English Language Arts K-12 in Saskatchewan, Canada. The paper is in five major sections: (1) Introduction; (2) Foundations and Principles (outlining the value of language--both dynamic and rule-governed--as a foundation for the English Language Arts curriculum); (3) Curriculum Goals (including five charts of specific instructional goals and learning outcomes for specific phases); (4) Organizing for Instruction (curriculum overview, including sections on integration, personal growth, special needs students, Indian and Metis students, multicultural classrooms, designated French school students, experiential learning, and resource-based learning); and (5) Curriculum Framework. (SR)

This handbook provides activities and methods that educators can use to encourage Indian and Metis parents to become more involved in the education of their children and in the provincial school system as a whole. Chapter 1 includes exercises and quizzes to help teachers understand their own views on cultural awareness, racism, and values. Chapter 2 contains exercises to stimulate teacher thinking on the purpose, nature, and goals of parental involvement, especially in regard to Indian and Metis parents. Chapter 3 focuses on some of the questions and concerns of many Indian and Metis parents in regard to participation in school activities. Chapter 4 offers suggestions and guidelines to school administrators for implementing policies regarding parental involvement in school divisions (districts). An appendix addresses the role of parent advisory groups. (MDM)

The purpose of this guide, designed to support a core curriculum model in Saskatchewan (Canada), is to: (1) affirm the integral role of instruction in meeting the objectives of the core curriculum; (2) provide support for teachers in extending their range of instructional practices and in meeting the challenges of major curriculum change; (3) provide curriculum writers with a design which integrates curriculum and instruction; (4) affirm the art, as well as the science, of teaching; and (5) act as a catalyst for further professional development. The document is organized into five chapters. The first is an examination of the context within which instruction occurs. Chapter 2 introduces a framework for instructional approaches and describes the components of the instructional framework. In chapter 3, the relationship of the adaptive dimension to instructional practice is described. Chapter 4 examines a variety of factors that practitioners must consider in the selection of instructional approaches. Chapter 5 takes a reflective look at the challenges educators face in the development of instructional approaches and the options available to educators for meeting these challenges. A "reflective questions" section is included with each chapter. (LL)

This standards and guidelines manual, developed by the Saskatchewan Department of Education for use in the Saskatchewan schools, is designed to help teachers and school districts develop a safe and well-organized outdoor environmental education program. The topics covered include: Outdoor Environmental Education Implications for Students, Teacher, School Board and Community; Environmental Protection; Guidelines for Program Planning; Health and Safety; and Legal Implications. Seven appendices provide information on the following: Student-Teacher Resource Material; Saskatchewan Regulations; Checklists; Sample Forms and Formats; Menus and Food Supply Lists; First Aid and Accident Procedures; and General Information. A bibliography is included. (BT)

This handbook enables teachers to proceed from understanding to practical incorporation in the classroom of "Common Essential Learnings," an appropriate and sound pedagogy, based on techniques of questioning, reflection, and dialogue. The "Common Essential Learnings" comprise six categories: (1) communication, which focuses on improving students' understanding of language demands; (2) numeracy, which is concerned with developing students' knowledge, skills, and appreciations of mathematical ideas, techniques, and applications; (3) critical and creative thinking, which is intended to develop students' abilities to create and evaluate ideas, processes, experiences, and objects; (4) technological literacy, which is concerned with improving students' understandings of how technological systems are integral parts of social systems; (5) personal and social values and skills, which include the personal, moral, social, and cultural aspects of each school subject and of the school environment; and (6) independent learning, which focuses on creation of opportunities and experiences necessary for students to become capable, self-reliant, self-motivated, and life-long learners. (LL)

A three-year course of study in Christian ethics for grades 10, 11, and 12 is outlined. The course is intended to help students articulate, reflect upon, and understand what they believe and practice. The guide's introduction discusses the need for Christian development and the role that parents, school, and parish should play in that development. Course objectives are described and the psychological characteristics of the adolescent are discussed. The organization of the course and evaluation techniques are described. The bulk of the guide outlines the major themes of the course: (1) God and man (searching for God, world religions, faith and atheism, and life after death); (2) Christ in scripture (the Gospels, the parables, the beatitudes, the Old Testament, and the Bible); (3) the contemporary Christian community (the church, Christian worship and sacraments, prayer, and everyday ecumenism); and (4) the Christian (Christian morality and conscience, moral problems today, marriage, and social justice). For each theme the guide outlines general and specific objectives, teaching methods, learning activities, and evaluation methods. (RM)