Learning Superintendent, LEADSS
Prairie Spirit School Division
Saskatchewan
Lori Jeschke is Superintendent of Learning and Leadership with Prairie Spirit School Division in Saskatchewan with more than 27 years as an educator. She started out as a K-2 classroom teacher with 36 students and has since taught in every grade level as well as had opportunities as a vice principal, principal, system HR principal, coordinator of assessment and learning and now in her present position as Superintendent. She holds a Bachelor of Education degree and a Masters in Educational Administration and continues to embody a love of learning in all she does. In fact, her favorite flower is actually a dandelion! – because, it NEVER stops growing!!
Assessment is an important part of my work because….
My lifelong mantra continues to be “you cannot NOT model” (McGuey) You can’t have that as your focus and then only let it live in words on paper, rather, I desire to live that out in my daily actions. As a facilitator of learning and a leader of learners, that encompasses the ‘get to’ part of my work. I ‘get to’ live out my favorite definition of assess – “to sit beside” by participating in learning with students in the classroom and out, learning together with adults in the classroom and out – through reflection, wondering, problem-solving, and gathering evidence to make learning visible. Sitting side by side, determining what quality looks like, building a common language, gathering evidence to determine what is working, what isn’t and what the next steps are is what it’s all about.
The current assessment focus of my work is:
- Implementing a system wide progress report K-Grade 8 through a ‘Residency’ approach
- Building and sustaining an open communication with parents as partners in learning
- Supporting ‘side by side’ shifts in high schools through self-assessment, learning targets and triangulation of data
You can find out more about assessment in my jurisdiction here:
http://www.spiritsd.ca/A&L/beliefs-commitments.htm
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