A Survey of School Planning Councils in British Columbia

Summary

The purpose of this project was to assess the success of the then newly mandated School Planning Councils (SPCs) in British Columbia. SPCs were implemented during the 2002-2003 academic school year as advisory bodies whose purpose was to develop, monitor and review school plans to improve student achievement. This report follows 2003-2004, the first year of fully functional SPC operation.

Grant Outputs

A Survey of School Planning Councils in British Columbia 2004 – http://maxbell.org/sites/default/files/025.pdf

This survey reports on the responses from parents, teachers and principals involved in School Planning Councils after the first full year of SPC implementation in 2003-2004. The report finds that School Planning Councils functioned well, and SPC members were generally satisfied with the outcomes of their work. As a result of the SPCs, communication, dialogue and collaboration between teachers, parents, principals and students improved. This report offers a series of suggestions to improve the functioning of SPCs, including clarification of the intended purpose and role of the SPCs, better training to help SPCs document their activities and adequate funding to aid SPCs in designing and implementing valuable school plans.