1. Global and Local Education
Meeting today’s needs and tomorrow’s aspirations
Narrowing the Gap in Alberta Primaries
The AISI Initiative
The impact of 14 years of teacher-to-teacher collaboration in
Alberta, Canada.
“A unique success story that exists nowhere else in the world.”
Professor Andy Hargreaves
Professor Jim Parsons
University of Alberta
@WholeEducation
#globalocal13
Philip McRae
The Alberta Teachers'
Association

2. Global and Local Education
Meeting today’s needs and tomorrow’s aspirations
For more than a decade, Alberta has
been Canada’s highest-performing
province and the highest performing
English- and French- speaking
jurisdiction in the world on the
Programme for International Student
Assessment (PISA) tests of student
achievement.
@WholeEducation
#globalocal13

3. Global and Local Education
Meeting today’s needs and tomorrow’s aspirations
+ One of the reasons Alberta has a world-class
learning system is because they have a high quality
curriculum, developed to ensure that it meets the
needs of Alberta students now and in the future.
+ Curriculum changes follow a long period of
consultation with teachers, principals,
administrators, post-secondary institutions and
others.
@WholeEducation
#globalocal13

4. Global and Local Education
Meeting today’s needs and tomorrow’s aspirations
AISI focused on student learning,
but perhaps just as powerful was
the professional growth of
teachers.
@WholeEducation
#globalocal13

5. Global and Local Education
Meeting today’s needs and tomorrow’s aspirations
AISI Impact: Embedding the professional
growth of teachers
Is this the best way to narrow the gap?
+ improved student learning
+ a culture of continuous
improvement
+ a focus on teaching and learning
+ innovation and creativity
+ shared language
+ classroom research
@WholeEducation
#globalocal13
+ knowledge building
+ evidence-based decisions
+ job-embedded professional
development
+ shared and distributed leadership
+ engaged parents.