In response to the Ontario Education Equity Action Plan, the UCDSB is embarking on an initiative to better understand our students, their needs and ensure they feel safe and accepted within our school system.
The first step in this multi-year project is the UCDSB We All Belong Student Survey.
Data collected from the UCDSB We All Belong Student Survey will help the UCDSB find gaps in our school system and see where our biases exist. Understanding the demographic makeup of our school population, and how they are being served, will help us to reduce achievement gaps and improve learning outcomes for all students, regardless of class, gender, ethnicity, disability, race, religion or sexual orientation.
This initiative is part of a broader provincial program, regulated by the Anti-Racism Act, where school boards across the province are completing a student survey to better understand their communities. Many school boards in Ontario have already completed their student survey.
The UCDSB will start collecting survey responses in December 2021 with the intention that all secondary students will have completed the survey by June 2022. Elementary students will begin their survey in September 2022.
Our Grade 9-12 students will have the opportunity to do the survey in class while our Kindergarten to Grade 8 students will be asked to complete it at home with the help of a parent or guardian. K-8 students will have a timeline of September 2022 to January 2023 to complete the survey. More information will be coming from your school and how to take part over the coming months.
The survey is voluntary and confidential. Results will only be accessed by specific authorized UCDSB staff in order to find and summarize trends. All data will be collected and stored in a secure manner in accordance with applicable privacy legislation and best practices.
Once complete, the UCDSB will analyze the data and report the findings to students, staff and the community. At no time will students be identified in these reports. Reports will consist of trends and general noteworthy findings.