Mary Jean Gallagher, Chief Student Achievement Officer of Ontario, præsentation fra SFI-konferencen "Skolen og det inkluderende samfund" den 18. november 2013.

1. Closing the Gap: Shared Learnings and
Shared Responsibility
Mary Jean Gallagher, Chief Student Achievement Officer of Ontario
Assistant Deputy Minister for Student Achievement
Ontario Ministry of Education
November 18, 2013

2. "In our culture we believe every child is born
with a gift ... What will our schools do to
uncover and develop the gifts of our
children?"
- An Aboriginal Chief, 2013
2

3. Snapshot – Province of Ontario
Ontario has:
• 40% of Canada’s 33.6 million people
(it is the most populous province)
• 60% of 225,000 immigrants who come
to Canada annually
• Over 1 million square kilometres of land
• 2.1 million students, 27% born outside Canada
• Almost 126,000 teachers (unionized teaching and
support staff)
• About 5,000 schools in 72 school districts
• Funding of $22.8B (CDN) in 2012-13
3

4. Ontario’s Goals in Education
• High levels of student achievement
– 75% of students with high level of literacy and
numeracy skill by age 12
– 85% of students graduating from high school
within 5 years of starting
• Reduced gaps in student achievement
• Increased public confidence in education

5. Signs of success
5

6. Elementary Outcomes: Achievement Results
150,000 more students at provincial standard
4 key levers for
elementary reform:
1. Improving
classroom
teaching and
learning
2. Improving
school
effectiveness
3. Leadership
capacity building
4. Research and
evaluation
6

7. Secondary Outcomes: Achievement Results
6 key levers for
secondary reform:
1. Leadership
infrastructure
2. Engaging and
relevant
programming
3. Effective instruction
4. Focused
Interventions for
students at risk of
not graduating
5. Legislation and
policy development
6. Research,
monitoring and
evaluation
7

8. Ontario’s International Standing
• Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2009
– From 65 countries, only Shanghai, China scored significantly better in
reading. In mathematics Ontario scored very well.
– In Ontario, the difference in achievement between students in the top
socio-economic quarter and the lowest quarter was half the OECD
average.
– Within Canada, Ontario has the highest proportion of immigrant
students.
• McKinsey Report 2009: How the World’s Most Improved School
Systems Keep Getting Better
– Ontario: from 2003-2009 moved from “good” to “great”, now moving
from “great” to “excellent”
• Pan Canadian Assessment Program 2010
– Ontario is the only province above the Canadian average in reading,
math and science
8

9. Lessons from Ontario
•
Ontario’s approach to critical thinking and creativity… [is] woven into
virtually all aspects of schooling
– across the curriculum
– use of formative assessments
•
Ontario’s curriculum, assessment and reporting have moved from an
emphasis on mastery of facts to an understanding of “big ideas” and
the ability to apply one’s knowledge to the problems one confronts in
everyday life
•
Interdisciplinary approaches, systems thinking, and collaborative
inquiry into problems of practice is increasingly the norm in Ontario
schools, strongly supported by the work of the Literacy and
Numeracy Secretariat, the Student Success/Learning to 18 team,
and other units in the ministry.
From OECD Report: Strong Performers and Successful Reformers in Education: Lessons from PISA
for Japan - 2011 9

10. Lessons from Ontario
Ontario’s strong PISA results would suggest that this emphasis on
building the critical thinking and problem-solving skills of teachers has
strengthened the capacity of teachers to enable the development of
these same kinds of skills in their students
Ontario has created a broad set of enabling conditions, including:
– comprehensive early learning and childcare system
– strong cultural commitment to the importance of education
From OECD Report: Strong Performers and Successful Reformers in Education: Lessons
from PISA for Japan - 2011
10

11. * In 2009-10 the criteria for identifying participating OFIP schools changed significantly, expanding the definition of low
achievement to include all assessment areas. Before 2009-10, OFIP participation was based on school achievement on
reading assessments.

12. Low achieving: Fewer than 50 per cent of their students meet/exceed provincial standard on more than half of the assessments
High achieving: 75 per cent or more of the students meet or exceed provincial standard on at least half of the assessments
Middle achieving: All other schools.

14. Elementary Achievement:
Groups of Students
80%
67%
70%
56%
60%
70%
71%
67%
61%
54%
50%
ELL/AFL/PANA
40%
31%
37%
39%
30% 31%
20%
Spec. Ed
All
18%
10%
0%
2002-03
2008-09
2011-12
2012-13
14

15. Provincial Results for Junior Writing
(English-Language)
90
85
80
76
73
70
68
64
60
54
All
50
Girls
44
43
40
Boys
SpecEd
ESL/ELL
30
24
20
10
12
15
0
2002-03
2003-04
2004-05
2005-06
2006-07
2007-08
2008-09
2009-10
2010-11
2011-12
2012-13

16. “We are improving each year.
People are getting smarter.
We are starting to think school has potential!”
- Ontario elementary student 2010
16

17. How we’ve
done it
17

18. Provincial Level Strategy
• Engage and enable the change at every
level – teamwork

19. Provincial Level Strategy
•
•
•
•
An "asset based" stance
Pressure and support
Leadership, focus and alignment
Data, evidence and research in useful
formats

20. District and School Strategy
• Professional ownership, collaboration and
support
Smart Goals
Targeted, Evidence
Based Strategies
Needs
Assessment
•
Student
achievement data
•
Demographic data
•
Program data
•
Perceptual data
•
Analysis of data
Evaluation
Resources
Professional
Learning
Monitoring
Responsibility

21. District and School Strategy
• Engaging and relevant programming
• Focused interventions with students at risk
of not graduating

22. Specialist High Skills Majors (SHSM)
•
“…students enrolled in SHSM programs appear to improve their performance in terms of average
course marks and rates of credit accumulation compared to those not enrolled; the SHSM programs
are attracting higher proportions of males, students with a special education classification, and
students from applied (college or workplace) streams compared to the general student population.”
(Research funded by the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario)
2012-13
2013-14
2006-07
2007-08
2008-09
2009-10
2010-11
2011-12
Year 7
Year 8
Year 1
Year 2
Year 3
Year 4
Year 5
Year 6
600 students in 27
programs in 44
schools
6000 students in
153 programs in
335 schools
Sectors
- Arts and
Culture
- Construction
- Hospitality and
Tourism
- Manufacturing
- Agriculture
- Forestry
- Horticulture and
Landscaping
- Mining
Addition of:
- Business
- Environment
- Health and
Wellness
- Transportation
Funding $2.7M
$7.95M
Addition of:
- Information &
Communication
Technology
- Justice,
- Community
Safety and
Emergency
Services
20,000
students in
over 740
programs in
28,000
students in
over 1000
programs in
430 schools
212 schools
14,000 students
in over 480
programs in
540 schools
Addition of:
- Energy
- Aviation and
Aerospace
Addition of:
- Sports
- Non-profit
34,000
students in
over 1300
programs in
over 630
schools
No new
sectors
38,000 students
in over 1,500
programs in over
640 schools
Addition of:
- Food
Processing
40,000 students
in over 1,600
programs in
over 660
schools
No new sectors
22
$13.9M
$16M
$17.45M
$22.8M
$25.3M
$25.3M

23. Dual Credit Programs
•
•
Dual Credit programs allow students while still at secondary school to take college or
apprenticeship courses that count towards both their OSSD and post-secondary certificate,
diploma, degree or apprenticeship certificate of qualification.
All seventy school boards that have secondary schools and all 24 Ontario colleges of
applied arts and technology are involved in providing secondary school students with dual
credit learning opportunities.
2005-06
2006-07
2007-08
2008-09
2009-10
2010-11
2011-12
2012-13*
361
2,500
4,300
4,500
7,500
12,800
16,000
17,500
Dual Credit
Funding
Only
$1M
$4M
$8M
$8M
$17M
$25M
$32M
$32M
SCWI
Funding in
Total
$3M
$7M
$12M
$19M
$27M
$30M
$37M
Student
Enrolment
$36M
2013-14*
22,000
$32M
$36M
* approved numbers
23

24. Ontario Focused Improvement
Program (OFIP)
• For low achieving elementary schools
• It is possible to make powerful difference – the Ontario
Statistical Neighbours database
• Supports
– Funding
– Time
• School action plans
• Province wide learning
• Mid year conversations

25. Student Success School
Improvement (SSSI)
• For low achieving secondary schools
• Supports
– Funding
– Focus
– Time
• School action plans
• Ongoing coaching and conversation

26. Effective Practices
• Higher aspirations
– Collaborative learning
– Inquiry
• Deeper student engagement
• Student dialogue and accountable talk
• Personalization, precision and ongoing
assessment

27. What Are We Learning?
• School cultures which impact student achievement
Hattie’s 8 Mind Frames:
1. Teachers/Leaders believe that their fundamental
task is to evaluate the effect of their teaching on
students’ learning and achievement.
2. Teachers/Leaders believe that success and failure in
student learning is about what they, as teachers or
leaders, did or did not do. We are change agents!
3. Teachers/Leaders want to talk more about learning
than the teaching.

28. What Are We Learning? (cont’d)
4. Teachers/Leaders see assessment ass
feedback about their impact.
5. Teachers/Leaders engage in dialogue not
monologue
6. Teachers/Leaders enjoy the challenge
7. Teachers/Leaders believe that it is their role
to develop positive relationships in the
classrooms/staffrooms.
8. Teachers/Leaders inform all about the
language of learning.

29. Success for All Our Children
•
•
•
•
It can be done
It takes a village to educate a child
Ubuntu – I am, because we are.
And it is urgent

30. A Student’s Voice:
We have a dream…
Where students will feel free to dream about their futures,
Where they are able to connect their passions with
possible career options,
And that the opportunities and resources needed to
support these decisions are provided.
- Minister’s Student Advisory Council Representative, 2011

31. Thank you!
For further information please contact:
Mary Jean Gallagher
1-416-325-9964
maryjean.gallagher@ontario.ca
Or contact executive assistant:
Kim Spence
1-416-327-5317
Kim.spence@ontario.ca