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

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"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

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

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Snapshot – Province of Ontario

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

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Signs of success

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Elementary Outcomes: Achievement Results

4 key levers for

elementary reform:

1. Improving

classroom

teaching and

learning

2. Improving

school

effectiveness

3. Leadership

capacity building

4. Research and

evaluation

150,000 more students at provincial standard

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

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Secondary Outcomes: Achievement Results

• 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

Ontario’s International Standing

9

• 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

Lessons from Ontario

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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

Lessons from Ontario

* 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.

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.

Elementary Achievement:

Groups of Students

14

31%

56% 61%

67%

18%

31% 37%

39%

54%

67% 70% 71%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

2002-03 2008-09 2011-12 2012-13

ELL/AFL/PANA

Spec. Ed

All

Provincial Results for Junior Writing

(English-Language)

54

76

64

85

44

68

12

43

24

73

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13

All

Girls

Boys

SpecEd

ESL/ELL

15

16

“We are improving each year.

People are getting smarter.

We are starting to think school has potential!”

- Ontario elementary student 2010

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How we’ve

done it

Provincial Level Strategy

• Engage and enable the change at every

level – teamwork

Provincial Level Strategy

• An "asset based" stance

• Pressure and support

• Leadership, focus and alignment

• Data, evidence and research in useful

formats

• Professional ownership, collaboration and

support

Needs Assessment

• Student achievement data

• Demographic data

• Program data

• Perceptual data

• Analysis of data

Smart Goals Targeted, Evidence Based Strategies

Resources

Professional Learning

Monitoring Responsibility

Evaluation

District and School Strategy

District and School Strategy

• Engaging and relevant programming

• Focused interventions with students at risk

of not graduating

• “…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)

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Specialist High Skills Majors (SHSM)

2006-07

Year 1 2007-08

Year 2 2008-09

Year 3 2009-10

Year 4 2010-11

Year 5 2011-12

Year 6

2012-13

Year 7 2013-14

Year 8

600 students in 27

programs in 44

schools

6000 students in

153 programs in

212 schools

14,000 students

in over 480

programs in

335 schools

20,000

students in

over 740

programs in

430 schools

28,000

students in

over 1000

programs in

540 schools

34,000

students in

over 1300

programs in

over 630

schools

38,000 students

in over 1,500

programs in over

640 schools

40,000 students

in over 1,600

programs in

over 660

schools

Sectors

- Arts and

Culture

- Construction

- Hospitality and

Tourism

- Manufacturing

- Agriculture

- Forestry

- Horticulture and

Landscaping

- Mining

Addition of:

- Business

- Environment

- Health and

Wellness

- Transportation

Addition of:

- Information &

Communication

Technology

- Justice,

- Community

Safety and

Emergency

Services

Addition of:

- Energy

- Aviation and

Aerospace

Addition of:

- Sports

- Non-profit

No new

sectors

Addition of:

- Food

Processing

No new sectors

Funding $2.7M $7.95M $13.9M $16M $17.45M $22.8M $25.3M $25.3M

• 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.

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Dual Credit Programs

2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13* 2013-14*

Student

Enrolment 361 2,500 4,300 4,500 7,500 12,800 16,000 17,500 22,000

Dual Credit

Funding

Only $1M $4M $8M $8M $17M $25M $32M $32M $32M

SCWI

Funding in

Total

$3M $7M $12M $19M $27M $30M $37M $36M $36M

* approved numbers

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

Student Success School

Improvement (SSSI)

• For low achieving secondary schools

• Supports

– Funding

– Focus

– Time

• School action plans

• Ongoing coaching and conversation

Effective Practices

• Higher aspirations

– Collaborative learning

– Inquiry

• Deeper student engagement

• Student dialogue and accountable talk

• Personalization, precision and ongoing

assessment

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.

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.

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

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

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