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Revitalized College of Teachers, Respect for Trustees, Better Teacher
Training
QUEEN'S PARK, June 1 /CNW/ - Improved student performance is one step
closer with the passage of the McGuinty government's student performance
legislation, Education Minister Sandra Pupatello said today.
The legislation promotes educational peace and stability, fosters
teaching excellence, removes barriers to greater student achievement and
supports responsible and accountable governance.
"We are on the side of hard working Ontario families who want the best
public education for their children," said Pupatello. "This legislation is a
significant tune-up that will modernize education by creating the conditions
to improve student performance."
Introduced in March 2006, the act contains several limited but
substantive amendments to the Education Act and the Ontario College of
Teachers Act, 1996, to support improved student performance, partnership
within education based on respect and openness to the public.
The act provides the legal support needed to enable provincial education
goals:
Improved Student Performance:
- Ability to set clear provincial education outcomes, after
consultation with school boards and other stakeholders, and the
ability for the ministry to require school boards to meet those
outcomes
- Formal on-the-job learning, including mentoring, as part of the New
Teacher Induction Program - the second step in new teachers'
professional development
- Meaningful assessment of beginning teachers' teaching practice
through a streamlined teacher performance appraisal process
- Ability to add additional professional activity days for teacher
training
- Authorizing e-learning as a recognized instructional method
- Ability to change maximum class size in regulation
- Ability to enable long-term teacher collective agreements.
Partnership in Education Based on Respect:
- Ability to provide realistic supports for trustees, including
increased honoraria
- Removing excessive personal penalties in the Education Act related
to trustee compliance
- Empowerment and recognition of student trustees through new
honoraria, non-binding votes, new procedural rights and assured
resources
- A revitalized Ontario College of Teachers that respects teachers as
professionals, has the confidence of its members and the public and
is de-politicized in carrying out its mandate.
Openness to the Public:
- Requirements for public reporting
- Increasing access for community use of schools.
Disponible en français
www.edu.gov.on.ca
www.resultsontario.gov.on.ca
Backgrounder
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STUDENT PERFORMANCE BILL
Improved student performance is one step closer with the passage of the
McGuinty government's student performance legislation. The legislation
promotes educational peace and stability, fosters teaching excellence, removes
barriers to greater student achievement and supports responsible and
accountable governance - ultimately resulting in improved student performance.
The act contains several limited but substantive amendments to the Education
Act and the Ontario College of Teachers Act, 1996 to support improved student
performance; partnership within education based on respect; and openness to
the public.
IMPROVED STUDENT PERFORMANCE
Teaching Excellence Initiatives
-------------------------------
There are a wide range of factors that influence the effectiveness of
teaching. Increasing student performance means supporting leadership in the
school, the availability of resources, the quality of the curriculum and
strategies being used by the school and the system. It also means providing
the support and recognition for what teachers and educators do on behalf of
students every day. The government recognizes the need to strengthen the
skills and abilities of teachers, as well as improve these other factors which
are vital to ensuring overall teaching excellence and increasing student
success.
Replacing Pencil and Paper Tests with Meaningful Assessments
The old pencil and paper Ontario Teacher Qualifying Test (OTQT) was
criticized in terms of its relevance and the fact that it did not evaluate
actual classroom experience.
In November 2004, the ministry announced that it would no longer
administer the qualifying test and would replace it with a new, more relevant
assessment mechanism and support system for beginning teachers. In March 2005,
the Ontario College of Teachers (OCT) established a provisional certificate
for all teacher graduates as an interim solution to allow new graduates to
teach while consultations to develop a new assessment took place.
Once the section of the act addressing the OTQT is proclaimed in force,
the requirement for teacher candidates to pass the OTQT as a condition of
teacher certification will be revoked, and through a regulatory amendment, the
provisional designation will automatically be removed by the OCT. The act also
establishes a mandatory New Teacher Induction Program (NTIP). Once the NTIP
and performance appraisal sections of the act are proclaimed in force, NTIP
will be put in place in all publicly funded schools in the province. The NTIP
supports are already underway in Ontario boards.
Second Professional Step for New Teachers
Effective mentoring programs over the beginning years of a teacher's
career are vital to improve new teacher retention and development for
beginning teachers. The NTIP is designed as a positive "second step" for new
teachers, giving them valuable in-class support during their challenging first
year of practice. It will now complement their formal one-year of pre-service
education with another full year of supports, resulting in better prepared and
more confident teachers.
The program will replace the qualifying test with a more meaningful
assessment of actual teaching practice, focusing on teacher success through
feedback on performance and growth. Successful completion of the NTIP will
require two satisfactory ratings on teacher performance appraisals. In
addition, successful completion of the NTIP will be noted on a teacher's
certificate and the OCT public register.
The NTIP will provide a variety of supports for new teachers, including:
- Orientation for all new teachers by the school, school board and
provincial school authority
- Mentoring for new teachers by experienced teachers
- Professional development and training in areas such as literacy and
numeracy, student success and safe schools; classroom management;
planning, assessment and evaluation; communication with parents;
instruction strategies that address the learning and culture of
students with special needs and other diverse learners; and
Politique d'aménagement linguistique at French-language school
boards.
Professional Activity (PA) Days for Greater Student Achievement
In 1997, the previous government reduced the number of professional
activity days from nine to four. In other provinces, the average number of PA
days is 9.
Most teacher development already happens on a teacher's own time - either
after school hours or over the summer. Effectively, four days out of 194 in
the school year do not allow principals and teachers enough opportunity to
engage in shared problem solving, team learning and learning the latest
teaching techniques to improve student achievement. Development is not just
acquiring knowledge or teaching skills, but sustaining motivation and
innovation as well.
Provisions that restrict the number of PA days to a maximum of four per
school year are now be repealed. The government intends to add two more PA
days through regulation, bringing the total to six annually. The government
has the authority to determine the purpose of PA days. This will be
established in regulation on the basis of the government's education
priorities.
The government is continuing to invest in teachers' ongoing professional
development with summer institutes and training programs throughout the year
focused on literacy, numeracy and student success in high school.
New Board and Ministry Responsibilities
---------------------------------------
To support the government's ability to ensure confidence in public
education, the ministry has identified areas of key provincial interest, such
as class size, fiscal responsibility, improvements in literacy and numeracy
and safe schools.
The legislation, now passed, permits regulations to clarify ministry and
board responsibility related to those goals, particularly concerning student
performance. It enables the ministry to set provincial outcomes and require
boards to meet those outcomes. Specific outcomes may be set in regulation
after significant consultation between the ministry and school boards.
This legislation enables clear setting of ministry expectations and
provides school boards with flexibility when implementing provincial
initiatives.
The government has the authority to act when a board makes a decision
that might raise concerns about its financial management, or involves the
violation or potential violation of a board's obligation regarding matters of
key provincial interest that are prescribed in regulation. Previously
established arbitrary and punitive measures that personally penalized trustees
who failed to comply with directions, orders or decisions of the Minister are
repealed.
The government intends to establish a Standing Committee on education to
hold public hearings every year on the effectiveness of provincial funding.
Learning for More Students Through Virtual Technology
The act gives school boards the authority to provide instruction by
electronic means to students not present in the classroom.
Delete Statutory Workload Minimums for Teachers
The act removes teacher workload minimums from legislation and provides
authority to address the issue in regulation, working to enhance student
achievement and address teacher workload issues.
Term of Teacher Collective Agreements
The Education Amendment Act, 2005, repealed previous legislation and
provided for the negotiation of two- or four-year teacher collective
agreements. The government also announced measures to encourage longer-term
contracts, including salary increases, investments to support student success
and provincial dialogues on workload issues. The act allows the extension of
teacher collective agreements beginning September 1, 2004, from two-year to
four-year terms.
Class Size
The act also repeals sections of the Education Act relating to class size
limits and replaces it with the authority to make regulations governing class
size that support phased implementation of the government's primary class size
initiative and other measures.
Partnership in Education Based on Respect
-----------------------------------------
The Ontario College of Teachers as a True Professional Body
The McGuinty government believes it is time to revitalize and
depoliticize the Ontario College of Teachers (OCT) as a true professional
body. Teachers deserve the privilege of self-regulation. The benefits of a
successful College to Ontario students should be obvious: highly skilled,
motivated teachers who are held in high regard by the public at large.
The amendments to the Ontario College of Teachers Act, 1996, change the
governance structure of the OCT to depoliticize the College and, along with
complementary amendments to the College regulations, have a majority of
classroom teachers on its council. In return for teachers having the privilege
and responsibility of self-regulation, we are strengthening the College's duty
to serve the public interest.
Changes resulting from the amendments to the Act and the regulations
include:
- Adding six elected teacher positions to the OCT's Council -
normalizing the College by having self-regulation by the
professionals it represents
- Ensuring that all teacher representatives on the Council are working
classroom teachers
- Establishing provisions that would prohibit Council membership for
representatives of specific organizations
- Creating a new Public Interest Committee of non-OCT members to
advise the College Council on matters relating to the Council's duty
to serve the public interest
- Every Council member having a duty to serve and protect the public
interest, and before taking up office, swear an oath
- Reducing the maximum number of years that a member can serve on
Council from ten to seven consecutive years, increasing turnover and
bringing new and different ideas and perspectives
- Ensuring an open, fair and transparent elections process that will
increase voter participation and encourage teachers to play an
active part in the governance and regulation of their profession
- Affirming the College's duty to ensure its registration process is
fair and transparent.
These measures are among the strongest conflict of interest provisions of
any professional college in Ontario and none of them existed under the
previous government.
Under the previous government, the College of Teachers was unduly
politicized - with negative results. In the last College election, a mere four
per cent of teachers bothered to cast a vote, the second consecutive decline
in voter turnout, indicating a profound loss of confidence by teachers
themselves in the College.
These amendments support the government's "Excellence for All" commitment
to "turn the Ontario College of Teachers into a professional body that sets
the highest standards for the profession and earns the respect of teachers and
parents."
Empowering Student Trustees
As a first step in ongoing student trustee development, the student
trustee section of the act, when proclaimed in force, will provide student
trustees with a variety of rights, including an honorarium, equal access to
all board resources and the same right to attend trustee training
opportunities as board members. This supports the government's commitment to
address the Ontario Student Trustees' Association recommendation to empower
student representatives on school boards.
The government is also making a new proposal for discussion on Student
Engagement, touching on character education and citizenship values, the
ability for students to influence their school environment and new models for
student trustees. Several options on how to achieve more relevance for student
trustees will be provided, including potential future voting privileges.
Increasing Trustee Remuneration
Trustees' hard work and contribution towards increased student success
has resulted in a productive environment of peace and stability, and school
progress through improved student achievement and improved services. Trustees'
capacity to undertake their role is an important ingredient in successful
education improvement.
When proclaimed in force, the trustee remuneration provisions in the act
will:
- Permit school boards to set trustee compensation up to provincial
limits that will be set in regulation, in line with school boards
elsewhere in Canada
- Grant authority for regulations to provide a retroactive increase to
trustees' honoraria for the current school year and permit the
government to require a process to assist boards to set compensation
- Eliminate paternalistic and arbitrary personal penalties for
trustees enacted by the previous government.
Openess to the Public
---------------------
Public Reporting
The act also gives the ministry the ability to require school boards to
publish reports respecting their compliance with specific operational
requirements that will be set out in regulation, fostering greater public
accountability and openness in education.
Community Use of Schools
The act expands the minister's authority to make ministry grants to
enhance community use of schools.
Disponible en français
www.edu.gov.on.ca
www.resultsontario.gov.on.ca
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For further information: Michelle Despault, Minister's Office, (416) 212-3747; Tanya Blazina, Communications Branch, (416) 325-2746; Public Inquiries: (416) 325-2929 or 1-800-387-5514, TTY: 1-800-263-2892
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