Presentation #2 Title: Ontario Ministry of Education: School Support Initiative - A School Board's Perspective

• In Event: Achieving Equity in Education: Intervention Programs Using Collaborative Inquiry as a Model for System-Wide Improvement

Abstract

Purpose and Perspective
SSI provides strategic and targeted differentiated support to secondary schools where student achievement is below the provincial rate and where. This presentation will examine the experience of a school board who has been involved in the Ontario Ministry of Education’s School Support Initiative (SSI). It is a collaborative partnership between the Ontario Ministry of Education, the Ontario Principals’ Council, the Catholic Principals’ Council of Ontario and participating boards and schools.

SSI is designed to: build principal capacity as the instructional leader; enhance instruction, teaching and learning, and improve student achievement, particularly for those students who are not currently experiencing success

Methods and Data
Regular collection, analysis and reporting of data and information have been an integral part of the SSI since its inception in 2008-09. Data is collected by the Ministry of Education to forecast, allocate, monitor and adjust funding, as well as to inform policy and program implementation and provide feedback to the boards and the school’s SSI Professional Learning Teams.

In each of the seven years since the initiative has been underway, mathematics has consistently been identified by the schools as the subject that shows the greatest need for improvement, and in each of the first six years data indicates that SSI schools focused on mathematics showed increases in the course pass rates at a greater rate than provincial results.

With an equity and diversity lens, the school board will be articulating the impact of the initiative in their schools; the successes and challenges they have experienced being involved in SSI, and any recommendations to inform further policy and program implementation.

Results and Significance
The initiative is grounded in research (e.g., Fullan, 2001; Schmoker, 1999; Marzano et. al, 2005; Elmore, 2004; Hopkins, 2007; Leithwood & Beatty, 2008). These researchers provide evidence to indicate that key strategies to enhance success and positive outcomes for students are recognizing the importance of the instructional leadership capacity of the principal, and providing job-embedded coaching for principals to build their instructional capacity to transform classroom practices.

The school board’s experience will provide a case study on some of the successes and challenges of an intervention program addressing equity and diversity issues and will inform future planning and implementation of programs, policies and practices, and identify gaps in knowledge to inform further research. This will allow the Ministry of Education to focus policies and programs to strategically address equity and diversity issues.

Furthermore, the findings from the school board will shed light on the following questions:

1. Which of the key processes and components of SSI has been most effective in realising the key objectives of the initiative?
2. How has the increased capacity of the instructional leadership of the principal impacted both teacher practice and student achievement?
3. Has teacher practice changed? If so, how has the changed teacher practice impacted student achievement?

Authors

• Helen McGregor, District School Board of Niagara

• Jan Coomber, Ontario Ministry of Education

• Joannie Leung, Ministry of Education - Ontario