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November 12, 1996
(Education)


Education Reform Status Report

The Minister of Education, Roger Grimes, today issued a progress report on education reform. He said change in education is proceeding at a steady pace, with many of the recommendations of the Royal Commission Report having been implemented and others in the process of being acted upon.

Mr. Grimes said while public attention has been focused almost entirely on structural changes and the denominational issues surrounding these, there has been significant progress made in all areas.

The following status report highlights some of this progress:


EDUCATION REFORM STATUS REPORT


GOVERNANCE

New School Districts

Legislation was passed in July which amended the current School's Act, reducing the number of school boards from 27 denominational to 10 interim interdenominational boards. These boards have been appointed by the government as interim boards until school board elections are held in Fall 1997.

New Senior School District Staff

All new boards have hired their Director of Education and are in the process of hiring their Assistant Directors of Programs, Personnel, and Finance. School boards are going through a transition period and are in the process of finalizing all aspects related to the dissolution of the old boards and assuming full responsibility of operations. It is expected that most, if not all, of the old boards will be dissolved by the end of November.

Capital Construction

Government is in the process of establishing a School Construction Board which will consist of three members appointed by government, three members appointed by the churches, with an independent chair. In the meantime, for 1996-97, capital construction funding has been distributed, for the first time, on a needs basis.

Transition Team

The minister, earlier this year, appointed a transition team, with representation from the various stakeholder groups, to advise him on matters associated with the transition from 27 old boards to 10 new boards and also to assist school boards with any issues arising from the transition to the new structure.

Legislation

A new Education Act and a new Schools Act is under development. It is anticipated that these Acts will be introduced into the House in December. Consultation will take place with appropriate stakeholder groups prior to introduction in the House.

School Councils

Since 1994, approximately 140 school councils have been established in this province. By June 1996, 54 district staff had received facilitator training under the department's sponsorship, and a further 40-50 school administrators underwent facilitator training under sponsorship of the districts. It is envisaged that over time a school council will be operational in every school in the province.

PUBLIC CONSULTATION

Earlier this year, government committed to consulting the public on educational reform. Specifically, government wanted advice on the criteria for determining school viability, issues related to student transportation and the conditions under which the designation of schools as inter-denominational or uni-denominational should occur.

In preparation for these consultations, the Department of Education circulated, province-wide, a public document called "Structuring the Educational System: A Public Consultation Paper for Educational Change in Newfoundland and Labrador." At the same time, the minister announced that 16 public consultations would be held throughout the province, starting on September 16, 1996. Three additional meetings were added later as a result of public interest.

In total, 19 meetings were attended by the minister, who heard in excess of 250 presentations on a wide range of educational topics. Approximately 4,000 people attended these meetings. Many more followed the process through the media. Also, the consultation document contained a brief questionnaire for public response, and was available on the Internet. Feedback from the consultations and questionnaire will be used in finalizing the legislation which is expected to be introduced into the Legislature in December.

Education Indicators

Newfoundland students are staying in school longer, dropping out less, performing better and generally feel positive about their schooling experience. The report, Education Indicators for Atlantic Canada, which compares education in the Atlantic region, demonstrates that the commitment to improvement by educators is paying off.

CURRICULUM AND PROFESSIONAL GROWTH


Foundation Program

A foundation program report, describing a common program with common expectations for all students in the K-12 sector, is in final draft. The report outlines principles of education specific to curriculum, learning and teaching, recommends percentages of instructional time for specific disciplines, and provides general direction with respect to curriculum implementation.

Key Stages: A Parent's Guide to Student Learning Outcomes

All partners in education need to know what students are expected to know and be able to do at certain stages of their schooling. A document called Key Stages, along with a Religious Education supplement, which makes available to schools, parents and the general public a synopsis of the learning outcomes for all subject areas at end of Grades three, six, and nine, has been distributed to schools. Principals have been asked to ensure that the document is made available to school councils and parents of students in each of these grades.

Curriculum Handbooks

Curriculum handbooks for primary, elementary, and intermediate teachers and administrators, which provide an overview and articulation (i.e. describe linkages) of the education program for each of the levels of schooling, have been developed. These documents examine the nature of the child as learner, set out major directions for curriculum development, provide detailed learning outcomes that students are expected to achieve by the end of a particular level, and provide direction to teachers on a variety of matters, e.g.: strategies for teaching in multigrade classrooms, student learning styles, teaching strategies, assessment and evaluation, and reporting to parents.

The Primary/Elementary Handbook and the Intermediate Handbook are being distributed to school districts and pilot schools. Teachers will provide feedback to the department during the fall and winter, with the documents scheduled for authorization for September 1997.

Senior High Report

The Royal Commission on Education Report, Our Children, Our Future recommended that a detailed study of the senior high school program in this province be undertaken. The initial report of this study was distributed to stakeholders in fall 1995 for reaction. Reactions were analysed during winter 1996, and the report is presently being revised in light of the reactions, with implementation of a revised senior high program projected for September 1998.

Senior High Handbook

A committee of department personnel, district administrators, high school principals and teachers will begin development of a senior high handbook this fall. This handbook will help facilitate implementation of the revised program with inservice expected to be conducted in the fall of 1997.

Professional Development

Responsibility for administration and coordination of professional development centre has become the responsibility of the Division of Program Development. In anticipation of teacher willingness to participate in professional development activities in summer 1997, the division, in collaboration with other divisions of the department, NLTA and the Faculty of Education, will plan a program of professional development activities for summer 1997, as well as throughout the school year.

School Assessment

School assessment is a systematic approach by which schools evaluate their activities against a set of provincially set standards and seek independent judgements of their achievements.

An assessment is conducted internally by a school team. The results are widely discussed by the school's stakeholders so that changes necessary for growth can be quickly identified, and strategies developed. An external team then conducts an assessment to provide an independent review of the school's findings and the resulting improvement plan. These findings are then reported to the school's staff, students, parents, and community.

In 1995-96, 13 schools in the province piloted this new process for assessing and reporting about schools. The last half of the pilot schools will complete the process this fall. All of the comments received thus far have been extremely positive. A comprehensive evaluation of the pilot phase is ongoing.

Special Education Review

In accordance with recommendations in Our Children, Our Future a major study has been completed by Dr. Patricia Canning of Memorial University concerning the delivery of special services to students. The department will release the report shortly and request input which will then be used to formulate an action plan for implementation.

SCHOOL DISTRICTS

# District Name Chairperson Director
1 Labrador Lt. Marshall Dean Calvin Patey
2 Northern Peninsula/Labrador South Robert Mesher Dennis Parsons
3 Corner Brook/Deer Lake/St. Barbe John Edgar Tony Genge
4 Stephenville/Port aux Basques James Mercer Andrew Butt
5 Baie Verte/Central/Connaigre George Woodman Dominic Wilkins
6 Lewisporte/Gander Everett Saunders Randell Mercer
7 Burin Bill Hodder Mike Siscoe
8 Clarenville/Bonavista Ross Wiseman Wade Sheppard
9 Avalon West Lorraine Brown David Rideout
10 Avalon East Kevin Breen Brian Shortall

The Minister of Education will attend a public meeting tonight at 8:00 p.m. at Prince of Wales Collegiate in St. John's. The forum has been organized by the Newfoundland and Labrador Home and School Federation to discuss progress in education reform.

Contact: Carl Cooper, 729-0048/5040.

1996 11 12 3:55 p.m.

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