Theory of actionOntario has identified three system-wide goals for the education sector: 1) improvedlevels of student achievement, 2) reduced gaps in student achievement and3) increased public confidence in publicly funded education. The Ontario EducationStrategy follows a theory of action that is anchored in three interrelated key areasof organizational improvement. The strategy builds partnerships and collaborativerelationships across the education sector. These partnerships support educators at alllevels of the system in sharing successful practices, addressing persistent challengesand building the capacity of their school or district to improve student learning.The emphasis on data and transparency provides pressure for improvement withoutjudging or evaluating performance through pejorative measures or practices.

Capacity building linked to results – “not a heavy handed demand for accountability”– is the main driver of the Ontario approach, report some of the key architects ofthe Ontario education reform in a recent issue ofPhi Delta Kappan.1The authorsemphasize that the Ontario changes were respectful of professional knowledgewhile key partners in government, district school boards and other organizationsworked together to make the reforms effective. Improving results on provincial andinternational assessments,2dramatic improvement in secondary school graduation ratesand renewed public confidence suggest that Ontario is headed in the right direction –that “results can be achieved without rancour.”What follows is the story of the Ontario strategy, beginning with the context in whichthis whole-system, large-scale reform took place, proceeding to the theory whichguided it and its multidimensional approach to implementation. Infrastructural changesare noted, as are key supporting strategies. The story ends with outcomes, ongoingchallenges and a few examples of innovations.

Context: Setting the StageGeographic location/school population/school systemOntario is Canada’s largest and most diverse province, serving just under two millionchildren in four different publicly funded school systems (English public, EnglishCatholic, French public and French Catholic). Currently, 27 per cent of Ontariostudents were born outside Canada with 20 per cent self-identifying as members of avisible minority; 4.5 per cent of Ontario schoolchildren are French speaking.3Acrossall Ontario systems, there are approximately 72,200 elementary school teachers and42,000 secondary school teachers, represented by four different teacher federations.In total, there are about 4,000 elementary schools and 900 secondary schools, eachunder the jurisdiction of a district school board. There are 60 English-language and12 French-language boards ranging widely in size from a few hundred students inrural areas of the province, to 250,000 students in Toronto District School Board, oneof the largest urban district school boards in North America.4The public education system in Ontario is a well-used resource with 95 per cent of allstudents attending publicly funded schools.5The remaining students are either homeschooled or attend private schools or federally funded First Nation schools.

obligations, as per theIndian Act,for the education of residents on reserves,minority rights are protected by the Constitution. Section 93 guarantees Catholics,as a minority, the constitutional right to have provincially funded schools. TheConstitution Actfrom 1982 also gives legal protection for minorities of the two officiallanguages (English and French), supporting the creation of French-language districtschool boards in Ontario. In addition, every English-language school across thecountry requires all students to study French as second language, and every French-language school requires the same of all students for English.The basic structures of provincial and territorial education systems across Canada aresimilar, each with three tiers – elementary, secondary and postsecondary. In mostjurisdictions in Canada, education is compulsory until students reach the age of 15 or16; in Ontario, with new legislation, compulsory schooling continues to the age of 18.

Context and precipitating eventsIn 2010, Ontario has a growing presence on the international scene as a school systemthat has reshaped itself and pushed the boundaries of what one can expect from large-scale reform efforts. Seven years ago, some thought the Ontario system was in turmoil,despite implementation of some of the key constructive recommendations of thegovernment’s Royal Commission on Learning (among them province wide curriculum-based testing and the creation of the Educational Quality and Accountability Office).6The Schools We Needpolicy audit, for example, described “a harsh environment” forless advantaged and diverse student populations.7Even though Ontario was doingfairly well by international standards, the report identified gaps between high-and-low-achieving students and schools and called for a “new blueprint for Ontario education.”In 2003, Ontario’s then newly elected premier, Dalton McGuinty, inherited a trend oflimited improvement in elementary and secondary schools. In elementary schools, anaverage of 54 per cent of Grade 6 (12-year-old) students was meeting the standardof Level 3 (equivalent to a B) on provincial assessments for reading, writing andmathematics. In secondary schools, the graduation rate was 68 per cent. The newlyelected government committed to (a) improving elementary school literacy andnumeracy outcomes, (b) increasing the high school graduation rate and (c) buildingpublic confidence, as core goals of the education agenda for the province.

Theory of actionIn creating and implementing a strategy that is targeted to support and improveschools, district school boards and communities, Ontario follows a theory of actionwhich is clearly defined and articulated by an important architect of Ontario’s strategy,Michael Fullan.8Fullan separates successful change efforts into three important areas:1. people and relationship building2. knowledge building and innovation3. transparency of accountability throughout the system.These areas are interrelated and collectively play a critical role in the success of thisreform and the ways that it continually adapts, improves and changes over time –an approach to the use of evidence in practice referred to as “learning as we go.”All initiatives and activities within the Ontario strategy are anchored within thesethree key areas.

1. A small number of ambitious goalsThe initial focus of the Ontario reform was to improve students’ acquisition ofliteracy and numeracy skills (deeply defined to include higher-order thinking andcomprehension) and increase the secondary school graduation rate (includinginnovations to make programs more relevant to the life interests of students).These priorities have remained intact since the outset of the reform in 2003.In 2010, a new initiative was added – early learning – which includes the provisionof full-day Kindergarten for all four-and-five-year-olds, beginning with phasedimplementation in 2010.

3. High standards and expectationsHigh standards and expectations are implicit in the ambitious targets that were setfor students – namely, that (a) by Grade 6, 75 per cent of students would achieveLevel 3 or higher on provincial assessments in reading, writing and mathematicsand (b) within five years of entering high school, 85 per cent of students wouldgraduate. These goals are recognized as “stretch targets” – as aspirations for thesystem as well as expected outcomes, representing hefty increases from 54 per centof students at Level 3 or above in 2003 and 68 per cent graduating from high schoolin that same year.

4. Investment in leadership and capacity building related to instructionIf there is one concept that captures the centrepiece of the Ontario strategy, it iscapacity building. Capacity building was first launched by the Ministry of Educationwith the creation of the Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat (LNS) and the StudentSuccess/Learning to 18 Branch (SS/L18), now coordinated within a new StudentAchievement Division. The province has made major investments in personnel(e.g., student achievement officers, student success leaders, school effectivenessleads, student success teachers, and additional primary and specialist teachers) andresources (e.g., professional learning institutes, webinars, instructional guides). It hasalso developed finely tuned strategies (e.g., Ontario Focused Intervention Partnerships(OFIP), Schools in the Middle, Differentiated Instruction Professional Learning Strategy,Credit Recovery, Student Voice-SpeakUp) to help improve teaching and learning inOntario schools.

5. Mobilizing data and effective practices as a strategy for improvementWhen the strategy began, the arms-length assessment agency, the Education andAccountability Office (EQAO), administered, collected and published annual data onstudent achievement from provincial assessments; however, few mechanisms existedat that time to integrate this information with other data sources to provide a morecomplete picture of student achievement. The Ontario Student Information System(OnSIS) was put in place in 2005 to collect and manage individual student records.At the same time, the ministry began to support the development of district schoolboard capacity in data management, data analysis and evidence-informed decision-making, through its Managing Information for Student Achievement (MISA) initiative.The ministry also introduced a data query tool, Ontario Statistical Neighbours (OSN),to help both the ministry and district school boards stimulate improvement andoversee progress. These initiatives enabled system-wide collection of student level datathat could be integrated, tracked over time and used to inform policy and practice.

6. Intervention in a non-punitive mannerA key feature of the strategy is to encourage risk-taking, learning and sharing ofsuccessful practices, while intervening in a non-punitive manner. In other words,the strategy is deliberately “light on judgment.” Even the turnaround program forelementary schools (called OFIP) and the School Support Initiative for secondaryschools strike a positive tone as they identify schools and district school boardswhere the data show that a significant number of students are not performing tothe provincial standard. Intense support for improvement is provided to theseschools and boards in the way of human and financial resources and professionallearning opportunities.

7. Being vigilant about distractersFrom the very beginning, leaders of the Ontario strategy committed to a proactivemindset that “distracters” would be inevitable but that they would work to minimizetheir interference with the main priorities. A distracter is anything that takes awayenergy and focus from the core agenda. For example, ongoing teacher labour strifesurrounding annual collective bargaining was a distracter in the period prior to 2003.The government made it a priority to establish four-year collective agreements with allfederations and is now in the second cycle of four-year agreements. Other distracterswould include ad hoc new priorities and excessive bureaucracy. It is recognized thatdistracters cannot always be eliminated but that protecting the focus on core prioritiesis crucial.

8. Being transparent, relentless and increasingly challengingAlthough the strategy is light on judgment, there are a number of aspects that increasepressure for accountability, including transparency about results and practices, peerinteraction and sharing across schools, and negotiation of targets and implementationplans between the ministry and schools/district school boards. More recently, newlegislation strengthens the expectation that district school boards (including directorsand trustees) have a responsibility to focus on student achievement. More generally,the constant emphasis from the Premier and the government on the core prioritieskeeps the Ontario strategy in the forefront at all times.

In the 2003–04 school year, only 31 per cent of primary classes in Ontario had 20or fewer students and 25 per cent of primary classes had over 25 students. Ontario’sstrategy set an ambitious goal of achieving a dramatically different situation over afour-year phased-in period: at least 90 per cent of primary classes within each districtschool board would have 20 or fewer students and no primary class would have morethan 23 students. In 2008–09, this target was achieved on a provincewide basis. Morethan 540,000 primary students are now in class sizes with 20 or fewer students.To take advantage of the reduction in class size, and to improve student achievement,LNS – as part of the Ministry of Education – was charged with developing, coordinatingand delivering the government’s literacy and numeracy strategy in elementary schools.LNS was also made responsible for ensuring that programs and initiatives resulted ingreater instructional effectiveness at the classroom level with improvement in studentlearning and achievement.Organized on the basis of seven regional teams, LNS works across the provincedirectly with district school boards and schools. Each regional team consists ofeducational leaders, called “student achievement officers” (SAOs), who have recentexperience as teachers, principals, school consultants/coaches/coordinators and seniordistrict school board leaders. The regional LNS teams allow the ministry to supportschool and district school board improvement efforts in a way that responds to diversecontexts and needs while further establishing collaborative partnerships focused onstudent learning and achievement.While the early LNS teams focused on building partnerships with district school boardsand fostering a climate of trust and collaboration, later stages have zeroed-in on moreprecise instructional and assessment practices at the school and classroom level. Thesepractices are intended to improve learning and achievement for all elementary schoolstudents while emphasizing improvement of students with the greatest needs. Whilethe ministry currently has a number of initiatives in place through LNS, they tend tofall into four general, interrelated areas:1. The use of evidenceThe use of evidence, drawn from current practice at all three levels of the system(classroom, school, district school board) to inform strategies and actions, is acritical part of the way LNS works with schools and districts. One example of theministry’s “learning as we go” approach is the development ofThe School EffectivenessFramework.The framework, built in partnership with district school boards andschools, is a self-assessment tool which anchors school and district school boardimprovement planning in reflection on their own practices. It is designed to ensure

that improvement planning is a collaborative process that uses a wide range of sourcesof student data at the classroom, school and district school board level.2. Teacher collaborative inquiryLNS supports collaborative learning teams and school-to-school networks to fosterdeeper teacher engagement in teaching and learning and enriched student learningconditions, leading to improved student learning and achievement. Through suchprocesses as the Teaching-Learning Critical Pathway and the Collaborative Inquiryin Learning Mathematics, teacher dialogue is anchored in an examination of thestudent learning that has occurred as a result of collaboration and planning. Thisaffords teachers the opportunity to examine the impact of their own assessment andinstructional practices and to gain a deeper understanding of their pedagogical impact.These processes are designed for teachers, school principals and district school boardleaders to use, share and leverage successful school-based practices in assessment,planning, and instruction in literacy and numeracy in continuous cyclesof collaborative inquiry.3. Direct support for targeted schoolsThe ministry partners with district school boards to help them support schools thathave a large proportion of students who are performing below the provincial targetin their provincial assessments. Strategies that are consistently used and have yieldedvery strong results are situated in the previous two approaches, outlined above.Evidence from Ontario over the past three years suggests that schools improve whenthey are supported in:• establishing the use of evidence as a starting point for dialogue and action• building collaborative organizational environments• participating within a wider population of schools through networks • building leadership capacity to maintain and sustain these processes.4. Identification, adaptation and spread of effective practicesClosely integrated within the previous three areas described, the ministry continuallyworks to identify, illuminate, further develop and spread effective instructionalpractices occurring across the province. Thus, the ministry supports capacity building,as outlined, while also learning, adapting and spreading the effective practices that areoccurring across the province.

Secondary reformIn 2003, the ministry launched its secondary school reform, “Student Success/Learningto 18 Strategy” (SS/L18).9The goals – encompassing Grades 7 to 12 – are to: • increase the five-year provincial graduation rate to 85 per cent (from 68 per cent in 2003) • change pedagogy and culture through strong, focused leadership in schools and district school boards • provide new and relevant learning opportunities for all students • build on student interests and strengths • support effective transitions: from elementary to secondary, and from secondary to postsecondaryThe government recognized that it is often more difficult to create lasting changein secondary schools due to factors ranging from their larger size and subjectspecialization, to lower parent participation rates and different kinds of relationshipsbetween teachers and students.10The government addressed these issues in a numberof ways, starting with the creation of leadership roles at each district school boardand school, and the provision of key indicators to keep track of students, especiallythose who were not earning all their credits in a timely manner and were at risk of notearning a diploma.The SS/L18 strategy has unfolded in phases. In the first couple of years, there was aninvestment in leadership capacity for secondary school reform at the district schoolboard level, by creating the new senior leadership role of student success leaderin all 72 district school boards in Ontario. In the spring of 2005, an external studywhich involved 193 youth who had left school found that a major contributor totheir decision to leave was a feeling of disengagement or disconnect with the schoolcommunity and its culture.11This finding led to a recommendation that students at riskof leaving secondary school needed to be connected to a teacher, guidance counselloror administrator.12In 2004, 800 new student success teachers were added to secondary schools’ staffwith the critical role “to worry about students who need attention and are not gettingit.”13This role was accompanied by ministry-supported professional learning andcapacity building. In 2005, the government set a target graduation rate of 85 per centand introduced legislation,Learning to Age 18 Act,which required students up to theage of 18 or graduation to participate in a learning program, whether that was in theclassroom or as an apprentice in a workplace setting. The act also recognized theneed to adapt secondary school programs to more flexible models that could meet theneeds of a diverse range of students.

From 2006 to present, the Ministry of Education – through the SS/L18 strategy –has invested in providing all students with more choice of innovative, engagingand quality learning opportunities that match their strengths and aspirations andprepare them for the destination of their choice. These opportunities includeexpanded co-operative education, Specialist High Skills Majors and Dual Credits,and credits for external credentials. This phase also includes a focus on successfultransitions of all students from elementary to secondary school and from secondaryschool to postsecondary destinations. Secondary schools have established studentsuccess teams through which school leaders, student success teachers and staff addressthe needs of all students with particular attention being given to students who may beat risk. Investments have also been made to ensure effective transitions and strongerlinks and pathways between secondary schools and postsecondary education, trainingand employment opportunities.

Key Supporting Programs and InitiativesThe comprehensive nature of the Ontario strategy is considered key to its success.14To support schools and district school boards in their work, the governmentintroduced a number of programs and initiatives such as parent and communityengagement, equity and inclusive schooling, safe schools and enrichment throughthe arts, music and physical education. Programs which target specific groups arealso an interconnected part of the larger reform effort. For example, whileEducationfor All,K – 6 supports literacy and numeracy achievement for students with specialeducation needs,Learning for All,K – 12 provides an integrated process of assessmentand instruction for all students aligned with the Kindergarten to Grade 12 curriculum.The Aboriginal Education Strategy is another example of a targeted program withinthe larger reform. The strategy was launched in January 2007 with the release of theFirst Nation, Métis and Inuit Education Policy Framework which supports the Ministryof Education, district school boards and schools working together to improve theacademic achievement of First Nation, Métis and Inuit students in provincially fundedschools. The strategy also dovetails with the SS/L18 strategy which strives to createpersonalized secondary school programs and close achievement gaps by meeting theneeds of diverse student populations.Similarly, in the French-language system, a series of tools was developed to providedirection and monitor progress of the implementation of the new French-languagepolicy,La Politique d’aménagement linguistique.This policy supports French-languageschools in Ontario in the implementation of their constitutional mandate to recruit andretain children of rights holders, transmit French language and culture, contribute to

the vitality of the French-language community and improve student achievement inalignment with provincial efforts.Two key supporting strategies, summarized below, are integrated within all programsand initiatives in the reform effort:1. Building leadership capacity across the systemIt is widely recognized within the educational research community that schoolleadership, after direct teaching, is the second most importantin-school factorinimproving student learning.15In the fall of 2008, the government launched the OntarioLeadership Strategy with the goal of ensuring that schools and district school boardsare led by passionate, skilled educators who have the capacity to effectively supportthe overall education strategy. The leadership strategy includes a number of supportsfor principals and vice-principals such as mentoring, a provincewide principal/vice-principal appraisal system and mechanisms for them to have a stronger voice inthe work of the ministry. It also includes supports for supervisory officers, such asmentoring and executive training in change management.All of the elements of the leadership strategy are founded on the Ontario LeadershipFramework which describes specific practices, attributes and skills of leaders, makingexplicit connections between the actions of good leaders and their influences onclassrooms and teacher professional practice. To support the use and understandingof the framework, and of good leadership generally, the Ontario Institute forEducation Leadership was established — a partnership between principals, supervisoryofficers and director (head superintendent of district school boards) associations andthe ministry.2. Building research capacity across the systemThe government developed the Ontario Education Research Strategy in 2005 todevelop and implement policies and programs that are evidence-based, research-informed and connected to the priority educational goals.The strategy is built on collaboration and partnership across the ministry andthroughout the sector. For example, the Ontario Education Research Panel bringstogether recognized leaders to facilitate research collaboration among Ontario’sdistrict school boards, universities, professional organizations, community agenciesand ministries. The annual Ontario Education Research Symposium brings togethereducation stakeholders to explore ways to improve connections among research,policy and practice.

Elementary ReformFrom its inception, the Ontario strategy has emphasized building capacity throughproviding opportunities for professional learning, offering much-needed resources andputting in place innovative structures to facilitate improved staff and student learning.Overall, the number of students meeting or exceeding the provincial standard forreading, writing and mathematics has increased from 54 per cent in 2003 to 67 per centin 2009. Some additional highlights in improved student achievement are noted below: • Ontario has achieved significant success in international assessments – for example, Ontario performed equal to, or better than, 43 of the 45 jurisdictionsthat participated in an OECD international assessment in reading (PIRLS) forGrade 4 students. • Students in Ontario’s French-language schools have achieved the provincial target in all Grade 6 assessment areas (reading, writing and mathematics).Students in many of Ontario’s Catholic district school boards are approaching, orare above, the provincial target in Grade 6 as well. • The achievement gap has been greatly reduced for English language learners in all six provincial assessments for Grade 3 and 6 students. The smallest reductionof the gap is 38 percent in Grade 6 writing and the largest reduction of the gap isby 62 percent in Grade 3 writing.But Ontario is not without challenges in the elementary panel. Since 2006, therehas been no improvement in Grade 3 reading, a two per cent increase in Grade3 mathematics and a four per cent increase in Grade 3 writing. This has led to anincreased focus on the early elementary years as well as an increased focus onnumeracy instruction as important areas for continued effort.

As a direct result of the supports, resources and programming of the SS/L18 strategy,there has been a gradual increase in the number of students graduating fromsecondary school. Essentially, the SS/L18 strategy operates as both an equity strategyand a strategy designed to raise student achievement for all secondary school students.Thus, the outcomes that follow reflect both equity and overall achievement within thesecondary system: • Ontario’s graduation rate has increased from 68 per cent in 2003–04 to 79 per cent in 2008–09. • More than 52,000 additional students have graduated than would have if the rates remained at the 2003–04 levels. • Increases in credit accumulation in Grades 9, 10 and 11 indicate students’ continuing progress toward graduation. • 81 per cent of Grade 9 students in 2008–09 were on track to graduation with eight or more credits accumulated, which is a nine per cent increase from 2003–04.

ChallengesLocal success does not guarantee systemic successThe ability foralldistrict school boards to use teacher-team and school-basedsuccesses and innovations for organizational learning, knowledge building anddirection requires adaptive leadership, effective coordination and intensive supportprovided by all three levels of the system. The Ontario strategy starts with partnershipswith communities, district school boards and schools with the intention to buildfrom local success to system-wide success. Inevitably, the fidelity of implementationemerges as a challenge since the system is so large and diverse. The Ontario reformneeds to be embedded in almost 5,000 schools and over 110,000 classrooms acrossa vast geographical region. What works in one context (e.g., an urban school withhigh diversity) may not be applicable in another (e.g., a rural school in the north withhigh rates of poverty). For example, the collaborative network model supported byLNS as a change lever for urban elementary schools may not be sustainable in a ruralsetting where schools are hundreds of miles apart. For secondary schools, Dual Creditopportunities may not be available in communities which do not have acommunity college.

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Coherence and alignment are importantThe Ontario strategy is constructed from many specific initiatives that target differentparts of the school improvement challenge. Although drawing from the same theoryof action and targeting the same goals, initiatives may focus on a different challengeand a different population of students and educators (e.g., special education, boys’literacy, First Nation, Métis and Inuit students, English language learners, childrenliving in poverty). Keeping these initiatives coherent and aligned, while maintainingtheir relevance, requires partnership and collaboration from the entire sector. Thisis the core purpose and challenge for the Ontario Leadership Strategy – to build acoherent approach to leadership across the province. Leadership capacity building isoften embedded in school improvement strategies, each of which has its own versionof “good school and district school board leadership.” There is now one leadershipstrategy to anchor all leadership initiatives at the school, district school board andministry levels.

Personalization is the keyCurrently, there are also a number of challenges the SS/L18 strategy is facing withregard to continued personalization and engagement. Impressive gains, such as anincreasing graduation rate, are being made; however, it may be that the many studentswho are not graduating or who are not engaged have more complex risk situations intheir lives. Locating these students, giving them timely support and monitoring theirprogress before they lose their way to graduation is critical.There has been an increase in creativity in both new programs and instructionalapproaches across secondary schools in Ontario, and while the shift to an explicitfocus on the learner has been significant, more work needs to be done to ensure dailyimplementation of the strategy. This in turn will deepen the notions of personalizedlearning across the subject areas in secondary schools and could build a cross-departmental understanding of pedagogy and student learning needs. This wouldcomplement secondary school subject departmental professional learning in regards toeffective or successful instructional practices that are newly developed or already exist.The student success teacher and the student success team in secondary schools areimportant structures and positions in moving the strategy further in this regard.Overall, sustainability of focus is a constant challenge, while distracters are aconstant worry.

for discussion: Some Promising InnovationsThe Ontario strategy’s starting point, local examples of success and innovation, helpedjumpstart the large-scale change process, enabling the elementary and secondaryreform initiatives to quickly generate collaborative partnerships with schools anddistrict school boards and secure improvements quite rapidly. Among a number ofhigh-impact strategies, the following are especially promising both for embeddingreforms in classroom practice and spreading success system-wide:1. Using technology to support sharing and networkingA dynamic new online resource, e-Learning Ontario, was built by the ministry inpartnership with district school boards allowing teachers to create, access and shareinstructional resources and innovative programs in a collaborative online environment.E-learning features a resource bank of individual units, activities and multimedia itemsas well as extensive professional development opportunities (ranging from face-to-facemeetings to webinars) which ensure opportunities for teachers from different areasof the province to acquire new skills and learn from one another. Technology is alsoused to support a Homework Help project in which students can access assistance inmathematics while completing assignments outside class.2. Drilling down to student learningThe Student Work Study Teacher Initiative, launched by the ministry in 2009, brought50 experienced teachers into classrooms of 250 elementary schools across four regionsto study student learning, both intensively and systematically. Teachers identified asmall number of students in their classrooms who were struggling to achieve intendedlearning outcomes and these students consequently became the focus of the study.The initiative is based on a co-learning model and provides a unique opportunity forteachers to connect their instructional and assessment practices to student learningoccurring within the classroom. The study will suggest ways to increase precision andpersonalization in instruction and assessment practices.

4. Exploring effective district school board leadership practicesDistrict school board directors are working in communities of practice to uncover keyleadership practices that are used by effective district school boards. Working withDr. Kenneth Leithwood, these communities are looking at leading-edge research, casestudies and surveys of leaders across the province to develop a District EffectivenessFramework to guide the work of all Ontario directors.5. Addressing needs of studentsAs detailed earlier, the SS/L18 strategy includes a number of strategies that work tomeet the individual needs of students and help them succeed in all areas of learning.In all of these endeavours, the focus has been on improving instruction by helpingsecondary school teachers more fully address the needs of each student. Strategiessuch as SpeakUp and Differentiated Instruction aim not only to make students activecollaborators in their learning, but also to emphasize the importance of knowingone’s students, and responding to the diversity affecting teaching and learning ona daily basis.

moving forwardThis account of the Ontario strategy, from 2003 until present, has touched on coreaspects, leaving out many initiatives currently in place to support Ontario’s educationsystem. While a steady trajectory of improvement has been established, the workcontinues.Ontario’s tremendous diversity requires new approaches to the curriculum, programsand culture of the school. For example, by 2017, about one-fifth of the populationwill be members of diverse faith communities including Islam, Hinduism, Buddhismand Judaism. Not only must schools provide students and staff with authentic andrelevant opportunities to learn about diverse histories, cultures and perspectives,but also students should be able to see themselves represented in the curriculum,

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programs and culture of the school. The ministry’s Equity and Inclusive EducationStrategy promotes inclusive education and provides a framework to help the educationcommunity identify and remove discriminatory biases and systemic barriers to studentachievement related to the prohibited grounds of discrimination set out in the OntarioHuman Rights Code and other related factors (e.g., socio-economic status).This year, the ministry will begin the implementation of full-day Kindergarten for four-and-five year-olds in an effort to bring increased success for children as they enter theeducational system. The program will be phased in over five years with 600 schoolsstarting full-day Kindergarten in 2010 and an additional 200 schools in 2011. Thisequates to 50,000 children participating in full-day learning by 2011.At the same time, on the other end of the system, a number of measures are beingintroduced by the government to safeguard the investment in the postsecondarysector, among them, giving opportunities to highly qualified international students tostay in the province and contribute their newly acquired skills to growth, innovationand development.Although Aboriginal peoples’ participation in postsecondary education has improved,it is still significantly lagging behind that of the non-Aboriginal population in Ontario.This year, the government is also developing aPostsecondary Education and TrainingPolicy Framework for Aboriginal Learners– the government’s plan for delivering high-quality postsecondary education and training to First Nation, Métis and Inuit learnersin Ontario.Ontario now has widespread ownership and good capacity to go deeper. The nextphase for Ontario combines continued quality implementation with innovativeinitiatives to push the boundaries of what we know. There is a rapidly growinginterest across the world in whole system reform, that is, reform that improves theentire system.17We are committed to participating internationally in learning fromothers and contributing to the knowledge base, policies and strategies that will furtherimprove education across the world.Thus, the Ontario strategy has both depth and breadth. It is a reform effort that buildson research and successful reform from across the world as well as on successfulexisting practice across the Ontario system. Locating and learning from existingsuccessful practices in Ontario is also an instrumental part of building engagementwithin the sector. It provides opportunity for policy makers and practitioners to learnand adapt policy and programs that respond to the diverse contexts in which schoolsand district school boards exist.

Levin, Glaze, & Fullan, 2008. With the Ontario Premier, Dalton McGuinty and theneducation minister Gerard Kennedy, the authors of this article are among the keyarchitects of the Ontario strategy.In Ontario, the Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) providesannual assessments of Grades 3, 6 and 9 which provide a general measure of studentachievement in the province. Internationally, the Organization for Economic andCommunity Development (OECD) Program for International Assessments (PISA)provides world-wide comparative measures for 15 year-old-students.Pedwell et al., in press.Pedwell et al., in press.Pedwell et al., in press.Report of the Royal Commission on Learning, 1994.Leithwood, Fullan, Watson, 2003, p.10.Fullan, 2008.A provincewide study by Alan King (2005) commissioned by the Ontario Ministry ofEducation on challenges facing secondary students provided the basis for thesecondary strategy. King found that a single failure in any course dramatically reducesthe likelihood of a student graduating in four years. Following from the conclusionsof King’s study, the Ministry of Education commissioned researchers from the Hospitalfor Sick Children, under the leadership of Dr. Bruce Ferguson, to conduct a large-scalestudy of high school ‘leavers’, focusing particularly on the factors contributing tostudents leaving school early and those contributing to keeping them in school(Ferguson et al., 2005).Levin, 2008.Ferguson, 2005.Ferguson, 2005.Levin, 2008, p. 36.Levin, 2008, p. 31.Leithwood et al., 2004.OECD’s Program for International Assessments (PISA) notes that Ontario is one of onlya few jurisdictions that score above average in, among other assessments, science,while also having a below average difference between performance of students fromhigher and lower socio-economic backgrounds.Fullan, 2010

ReferencesCanadian Language & Literacy Research Network. (2009). Evaluation report.The impactof the Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat: Changes in Ontario’s education system.Finalreport submitted to the Ontario Ministry of Education, Spring 2009. Retrieved at http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/document/reports/OME_Report09_EN.pdfFerguson, B., Tilleczek, K., Boydell, K., Rummens, J.A., Cote, D., & Roth-Edney, D.(2005).Early school leavers; Understanding the lived reality of student disengagement fromsecondary school.Final Report submitted to the Ontario Ministry of Education, May 31,2005. Retrieved at http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/parents/schoollevers.pdfFullan, M. (2010).All systems go: The Imperative for whole system reform.Thousand Oaks,CA: Corwin Press, and Toronto: Ontario Principals Council.

Fullan, M. (2008).Six secrets of change. What the best leaders do to help theirorganizations survive and thrive.San Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass (John Wiley).King, A. J. C., Warren, W.K., Boyer, J.C., & Chin, P. (2005).Double cohort study.Phase 4report submitted to the Ontario Ministry of Education. Retrieved at http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/policyfunding/reports.htmlLeithwood, K., Seashore Louis, K., Anderson, S., & Wahlstrom, K. (2004).How leadershipinfluences student learning. A review of research of the Learning from Leadership Project.New York &Toronto: The Wallace Foundation, Centre for Applied Research andEducational Improvement and Ontario Institute for Studies in Education.Leithwood, K., Fullan, M., & Watson, N. (2003a).The schools we need: Recent educationpolicy in Ontario. Recommendations for moving forward.Toronto, ON: OISE/UTLeithwood, K., Fullan, M., & Watson, N. (2003b).The schools we need: A new blueprint forOntario. Final report.Toronto, ON: OISE/UTLevin, B. (2008).How to change 5000 schools. A practical and positive approach forleading change at every level.Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.Levin, B., Glaze, A., & Fullan, M. (2008). Results without rancour or ranking: Ontario’ssuccess story.Phi Delta Kappan,90(4).Pascal, C. E. (2009).With our best future in mind. Implementing early learning inOntario.A report to the Premier by the special advisor on early learning. Retrieved athttp://www.ontario.ca/ontprodconsume/groups/content/@onca/@initiatives/documents/document/ont06_018899.pdfPedwell, L., Levin, B., Pervin, B., Gallagher, M.J., Connor, M., & Beck, H. (in press).Building leadership capacity across 5000 schools.International handbook on leadershipfor learning.Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer Press.Ungerleider, C. (2008).Evaluation of the Ontario Ministry of Education’s Student Success /Learning to 18 Strategy.Final report submitted to the Ontario Ministry of Education,September 2008. Retrieved at http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/teachers/studentsuccess/CCL_SSE_Report.pdf