As a new school year approaches, Education Minister Stephen Lecce held a conference yesterday August 28, 2023, to announce updates to the curriculum and a tentative agreement with unions representing education workers that would defer outstanding issues and take them to arbitration.
“We want to ensure there’s stability for children, which is why we’re going to continue to negotiate in good faith through collective bargaining right until October 27, have spirited discussions at the debate, and then should that not resolve the matters we now have independent, third-party, credible interest arbitration system that we can turn to to help us resolve those issues while keeping kids in school,” said Lecce, adding that it’s done in various other sectors such as healthcare.
Some of the highlights of the curriculum include reverting to phonics, and cursive writing as well as incorporating financial literacy and mental health into the learning process.
The updated 2023-2024 curriculum will focus on foundational skills in reading, writing, and math, supported by almost $700 million more in base education funding, $109 million in a new strategy to boost literacy rates, and the hiring of 2,000 more educators.
“Our government is delivering on our commitment to continue to raise the bar by boosting student success in the classroom with a focus on reading, writing, math, STEM disciplines, and learning about mental health literacy,” said “Our students deserve a stable and enjoyable school year with the full school experience of extracurriculars, clubs and more that build real life and job skills that go beyond the classroom.”
Beginning this September, all publicly funded school boards will be required to adopt provincial student achievement priorities and metrics to:
- Help students improve EQAO scores in reading, writing and math;
- Prepare students for future success to raise graduation rates, encourage more students to participate in job skills programs and take senior math and science courses; and
- Improve student engagement and awareness of mental health supports.
To further support students facing challenges with math, Ontario has announced the investment of over $71 million to launch the Math Action Achievement Plan, a strategy to boost math competence in the classroom and improve board accountability. This includes:
- One lead per school board with the focus of helping improve math outcomes for students. These leads will be responsible for curriculum implementation and standardized training and lead board-wide actions to meet targets.
- More than 300 math coaches will provide direct support in classrooms.
- New Math Action Teams will work directly with school boards to identify and recommend targeted strategies to improve student achievement.
Ontario will be investing more than $100 million to hire over 940 educators to support students from Grades 7 to 10 transition to high school. Ontario also intends to fund $1 million per year for two years beginning in 2024 for the Ontario Science Centre to create hands-on learning experiences and virtual lesson plans for students, as well as STEM teaching materials for educators.
For the 2023-24 school year, Ontario is introducing revamped curriculum supports to ensure student success including:
- Language Curriculum: Last updated in 2006/2007, the revised Language and Français Grade 1 to 9 curriculums include foundational instruction to support reading and writing, critical thinking, and digital media literacy skills.
- Educator Resources: The government has provided $825,000 to Dyslexia Canada to develop, in partnership with International Dyslexia Association – Ontario, evidence-based systematic and explicit instruction resources and learning supports that are now ready for use.
- Reading Screener and Supports: The province’s $109 million 2023-24 investment includes the largest screening program in Canada, funded with $12.5 million annually to support students from Year 2 of Kindergarten to Grade 2 to be screened for early reading. Up to 700 literacy educators will work to support students who are behind in reading development.
- Grade 10 Digital Technology and Innovations in the Changing World: This course will equip students to be innovative leaders by teaching them how to apply coding concepts and skills, build hands-on projects, and investigate artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and other emerging digital technologies.
- Financial Literacy Modules: Secondary students will learn how to create a budget, manage their money, protect themselves from financial scams, and plan for long-term purchases such as buying a house or car with new modules.
- Mental Health Modules: The Ontario government has partnered with School Mental Health Ontario in collaboration with the Hospital for Sick Children to develop Mental Health Literacy Modules, for teacher use in Grades 7 and 8.
During questions from the media, Lecce was asked whether Ontario would bring in legislation making it mandatory for school boards to inform parents if their child changes gender identity in school. “I think it’s important to note that every school must be safe for every child. I think we understand though that parents must be fully involved and fully aware of what’s happening in the lives of their children. I mean often there are health implications and I think we have to respect the rights of parents recognizing that these can be life-changing decisions and I think parents want to be involved so that they can support their kids and I think that’s a really important principle that we must uphold.”
Lecce stopped short of saying Ontario would legislate that parents be informed. In terms of concerns about the safety of students, particularly those who may come from an unaccepting home environment, Lecce said the student’s safety should prevail.
“Educators do amazing work to recognize the signs and the changes in behaviour and energy and attitude. They really do wear many hats and we’re grateful for what they do but there is a well-established protocol to ensure the safety of children, and I have every confidence that what has been the case for many years will continue to be that they can leverage that protocol if they believe something potentially could put the child at risk. But as I say, as an overarching value system, I really do believe that parents need to be aware, fully engaged, and school boards need to be transparent with parents. I mean they are their legal guardians. They love their kids. They want to be aware of what’s happening in the life of their children and their schools…,” said Lecce.
Don’t miss out on Doppler!
Sign up here to receive our email digest with links to our most recent stories.
Local news in your inbox three times per week!
Click here to support local news
Join the discussion: