2018 Consultation: Education in Ontario

Overview

We consulted with people across the province to solicit feedback on all components of the education system. We encouraged feedback on the topics listed below to help shape decisions in these areas:

1. Improving student performance in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM)
2. Preparing students with needed job skills, such as skilled trades and coding
3. Improving provincial standardized testing
4. Ensuring students graduate with important life skills, including financial literacy
5. Managing the use of technology in classrooms, such as cell phones
6. Building a new age-appropriate Health and Physical Education curriculum that includes subjects like mental health, sexual health education and the legalization of cannabis
7. Developing the first-ever Parents’ Bill of Rights

During the course of the consultations, the Ministry of Education heard from people in all parts of the province. They gave us robust feedback on the education system through the open submission form, online survey and telephone town halls that will be used for many years.

Thank you for participating.

If you would like to contact the Ministry of Education, please use the contact form.

Participation data for

Aggregate report of quantitative data

Introduction

This report includes a full overview of the aggregated quantitative inputs collected over 37 telephone town halls, conducted between October 19 and December 6, 2018.

The data is presented by topic, and polling results include the aggregate numbers and percentages of responses across all calls where each polling question was asked.

Notes on data collection

Over the course of each telephone town hall, observers collected and recorded data on participation numbers, including total number of participants on the call, number of participants in polling questions and participants who provided oral comments.

Participants on every call were advised by the call moderator that the polls were not scientific and were intended to be a snapshot of the participants in the call; participants were also advised that the polling results would be included as part of the overall consultation process.

Overall participation numbers and polling data are included in this report. Not all polling questions were asked on all calls; the number of calls where each question was asked is also noted.

Due to the variable structure of the calls, commenter numbers are not included in this aggregate report, as they cannot be accurately segmented by topic.

The polling data provided in this report was manually recorded by observers. Complete data collected by the call administration system has been provided directly to the Ministry of Education; the numbers in this report may vary slightly from the official system data.

Provincial regions represented during telephone town halls:

• Central Ontario
• Eastern Ontario
• Greater Toronto Area (GTA)
• East
• North
• West
• Hamilton
• Niagara
• Northeastern Ontario
• Northwestern Ontario
• Ottawa (English and French)
• Southwestern Ontario (English and French)
• Toronto (416 area code)
• Provincewide (French)

Total number of telephone town hall participants: 2,763

Summary of telephone town hall responses

• Introductory polls
• Topic 1: Improving student performance in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) subjects
• Topic 2: Preparing students with needed job skills, such as skilled trades and coding
• Topic 3: Improving provincial standardized testing
• Topic 4: Ensuring students graduate with important life skills, including financial literacy
• Topic 5: Managing the use of technology in classrooms, such as cell phones
• Topic 6: Building a new age-appropriate Health and Physical Education curriculum that includes subjects like mental health, sexual health education and the legalization of cannabis
• Topic 7: Developing the first-ever Parents' Bill of Rights

Introductory polls

Participants were asked a few introductory questions to ensure everyone was comfortable using the polling technology before moving into consultation-specific polling questions. These introductory questions were a modification introduced to the telephone town halls in the second week. For all polling questions, participants were advised to press one on the telephone touchpad to answer 'yes', press two for 'no', or press three for 'I don't know'.

Question 1: Have you filled out the online survey or open submission form yet?

This question was asked on 28 telephone town halls, and a total of 1,557 participants provided a response. Responses were as follows:

Question 2: Have you ever participated in a tele-town hall before?

This question was asked on 21 telephone town halls, and a total of 887 participants provided a response. Responses were as follows:

Topic 1: Improving student performance in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) subjects

There were two polling questions on this topic.

Question 1: Are Ontario’s schools doing enough to promote STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) subjects in elementary school?

This question was asked on 37 telephone town halls, and a total of 1,868 participants provided a response. Responses were as follows:

Question 2: Do you believe students should be learning more about STEM topics at an earlier age?

This question was asked on 13 telephone town halls, and a total of 484 participants provided a response. Responses were as follows:

Topic 2: Preparing students with needed job skills, such as skilled trades and coding

There were four polling questions on this topic, including two variations on a computer coding question.

Question 1: Do you believe schools are doing enough to promote the skilled trades or apprenticeship opportunities?

This question was asked on 35 telephone town halls, and a total of 1,663 participants provided a response. Responses were as follows:

Question 2: How about computer coding? Do you believe it is important for students to learn coding in school?

This question was asked on 20 telephone town halls, and a total of 898 participants provided a response. Responses were as follows:

Question 3: Do students need to learn computer coding in elementary school to be prepared for their future?

This question was asked on 3 telephone town halls, and a total of 61 participants provided a response. Responses were as follows:

Question 4: Do you agree that the most important job skill that employers look for is communication abilities?

This question was asked on 1 telephone town hall, and a total of 67 participants provided a response. Responses were as follows:

Topic 3: Improving provincial standardized testing

Question 1: Does Ontario need more standardized tests for its students?

This question was asked on 36 telephone town halls, and a total of 1,804 participants provided a response. Responses were as follows:

Question 2: Do you value the results of how our students perform in provincial standardized tests?

This question was asked on 11 telephone town halls, and a total of 465 participants provided a response. Responses were as follows:

Topic 4: Ensuring students graduate with important life skills, including financial literacy

Question 1: Do you think students in Ontario have the knowledge, skills and confidence to be considered financially literate?

This question was asked on 34 telephone town halls, and a total of 1,719 participants provided a response. Responses were as follows:

Question 2: Do you agree with this statement: While financial literacy is important, I believe technology will soon solve most of our current concerns.

This question was asked on 11 telephone town halls, and a total of 498 participants provided a response. Responses were as follows:

Topic 5: Managing the use of technology in classrooms, such as cell phones

Question 1: Should recreational cell phone use be banned during class time?

This question was asked on 33 telephone town halls, and a total of 1,620 participants provided a response. Responses were as follows:

Question 2: Do you believe that while cell phones may be valuable devices, students don’t really need them until high school?

This question was asked on 5 telephone town halls, and a total of 204 participants provided a response. Responses were as follows:

Question 3: Are you concerned by the amount of time children spend on tech devices?

This question was asked on 3 telephone town halls, and a total of 146 participants provided a response. Responses were as follows:

Question 4: Do you think classrooms are adequately equipped with the tools required to support student success?

This question was asked on 1 telephone town hall, and a total of 56 participants provided a response. Responses were as follows:

Topic 6: Building a new age-appropriate Health and Physical Education curriculum that includes subjects like mental health, sexual health education and the legalization of cannabis

Question 1: Do you believe that the Health and Physical Education curriculum should be developed with greater input from parents?

This question was asked on 35 telephone town halls, and a total of 1,690 participants provided a response. Responses were as follows:

Question 2: Do you believe that schools provide sufficient support to address student mental health needs?

This question was asked on 12 telephone town halls, and a total of 457 participants provided a response. Responses were as follows:

Question 3: Do you believe that our students are maturing earlier than they did 20 years ago?

This question was asked on 8 telephone town halls, and a total of 182 participants provided a response. Responses were as follows:

Topic 7: Developing the first-ever Parents' Bill of Rights

Question 1: Do you feel it is important to have a Parents' Bill of Rights?

This question was asked on 30 telephone town halls, and a total of 1,228 participants provided a response. Responses were as follows:

Question 2: Do you agree with the statement: The most important principle in a Parents' Bill of Rights is ensuring the academic success of my child.

This question was asked on 5 telephone town halls, and a total of 115 participants provided a response. Responses were as follows:

Summary of online survey responses

Aggregate report of quantitative data

• Demographics
• General
• STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math)
• Job skills
• Testing
• Financial literacy
• Cell phones
• Health and Physical Education curriculum

Demographics

Tell us about yourself.

Figure 1: Are you a ... Select all that apply.

Figure 2: Are you a parent with school aged children?

Figures 3 and : Surveys by postal district

Figure 5: If you are a parent with school aged children, how many of the children living in your home are in each grade range?

Figure 6: If you are a parent with school aged children or a student attending school, what school type are you / your child(ren) currently enrolled in? Select all that apply.

Figure 7: If you are a parent with school aged children, does your child have special needs or accessibility requirements?

Figure 8: If you are a student attending school, do you have special needs or accessibility requirements?

General

Figure 9: We know that parents are children’s primary educators. To support the education process, what would you be willing to do?

Figure 10: Do you participate in parent-teacher nights at your children's school?

Figure 11: Are you willing to do a consultation like this about Ontario's education system every 5 years or so?

Figure 12: The Ontario College of Teachers has been regulating the teaching profession in Ontario since 1997, including conducting investigations and communicating with the public on behalf of the teaching profession. Before taking this survey, were you aware of the Ontario College of Teachers?

Figure 13: How important is it to you that the Ontario College of Teachers exists?

STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math)

Figure 14: Ontario needs to improve student achievement in math. Where should we focus?

Figure 15: Are you spending your own time to help your children learn math outside the classroom?

Figure 16: If you are, how much time are you spending to help your children learn math outside the classroom?

Figure 17: Are you spending your own money to help your children learn math outside the classroom?

Figure 18: If you are, how much money are you spending to help your children learn math outside the classroom?

Figure 19: Are Ontario’s schools doing enough to promote STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) disciplines in elementary school?

Figure 20: What math skills are current students most lacking?

Figure 21: How will you know a student has the needed math fundamentals? Select all that apply.

Value

Figure 22: At what level should students start learning about the following subjects?

Job skills

Figure 23: How important is it that schools teach each of these job and life skills?

Figure 24: Do you believe schools are doing enough to promote the skilled trades/apprenticeship opportunities?

Figure 25: Do parents and students have enough information about job availability and rates of pay when choosing between post-secondary options like college, trades/apprenticeships, or university?

Figure 26: Ontario needs more skilled tradespeople. One option is to allow young people to begin apprenticeships and training earlier. Would you support this approach?

Figure 27: At what age should young people begin apprenticeship and training?

Testing

Standardized testing in Ontario is done by the Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) in:

• Grades 3 and 6 (reading, writing and math)
• Grade 9 (math)
• Grade 10 (literacy)
• School-by-school EQAO results are made public on the EQAO website.

Figure 28: How should EQAO assessments be administered?

Figure 29: When should standardized testing take place?

Figure 30: What subjects should be the focus of standardized testing in Ontario? Select all that apply.

Figure 31: Which of the following statements best describes your views about EQAO testing?

Financial literacy

Canada’s Task Force on Financial Literacy identified that “financial literacy means having the knowledge, skills and confidence to make responsible financial decisions at any stage of your life.”

Figure 32: How well is the current education system teaching students about the following life skills?

Cell phones

Figure 33: When should cell phones be banned in schools?

Health and Physical Education curriculum

Figure 34: Ontario parents voted for consultation on the province’s Health and Physical Education curriculum. Which of the following topics should be covered in a revised Health and Physical Education curriculum? Please select all that apply.

Figure 35: At what age should the following topics be first introduced?

Figure 36: How much do you trust these sources of information on sexual health for students?

Figure 37: Are the following topics being effectively taught through the Health and Physical Education curriculum?

Figure 38: Recreational cannabis use is legal in Ontario for ages 19+ as of October 17, 2018. Do you think students should learn about cannabis laws, safe cannabis use, and the risks of cannabis use?

Figure 39: At what age should students learn about cannabis laws, safe cannabis use, and the risks of cannabis use?

Figure 40: Do you believe the curriculum teaches enough about the risks of alcohol consumption?