Published plans and annual reports 2019-2020: Ministry of Education

Purpose

The Ministry of Education is working towards an early years, child care and education system that respects parents and taxpayers while preparing Ontario's children for success.

By focusing on the fundamentals and expanding digital learning, Ontario will once again become a leader in education.

Ministry contribution to priority outcomes

At the heart of Ontario's education system is a shared responsibility to ensure student success. We must do better to develop dynamic and resilient students across Ontario, who are well prepared for life after high school.

A top priority for the Ministry of Education has been to listen to parents, students and organizations about how to improve the education system. Last fall, the government launched a consultation to provide all Ontarians with an opportunity to be heard on how we can better prepare students for the future.

Throughout the consultation, we heard that we are not providing students with the necessary skills to succeed after they have left school. We heard that we need to get back to basics to help empower students to solve everyday problems, increase their employability, and be productive and resilient citizens. We heard that we need to provide students with more opportunities and exposure to the skilled trades and science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) disciplines.

We also heard that we are not providing our students with critical life skills, such as financial literacy and the ability to cope with stress.

Ontario's financial situation requires that we modernize our publicly funded education system — with the goals of protecting the system for the long-term and making it sustainable. This will mean making decisions to ensure tax dollars are having the greatest impact in the classroom.

The new vision will modernize Ontario's classrooms and provide students with more learning opportunities to prepare them for success in postsecondary education, apprenticeship, training and the workforce.

Education that works for you

In March 2019, the government released Education that Works for You, a bold new vision for Ontario's education system. At the heart of this vision is our shared responsibility to ensure student success. This plan will be implemented using a thoughtful and responsible approach that will help us modernize education to maximize student achievement.

In collaboration with education sector partners, we took a hard look at the current education system, because we wanted to ensure Ontario students have the best chance to be successful.

We are committed to developing the talent of our dynamic students across Ontario and preparing them for the future. This vision will modernize key aspects of the education system, update the curriculum and help us achieve sector sustainability.

We conducted the largest public consultation on education in the province's history. We heard from parents, teachers, students, employers, partners and stakeholders with 72,000 points of engagement.

Some of the key changes that we will be moving forward with include:

• A new four-year math strategy
• A strategy to improve STEM learning
• A revised elementary Health and Physical Education Curriculum and introduction of a clear policy for parents to exempt their children from sexual health education
• A new digital curriculum platform
• A renewed focus on financial literacy and skilled trades and
• Keeping resources focused on students in the classroom by introducing modest education funding changes.

Ministry programs and highlights of 2018-19 achievements

We will deliver a world-class early years and education system that Ontario's children, students and families deserve.

Early years and child care

We know how important the early years are for Ontario's children and their families. That's why help is on the way. When quality child care is affordable, everyone benefits.

We have been listening to parents, caregivers and families across the province and are creating a child care plan that meets their needs and makes life easier for them by:

• Making child care more affordable
• Increasing choice and availability for families
• Reducing red tape and administrative burden
• Improving quality and delivering high standards of care.

Our plan will respect families by giving them more choice about what kind of child care is best for their children while putting more money in parents' pockets.

The government has already introduced important changes to support child care programs with a focus on affordability across the province, better meeting the needs of local communities, and reducing administrative burden.

These recent changes include:

• Increasing child care funding for 2018-19 to support and expand the system, creating access for more children and families
• Removing restrictions on funding to for-profit child care providers, helping give families more choice
• Creating more flexibility for families in home-based child care and authorized recreation programs, through the proposed amendments in Bill 66 — Restoring Ontario's Competitiveness Act.

Modernizing classrooms

At a glance, here is our plan to modernize classrooms to better prepare students for the demands of the future.

Cellphones

In response to feedback from parents, students and teachers, we are updating the Provincial Code of Conduct to ban cellphone use in schools during instructional time starting in September 2019. Using cellphones during instructional time will be permitted for educational purposes (as directed by the educator), health and medical purposes or special education needs.

Class sizes

To better balance student success and system sustainability, we are proposing a measured approach to changes in class size. Our government will protect the current framework for class size caps for students from Kindergarten to Grade 3.

eLearning

Starting in 2020-21, the government will centralize the delivery of all eLearning courses to allow students greater access to programming and educational opportunities no matter where they live in ntario.

EQAO

We are working with the Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) to modernize the agency and its processes, while using data to build better assessment and evaluation models that have a greater focus on equity.

Grants for Student Needs (GSN)

As a result of the review and feedback received from stakeholders, the 2019-20 GSN will reflect modest changes focusing on providing the resources to support outcomes for students and a sustainable funding model that can deliver for years to come.

Hiring practices

Our objective is to work with our education partners to improve teacher mobility, while increasing transparency, fairness, consistency, and accountability in teacher hiring across all school boards.

Modernizing learning

Following feedback from Ontario's largest ever consultation on education, here is a glance at our plan to modernize learning in the publicly funded education system.

Digital curriculum

A new digital platform will be phased in to modernize access to Ontario's curriculum. This new digital space will help educators, parents and students access curriculum and learning resources in a user- and mobile- friendly manner, and will become increasingly interactive over time. The first phase of the new platform will be launched in September 2019.

Financial literacy

Financial literacy will be a major component of the mandatory learning in the revised Grade 10 Career Studies course which will be released in late spring for implementation in September 2019. This will also be an area of focus in the revised math curriculum being phased in for all grades.

Indigenous education

A revised First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Studies curriculum for Grades 9-12 will be released in late spring for implementation in September 2019. The curriculum was developed in collaboration with Indigenous partners to increase learning about Indigenous perspectives, cultures, contributions and histories.

Math

Our new four-year math strategy will ensure students have a strong understanding of math fundamentals and how to apply them. It will feature a new math curriculum for all students, in all grades, phased in over four years. The first elements of the new curriculum will be available in September 2019.

Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM)

The new Ontario STEM Education Strategy will enable our province to become a global leader in STEM learning. By partnering with educators, students, parents and postsecondary institutions, as well as industry leaders, the government will create new and enriched learning experiences in STEM.

Skilled trades

The Ministry of Education will work closely with the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities to increase student and parent exposure to skilled trades, technology and apprenticeship training, and focus on promoting these high-demand career pathways.

Health and physical education curriculum

Following feedback from the largest provincial consultation on education, the government heard the need for a Health and Physical Education (HPE) curriculum that is age-appropriate and relevant.

The revised elementary HPE curriculum will be released in late spring for September 2019 implementation. To ensure parents are respected, we will provide an opt-out policy similar to other jurisdictions starting in the 2019-20 school year.

In 2019-20, we will also be introducing online modules for parents who may want to introduce topics at home whenever their child is ready.

These changes are part of Ontario's new vision for education: Education that Works for You. The vision will modernize Ontario's classrooms and provide students with more learning opportunities to prepare them for success in postsecondary education, apprenticeship and training, and the workforce.

Alignment of programs with the government's priorities

The following chart outlines the key government priorities that the ministry directly supports through its range of services and supports.

Government priority

• Deliver better public services
• Protect public services for future generations

Ministry of education responsibilities

• Early years and child care
• Education equity
• Education labour and finance
• French language teaching, learning and achievement
• Indigenous education and well-being
• Student achievement
• Student support and field services
• System planning, research and innovation

Getting Ontario's education system back on track

We have a plan to get Ontario's education system back on track.

We are focused on building a system that best supports student achievement, provides choice to parents, puts the best teachers in the classroom, and respects the taxpayers of the province.

Working closely with parents, students, taxpayers, and our education sector partners, we will constantly listen and respond to the emerging priorities and expectations Ontarians have for education in the province.

We are committed to education that works for Ontario, our people, our economy, our families, and most of all: our students. Together we will build a system that creates and attracts the best talent, promotes well-being and leaves every student well-prepared for their future.

Organization chart

Estimates briefing book 2019-2020

• Minister, Lisa Thompson.
  • Parliamentary Assistant, Sam Oosterhoff
    • Deputy Minister, Nancy Naylor
      • Communications Branch, Murray Leaning
      • Executive Assistant, Vanessa Bennett (Acting)
      • Education Equity Secretariat, Patrick Case
        • Education Equity Initiatives Branch, Rachel Osborne (Acting)
        • Executive Assistant, Mercilyn Baxter (Acting)
      • System Planning, Research & Innovation Division, Richard Franz, Assistant Deputy Minister
        • Executive Assistant, Beth Clune (Acting)
        • Strategic Planning & Transformation Branch, Russ Riddell
        • Education Research & Evaluation Strategy Branch, Erica Van Roosemalen
        • Incubation & Design Branch, Andrew Sally (Acting)
        • Education Statistics and Analysis Branch, Eric Ward
      • Education Labour & Finance Division, Andrew Davis, Assistant Deputy Minister
        • Executive Assistant, Douglas Ngira-Batware (Acting)
        • Education Labour Relations Office, Brian Blakeley
        • Labour Relations Operations Branch, Lynda Coulter (Acting)
        • French-Language Labour Relations Operations Branch, Sandi Tanner
        • Labour Relations Policy Branch, Rita Waller (Acting)
        • Education Finance Office, Doreen Lamarche
        • Education Funding Branch, Nathan Rokosh (Acting)
        • Financial Analysis & Accountability Branch, Med Ahmadoun
        • Labour & Finance Implementation Branch, Romina De Pasquale
      • Capital & Business Support Division, Joshua Paul, Assistant Deputy Minister
        • Kate Ryan, Executive Assistant
        • Capital Policy Branch, Colleen Hogan
        • Capital Program Branch, Paul Bloye
        • School Board Business Support Branch, Cheri Hayward
      • Early Years & Child Care Division, Shannon Fuller, Assistant Deputy Minister
        • Jennifer Szeto-Cox (Acting), Executive Assistant
        • Early Years & Child Care Policy Branch, Jeff Butler
        • Early Years & Child Care Programs & Service Integration Branch, Jill Dubrick
        • Child Care Quality Assurance & Licensing Branch, Judy Taggart /Pat Cosgrove (Acting)
        • Financial Accountability & Data Analysis Branch, Becky Doyle
      • Indigenous Education & Well Being Division, Denise Dwyer, Assistant Deputy Minister
        • Jennifer Ng (Acting), Executive Assistant
        • Indigenous Education Office, Taunya Paquette
        • Safe & Healthy Schools Branch, Debbie Thompson
        • Inclusive Education Branch, Vena Persaud (Acting)
        • Policy, Priorities & Engagement Branch, Suzanne Gordon
      • Student Support & Field Services Division, Shirley Kendrick (Acting), Assistant Deputy Minister
        • Silva Boghossian (Acting), Executive Assistant
        • Special Education /Success for All Branch, Claudine Munroe (Acting)
        • Provincial & Demonstration Schools Branch, Dr. June Rogers
        • Field Services Branch [Regional Offices: Barrie; London; Ottawa; Sudbury-North Bay; Thunder Bay; and Toronto and Area], Debra Cormier
      • Student Achievement Division, Martyn Beckett, Assistant Deputy Minister
        • Whitney Holmes, Executive Assistant
        • Leadership, Collaboration & Governance Branch, Bruce Drewett
        • Professionalism, Teaching Policy & Standards Branch, Demetra Saldaris
        • Curriculum Assessment & Student Success Policy Branch, Yael Ginsler
        • Program Implementation Branch, Marg Connor
        • Student Achievement Supports Branch, Bruce W. Shaw
      • French Language Teaching, Learning and Achievement Division, Denys Giguère, Assistant Deputy Minister
        • Paola Paulino (Acting), Executive Assistant
        • French-Language Education, Policies and Programs Branch, Luc Davet
        • French-Language Teaching & Learning Branch, Linda Lacroix
        • French-Language Priorities Branch (TCU) Gilles Fortin
      • Corporate Management and Services Division, Warren McCay (Acting), Assistant Deputy Minister
        • Kate Joakim (Acting), Executive Assistant
        • Strategic Human Resources Branch, Nadine Ramdial (Acting)
        • Corporate Coordination Branch, Sarah Truscott
        • Corporate Finance and Services Branch, Sandy Yee
        • Ontario Internal Audit Education Audit Service Team, Jayashree Venkatesh (Acting)
        • Legal Services Branch, Shannon Chace
      • Community Services I & IT Cluster, Soussan Tabari, Chief Information Officer / Assistant Deputy Minister
        • Marie Dearlove, Executive Assistant
        • iACCESS Solutions Branch, Sanjay Madan
        • Strategic Planning and Business Relationship Management Branch, Aleli Gulak (Acting)
        • Data Collection and Decision Support Solution Branch, Carm Scarfo
        • Case and Grant Management Solutions Branch, Sanaul Haque
    • Agencies, Boards, and Commissions:
      • Advisory Council on Special Education
      • Curriculum Council
      • Education Quality and Accountability Office
      • Languages of Instruction Commission of Ontario
      • Ontario Educational Communications Authority
      • Ontario French-Language Educational Communications Authority
      • Provincial Schools Authority

Download printer-friendly organization chart (JPG, 79 Ko).

The ministry is responsible for the following classified agencies:

Operational enterprise agencies

Ontario educational communications authority

The Ontario Educational Communications Authority (TVO) is Ontario's publicly funded educational media organization. TVO provides high-quality English-language educational programming and services through broadcast, distance education, and interactive web access. Distance education for secondary school credit is provided through the Independent Learning Centre. TVO is governed by the Ontario Educational Communications Authority Act. Its broadcast licence is governed by the federal Broadcasting Act and CRTC licensing.

Office des télécommunications éducatives de langue française de l'Ontario

The Ontario French-language Educational Communications Authority (TFO) provides high-quality educational and cultural multimedia services and content to the 12 French-language school boards and the broader Franco-Ontarian community. The organization also provides French as a Second Language resources to Ontario's 60 English-language school boards. TFO's programming, support services and resources contribute to meeting the ministry's student success priorities. TFO focuses on French-language and culture initiatives, that support the early years, literacy and numeracy, eLearning, and the Politique d'aménagement linguistique (PAL).

Operational service agencies

Education Quality and Accountability Office

The Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) conducts large-scale census assessments of student achievement: Grade 3 and Grade 6 students in reading, writing and mathematics; Grade 9 students in mathematics; and the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test, typically administered in Grade 10, which is the primary means of satisfying the Ontario literacy requirement for graduation. EQAO publishes annual results for each of its assessments in English and French and provides the education system with board, school and individual student level results.

EQAO also administers Ontario's participation in national and international testing such as Pan-Canadian Assessment Program (PCAP) and Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS).

Provincial Schools Authority

The Provincial Schools Authority (PSA) was established as an agency of the Ministry of Education in 1975 under the Provincial Schools Negotiations Act. The PSA is the employer of record for teachers employed in provincially operated schools. These employees are represented by the Provincial Schools Authority Teachers (PSAT), which is a district of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation (OSSTF). The PSA is also the employer of record for principals and vice principals in provincially operated schools. The principals and vice principals are not represented by a union and do not have a collective agreement. The PSA reviews and advises on the terms and conditions of employment for principals and vice-principals. The PSA also handles grievances, leaves and related administrative functions.

Advisory agencies

Minister's Advisory Council on Special Education

The Minister's Advisory Council on Special Education advises the minister on any matter related to the establishment and provision of special education programs and services for students with special education needs.

The following chart depicts the ministry's investment in 2019-20 in activities that provide Ontario students with an excellent and accountable elementary/secondary education, so their futures and that of the province will be characterized by continued prosperity, stability and growth.

2019-20 Ministry Budget by Program – Operating Expense^{footnote 1[1]}

Note: Numbers and percentages may not appear to add due to rounding.

2019-20 Ministry Budget by Program – Capital Expense^{footnote 2[2]}

Note: Numbers and percentages may not appear to add due to rounding.

Ministry planned expenditures 2019-20 ($M)^{footnote 3[3]}

2019-20 Ministry Expenditure (Operating and Capital) – Total $31,015.2M.^{footnote 5[5]}

Note: Numbers and percentages may not appear to add due to rounding.

Appendix

Annual report 2018-19

The government's plan, Education that Works for You, will modernize curriculum, modernize classrooms and empower educators to better prepare students for the realities of today's modern world. It will continue to guide the ministry's work for years to come.

Highlights of 2018-19 achievements

We are committed to education that works for Ontario, our people, our economy, our families, and most of all: our students. Together we will build on a system that creates and attracts the best talent, promotes well-being and leaves every student well-prepared for their future.

Below is an overview of the accomplishments over the last year. For more information, visit https://news.ontario.ca/edu/en.

Math supports

In August 2018, the ministry released a new teacher's guide and parent fact sheet to help both teachers and parents focus student learning on traditional formulas and memorization techniques.

Ontario also announced that it is refocusing $55 million in existing math investments to district schoolboards. This funding will support math facilitators and leads at the school board and school levels, as well as provide release-time for teachers to participate in training and learning focused on the fundamentals of math.

Bill 48: Safe and Supportive Classrooms Act

The government passed legislative amendments that will help keep our children and students safer and ensure that they are better supported in their learning.

These legislative amendments will:

• Mandate new teachers to successfully complete a math content knowledge test before seeking their teaching registration
• Require the Discipline Committees of the Ontario College of Teachers and College of Early Childhood Educators to revoke an educator's certificate of registration for any act of sexual abuse of a student or child
• Provide regulation making authority for the Lieutenant Governor in Council to prescribe that behaviours of a sexual nature that are prohibited under the Criminal Code (Canada) would result in the mandatory revocation of an educator's certificate of registration.

The amendments also provide guidance to school boards when developing their own policies on service animals. This will ensure families of students with special needs experience a fair and transparent process when requesting that their children be able to bring a service animal to school.

Largest public consultation on education in Ontario's history

The government held the largest public consultation on education in the province's history.

The consultation included more than 72,000 engagements across three different consultation channels. This included an open submission form, online survey and telephone town halls held in every region of the province.

Feedback received from the consultation will help inform policy and program decisions in the following areas:

• improving student performance in STEM
• preparing students with needed job skills, such as skilled trades and coding
• improving provincial standardized testing
• ensuring students graduate with important life skills, including financial literacy
• managing the use of technology in classrooms, such as cellphones
• building a new age-appropriate Health and Physical Education curriculum that includes subjects like mental health, sexual health education and the legalization of recreational cannabis
• developing the first-ever Ministry of Education Parents' Bill of Rights.

Consultations with education labour partners

The government held consultations with partners in the education sector on the following topics:

• Class sizes — reviewing class sizes in Ontario, as a follow-up to the recent consultation on the Grants for Student Needs (GSN)
• Teacher mobility — examining the mobility of occasional and permanent teachers or principals and vice principals
• Interviewing the most qualified candidates — reviewing the elements school boards should take into consideration when inviting candidates to interview for teaching positions
• Basis for hiring — discussing which factors should be taken into account when school boards make hiring decisions, to ensure more transparent hiring practices.

In 2018, the Ministry of Education also conducted a consultation on the 2019-20 GSN to seek feedback from education partners on ways to improve efficiency and accountability in education funding.

Making life easier for parents and families

The government passed the Restoring Ontario's Competitiveness Act which included amendments to the

Child Care and Early Years Act, 2014 (CCEYA) and the Education Act.

The amendments help increase access to child care and early years programs while maintaining high standards of care and aligning age-eligibility rules with kindergarten and camps.

The changes include:

• Increasing the number of young children that home-based child care providers can have in their care, from two under two-years-old, to three under two-years-old
• Lowering the age at which home-based child care providers must count their own children towards the maximum allowable number of children in care, from six-years-old to four-years-old
• Reducing the age requirement from six-years-old to four-years-old for authorized recreation programs that serve children after school
• Removing the restriction that a parent must receive financial assistance before licensed in-home child care services can be provided for their child.

Supporting students with autism

The government announced that it is increasing supports for educators and building on existing programs, so school boards will be prepared to help ensure students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) feel safe and supported in their classrooms.

Ontario will:

• Promote professional learning by fully subsidizing an ASD-specific Additional Qualification course for teachers
• Double funding to the Geneva Centre for Autism to provide online training opportunities for educators
• Fund behaviour expertise and student supports by continuing special education funding, including components responsive to enrollment of students with high needs
• Expand after-school skills development programs for students on the Autism spectrum by providing funding to all 72 school boards
• Support students transitioning into school through the Connections for Students model with autism service providers, educators and families
• Fund school boards for each new student with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) entering the school system in the remaining months of the 2018-19 school year with an average of $12,300 to make sure there are proper supports available during the transition from therapy to school.

The government's vision: education that works for you

The government's new vision will modernize Ontario's classrooms and provide students with more learning opportunities to prepare them for success in postsecondary education, apprenticeship and training, and the workforce.

The plan includes:

• Modernizing classrooms by expanding broadband, developing a new policy that will ban the use of cellphones during class except for educational purposes and by modernizing the approach to assessment and evaluation with a renewed focus on equity across the province
• Introducing changes to education funding that keep resources focused on students in the classroom
• Supporting teacher mobility, greater transparency, fairness, consistency and accountability in the school board hiring practices of teachers
• Maintaining class sizes for Kindergarten to Grade 3, establishing a consistent approach to class sizes for grades 4 to 8, and aligning secondary class sizes more closely with other Canadian jurisdictions, while introducing a new approach to eLearning and reducing pressure on school boards to put students in portables and split classes.

Undertaking curriculum reform that will include:

• A new math curriculum that will focus on math fundamentals for all grades
• A renewed focus on STEM, skilled trades and financial literacy
• A modern and age-appropriate Health and Physical Education curriculum that will keep students safe.

Modernizing education in Ontario

Ontario's financial situation requires that we modernize our publicly funded education system — with the goals of protecting the system for the long-term and making it sustainable, and improving student achievement. This will mean making decisions to ensure tax dollars are having the greatest impact in the classroom to better support students.

We are focused on building a system that best supports student achievement, provides choice to parents, puts the best teachers in the classroom, and respects the taxpayers of the province.

We have a plan to deliver the world-class early years and education system that Ontario's children, students and families deserve.

ISSN 2369-1905 (online)