Transcript Director Forum

Every decision made by the TDSB must support
a school system where the No. 1 priority is
supporting Learning for All.
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Learning for All
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The quality of
curriculum
“What we teach”
The quality of
instruction
“How we teach”
The effectiveness
of schools
“Where we teach”
The unique
characteristics
and background of
the student
“Who we teach”
Social Justice
The path to social justice begins with gaining passion for the
plight of disadvantaged students.
We need to ask ourselves:
– Who tends to be privileged?
– What does it mean to be privileged in this way?
– Who tends to be marginalized?
– What does it mean to be marginalized in this way?
– Ways we tend to deny that privilege is occurring?
– What happens in the classroom?
– How can we take action in the classroom/system to interrupt
these cycles of oppression?
Richard A. McCormick, S.J. (1999).
Blueprint for Social Justice LII(11), 1.]
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Achievement Gap
• Exists when specific groups of students do not
achieve in school at the same level. Achievement
gaps may correlate with race, ethnicity, family income
level, language background, ability/disability status,
gender etc.
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The “achievement gap” is not as much an
“achievement gap” as it is an “opportunity gap!
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Imagine a TDSB where…
All schools share a common core set of characteristics: they are all
academically rigorous, equity oriented, community-driven and
focused on teaching and learning.
A wider variety of schools of choice in the district appeals to
different learning styles and interests to allow student/parent
choice.
There is a critical mass of students in every school to drive
program.
There is a comprehensive, system-wide, continuum of streamlined
processes, integrated supports and alternative programming to
enhance students’ capacity to achieve success.
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Imagine a TDSB where…
We actively contribute to all aspects of a child’s life – health, wellbeing, safety, and development of the wider experiences and skills
that characterize holistic development.
Every student is engaged, has a voice, has access to a caring adult
and the opportunity to develop to their full potential.
Every employee, irrespective of job category, will have the
opportunity to develop their full potential and their contributions to
the mission of the TDSB are recognized and valued.
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Imagine a TDSB where…
We provide a vital community resource by opening our
facilities and offering wider opportunities for young
people and their families.
We work in partnership with other services and as an
active partner in planning and program delivery.
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• Director’s Entry Plan
• Listen, Learn and Lead
Key Questions:
• Where are we now?
• Where do we want
to go?
•
• How are we going
to get there?
• How will we know our work has made a
difference?
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Guiding Questions
From Listening to Leading
• Who are our learners?
• What are their needs?
• What skills, values, and knowledge will they need
to be successful, productive members of society?
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Who are today’s youth?
Average school-aged child
spends (per week):
– ½ hour with Dad
– 2.5 hours with Mom
– 2.2 hours doing homework
– ½ hour reading for
pleasure
– More than 25 hours
exposed to electronics
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Some have never …
• Lived without a computer
• Received a busy signal
• Used a phone booth
• Lived in a house without
multiple TVs and remote
controls
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64% of today’s kids come home to no one!
• What has taken the place of human interaction with
Mom or Dad?
• The virtual relationships and electronic interactions
have taken the place of real, face-to-face
relationships.
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Reach and Teach
• Our job is to teach the
kids we have;
• not the kids we used to
have,
• not the kids we wish we
had,
• not the kids who exist
only in our dreams.
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In the 21st century students will be:
• Selling to the world - Buying from the world
• Working for international companies
• Managing employees from other countries & cultures
• Competing with people on the other side of the world for
jobs and markets
• Working with people all over the world in joint ventures
and global work teams
• Solving global problems such as AIDS, environmental
problems, and resolving conflicts
Are we ready?
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“In the global economy & society of the 21st century,
all children will be left behind if
their education is not organized with
a global context in mind.”
GOLDMAN SACHS FOUNDATION
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A Laser Like Focus
Equity of
Outcome
Focused
Intervention
Capacity
Building
Community
Engagement
Communication
Improved Student Achievement!
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3 Priorities - Less Is More
• Student Achievement
• Parent and Community
Engagement
• Financial Stability
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Student Achievement
• Every School an Effective Full-Service School
• Boys’ Education Strategy
• Technology
• Caring and Safe Schools
• Re-creating Our Schools
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Characteristics of Improved School
Districts - Conceptual Framework
Quality Teaching and Learning
High Expectations and
Accountability
Coordinated and Aligned Curriculum
and Assessment
Coordinated & Embedded
Professional Development
Quality Classroom Instruction
Effective
Leadership
Support for
System-wide
Improvement
Focus on All
Students Learning
Dynamic &
Distributed
Leadership
Clear,
Collaborative
Relationships
Professional Culture,
Collaborative Relationships
Effective use of data
Strategic Allocation
of Resources
Clear Understanding of School &
District Roles & Responsibilities
Policy and Program
Coherence
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Sustained
Improvement Efforts
Over Time
Interpreting & Managing
the External Environment
Time
High School Strategy
• Expanding program options
• Building sense of belonging
• Building engagement
• Building community partnerships
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Student Success
More Choices/Pathways for Students
• Specialist High Skills Major
• Dual Credits
• Differentiated Instruction
• Credit Recovery/Credit Rescue
• Experiential Learning
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K-8
Elementary Schools
Fewer transitions, a sense of community and greater
access to quality programming through specialty
teachers:
• Drama/Dance
• Guidance and Career Education
• Health and Physical Education
• Technology
• Library and Learning Resources
• Music
• Science and Technology
• Visual Arts
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Boys’ Education Strategy
The objective of this strategy
is to cast a critical eye on
how we reach, teach and
develop our boys.
By bridging the gap between
research and educators; and
by providing tangible
strategies for teachers/staff/
parents and others by
focusing on the changing
demands of teaching boys.
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Fatherless World
• One of the most reliable predictors of whether a boy
will succeed or fail in high school rests on a single
question: does he have a man in his life to look up
to?
• “A boy without a father figure is like an
explorer without a map”
Michael Gurian
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What we know about boys
• Boys underachieve in comparison to girls - across
age groups, socioeconomic classes, and ethnic
groups.
• Boys are over-represented in learning support
programs.
• There is increasing evidence of boys’
disengagement from school involvement in an antilearning culture.
• Disruptive, aggressive and violent behaviors by boys
are demonstrated in school district discipline data.
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Single Gender
Classrooms/Programs/Schools?
• Most of the time, coeducational classes are going to be the
right answer for a child’s learning needs. But studies
conclude that in some instances students do better in a
single sex setting.
• Male Leadership Academy Sept 2010
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Equipping Every Learner for the
Digital Age - The Vision (2015)
• Access
• All TDSB sites will be wireless-enabled
• Every teacher will have access to a
computer in their classroom
• Every student will have access to an
electronic learning environment (both
inside and outside of the classroom)
• Parents will have electronic access to
teachers and information about their
child and the school environment
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First Steps
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•
Develop a strategic plan for how technology will be engaged
in the teaching process
– Conduct a broad consultation and planning process which
includes:
• Wide academic representation
• ITS technical representation
• Board & community representation
• External research from vendors and other jurisdictions
– Develop specific strategies and an implementation plan
•
Address challenges around in-school technology
– Strategies for providing wireless capability in schools
– Evaluate alternative device strategies
– Explore partnership strategies with government and the private
sector
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Fast-track rollout of technical and support infrastructure
– Wide Area Network
– Academic Workspace
Safe and Caring Schools
A Safe School Is a Shared Responsibility
• Reduce the number of violent
incidents in the TDSB by 10%
• Reduce the number of
Non-Discretionary Transfers
by 15%
• Reduce the number of suspensions
by 20% and increase the number of suspended students
participating in supportive programs by 20%
• Reduce the number of “all schools” expulsions by 10% and
reduce the number of “school only” expulsions by 20%
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Re-Creating Our Schools
Effective/Full Service Schools
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Re-Creating Our Schools
• Launch eight ARCs in
November 2009 impacting
35 schools
• These eight ARCs will
recreate some of our
schools and result in
improved learning
environments including:
additions, program
upgrades, building renewal
(roofs, windows, boilers),
green sustainable measures,
information technology and
full-service schools.
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Re-Creating Our Schools
• Launch four new Local Feasibility Studies to prepare
for four potential new ARCs in January 2010
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Parent & Community Engagement Together We’re Better!
When schools work
together with families
to support learning,
children tend to succeed
not just in school but
throughout life.
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Recognize and Address Barriers
• Past experiences
• Time
• Transportation
• Location
• Translation
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Benefits of Parent Involvement
The Triple A’s
1. Student Achievement
2. Student Attendance
3. Student Attachment
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Parent and Community Engagement
• Satisfaction
Survey
• Establishment of a
Parent Academy
• Full-Service
Schools
• Establishment of a Community Advisory Committee
on Environmental Sustainability
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Financial Stability - Essential Question?
How will the expenditure
of our resources (people
and money) impact
student achievement over
a sustained and
measurable period of
time?
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Financial Stability
• International Students: new initiatives to increase
the number of students and to encourage schools to
receive more students.
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Financial Stability
• Generate Capital Through Redevelopment
• Launch five significant redevelopment projects
• The projected revenue from the five
redevelopment projects will be used to clear the
capital deficit and fund new school construction as
required
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Director of Marketing
• Student enrolment is vital to our funding.
• Enrolment Promotion and Awareness Campaign.
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GO Green
Climate Change Action Plan
An ambitious undertaking:
Approve policy and develop a
School Energy Plan to align
TDSB with Federal Green
House (GHG) Emission targets
of 20% by 2020 & 80% by
2050.
Nurture and grow our Eco
Schools family.
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Go Green
Design and install solar
photovoltaic (PV) systems on
up to 20 schools per year.
Apply for Ministry funding for
renewable energy projects by
applying to install a broad
range of technologies
including solar PV solar
thermal for schools with pools
and geothermal retrofits.
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Go Green
Work collaboratively with
the City of Toronto to
develop a Community
Energy Plan that links the
Mayor’s Tower Renewal
Initiative with local schools
Develop School grounds as
the host sites for
community energy hubs
and gardens
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Go Green
Require all schools to
switch to once-aweek garbage pick
up
Use Operations
savings to plant
trees and set up a
school based
environmental fund
Publish an Annual TDSB
Goes Green Report - Be
environmentally
accountable
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A culture of success includes
1. belief in the possibility
2. commitment to priorities & results
3. awareness of urgency
4. visibility of the focus
5. culture of collaboration
6. Accountability
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Sustaining Improvement
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•
Creating together
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Learning together
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Embedding growth and risk taking
in the culture
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Being flexible, patient, and persistent