Toronto District School Board

Where Amazing Happens!

A few things…

• Leader of Learning

• Moral purpose

• High Expectations

• Literacy for Life

Literacy for Life

• Listen attentively.

• Speak persuasively.

• Read with understanding.

• Write with command.

• Underdeveloped literacy skills are the number one reason why students are retained, assigned to special education, and why they fail to graduate from high school.

Adolescents entering the adult world in the 21st century

will read and write more than at any

other time in human history.

The Literate Learner

Read

Write

Speak

Listen

Solve Problems Think

Critically

Use Technology and Media

Use skills to Participate in a Global Society

Apply Skills In the Real

World

What do we know about those who are illiterate:

.50% of the unemployed are functionally illiterate

.Those who are functionally illiterate earn 5 times less than those that are literate

.50% of those with the lowest literacy skills live in poverty

.Children in poverty are more likely to be illiterate

Improving Achievement • Belief in their abilities to master a

rigorous curriculum.

• Time tailored to specific student needs.

• Understanding that not all students learn the same way and at the same rate.

Raise the Praise

Eastern Commerce

• Eastern Commerce Collegiate is the TDSB’s and perhaps Canada’s only late start school, which is scientifically supported to provide an optimum accommodation for the sleep and study needs particularly required by teenagers.

• So here they start at 10 and end at 4…they have seen absenteeism decrease.

• Student perception of the program has been very positive.

Triangle Program

• Triangle Program is the only program of its kind in Canada as it caters to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, queer and spirited students.

• The curriculum is infused with queer issues into ALL COURSES GRADE 9-12.

• IT STARTED AS A STOP GAP PROGRAM BUT IS NOW A DESTINATION

Ipod Touch@Beverley • Exploring the role handheld touch

technologies may play in the classroom and in the communication and sociality of children with communicative disorders, with a primary emphasis on non verbal autistic children.

Oasis

• Oasis SkateBoard Factory ironically is not about the sport of skateboarding. It is about entrepreneurial design and business marketing of a unique product.

• It is the first TDSB school to offer all subjects with a skateboard and street focus.

Elementary Alternative Learning Options

• Boys Leadership Academy, Grades 4-8

• Girls Leadership Academy, Grades 4-8

• Vocal Academy, Grades 4-8, Co-Ed

• Health, Wellness and Sports Academy, Grade 4-8, Co-Ed

• Africentric

Amazing in Ward 7

• Annette Street Junior and Senior Public School

• Fern Avenue Junior and Senior Public School

• Garden Avenue Junior Public School

• High Park Alternative Junior School

• Howard Junior Public School • Humbercrest Public School • Indian Road Crescent Junior

Public School • Keele Street Junior Public School • King George Junior Public School

• Lucy McCormick Senior School

• Mountview Alternative Junior School

• Parkdale Junior and Senior Public School

• Queen Victoria Junior Public School

• Runnymede Junior and Senior Public School

• Swansea Junior and Senior Public School

• Warren Park Junior Public School • Humberside Collegiate Institute • Parkdale Collegiate Institute • Runnymede Collegiate Institute • THESTUDENTSCHOOL • Ursula Franklin Academy • Western Technical-Commercial

School

Guiding Questions

Who are our learners? What are their needs? What skills, values, and knowledge

will they need to be successful, productive members of society?

Good Morning!

You have to wake up in the morning

wanting to create a place where people

love to work, and you have to care about

that as much as you care about all the

other things a leader must focus on.

“People want to be part of something larger

than themselves. They want to be part of

something they’re really proud of, that

they’ll fight for, sacrifice for, trust.”

Howard Schultz, Starbucks

Create the Momentum and Energy for Change

• Reaction Purpose and Focus

• Compliance Engagement

• Isolation Collaboration

Educational Changes….

OLD MODEL... NEW MODEL...

• Learning under one roof.

School: • Learning anywhere, anytime, anyhow

• Dependent, teacher directed

Classroom: • Independent, learner-

centered, emphasis on cooperation, collaboration, etc.

• Knowledge-giver Teacher: • Knowledge-facilitator, sometimes the learner.

• Recaller of knowledge

• Process and use information from one basic source.

Student: • Manipulator of knowledge

• Process, analyze, manipulate and present information from multiple sources.

Are Our Schools Obsolete? “In today’s highly competitive global knowledge

economy, all students need new skills for college, careers, and citizenship. The failure to give all students these new skills leaves today’s youth and our country, at an alarming competitive disadvantage. Schools haven’t changed; the world has. And so our schools are not failing. Rather, they are obsolete-even the ones that score the best on standardized tests.”

Tony Wagner

“It is not the strongest of the species that

survive, nor the most intelligent but the

one most responsive to change.”

Charles Darwin

Ward 7 Challenges • Ward 7 Local Feasibility Team continues to meet on a regular basis to

plan for space accommodation issues in some of our schools such as Runnymede PS , Keele Street PS , Swansea PS and Parkdale Collegiate.

• We are launching a promotional campaign at Runnymede Collegiate to expand the Masters of Science and Technology Program and have a marketing and media campaign – Runnymede Collegiate …. Worth Studying.

• French immersion continues to be in strong demand in the ward in terms of subscription. This year we had 125 more applications than available spaces for French Immersion in the Ward. We opened an additional class at the SK entry point at Parkdale PS and Runnymede PS and some redirection to other sites.

Great number of local developers building housing developments within catchment areas where schools are full

Facts • Widening achievement gaps

• Disengaged parents & community

• Students’ health & mental health problems

• Flawed funding Formula

• 2.9 billion backlog in deferred maintenance, 61.7 million capital deficit, 30 million operating structural deficit

• Declining Enrolment

• Growing cultural & language diversity

Our Strategy

Be

Global Connect

locally,

scale

globally

Be

Innovative Lead with

technology and

content

innovation

Build

Relationships Grow

Relationships

Leverage

Strengths Use TDSB’S size,

expertise, financial

capability, and

brand

E3

Equity, Education and Excellence

Strategic Directions

• Make every school an effective school.

• Build leadership within a culture of adaptability, openness and resilience.

• Form strong and effective relationships and partnerships.

• Build environmentally sustainable schools that inspire teaching and learning.

• Identify disadvantage and intervene effectively.

Fuel Excellence in Education Through the Power of Innovation:

“There is no lack of creativity

and willingness to try new

innovative approaches in our

schools. Our goal is to help

unlock that creativity and give

schools, principals, teachers,

support staff and children the

resources to succeed.”

Innovation Platform

Will you be the 10th person?

• For every nine people who denounce innovation, only one will encourage it

• For every nine people who do things the way they have always been done, only one will ever wonder if there is a better way

• For every nine people who stand in line in front of a locked building, only one will ever come around and check the back door

• Our progress as a system rests squarely on the shoulders of that tenth person. The nine are satisfied with things they have always done

• Person 10 determines what needs to be done differently

Vision: Co-create Future TDSB Schools

Prepare Tomorrow’s

Leaders

Build Today’s Leaders

Create Schools

for the future

Early Learner Instruction

& Programming

FDK

District, Principal, & Teacher/Staff

Leadership Development

TDSB Teaching & Learning Academy

Creating Innovative District & School

Plans

Vision: Co-create the Future School

Dimensions of Equitable Education

1. What our students bring to the classroom

4. Pedagogy

3. Curriculum content

2. What

we bring

to the

classroom

From Exclusion To Inclusive Education?

Education for all: inclusion

Understanding: Special needs Education/ integration

Acceptance (charity) Segregation

Denial: Exclusion

Guidelines for inclusion:

ensuring access for all (2005), UNESCO: Parijs

Inclusion

“Inclusion is not bringing people into what

already exists it is making a new space,

a better space for everyone.”

George Dei

The Equalizer

“We should use technology funding to bolster new

learning models and innovations, such as online

learning environments, to level the playing field and

allow students from all walks of life-from small rural

communities to budget strapped urban schools-to

access the rich variety that is now available only to

children of wealthy suburban districts.”

Clayton Christensen

Disrupting Class

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.

We Need to Become More Right Brained to Compete & Survive

“The future belongs to a very different kind of mind─

creators and empathizers, pattern recognizers, and

meaning makers. These people─ artists, inventors,

designers, storytellers, caregivers, consolers, big picture

thinkers─ will now reap society’s richest rewards and

share its greatest joys.”

Daniel Pink

A Whole New Mind

-Why Right-Brainers will Rule the Future

Bloom’s Taxonomy

Creating: Can the student create new

product or point of view?

assemble, construct, create, design,

develop, formulate, write

Evaluating: Can the student justify a

stand or decision?

appraise, argue, defend, judge, select,

support, value, evaluate

Analyzing: Can the student distinguish

between the different parts?

appraise, compare, contrast, criticize,

differentiate, discriminate, distinguish,

examine, experiment, question, test

Applying: Can the student use the

information in a new way?

choose, demonstrate, dramatize, employ,

illustrate, interpret, operate, schedule,

sketch, solve, use, write

Understanding: Can the student explain

ideas or concepts?

classify, describe, discuss, explain,

identify, locate, recognize, report, select,

translate, paraphrase

Remembering: Can the student recall or

remember the information?

define, duplicate, list, memorize, recall,

repeat, reproduce state

Seven Survival Skills for Teens Today

(Global Achievement Gap, 2008 by Tony Wagner)

1. Critical thinking and problem solving

2. Collaboration

3. Agility and adaptability

4. Initiative and entrepreneurialism

5. Effective oral and written communication

6. Accessing and analyzing information

7. Curiosity and imagination

What if we Embraced Problem-Based Learning?

TDSB teachers start each unit by throwing students into a realistic or real-

world project that both engages interest and generates a list of things the

student need to know. Projects are designed to tackle complex problems,

requiring critical thinking.

• To learn collaboration, work in teams.

• To learn critical thinking, take on complex problems.

• To learn oral communication, present.

• To learn written communication, write.

• To learn technology, use technology.

• To develop citizenship, take on civic and global issues.

• To learn about careers, do internships.

• To learn content, research and do all of the above.

The Big Takeaways

• Students who obtain more education will be at a great advantage; increasingly, some postsecondary education or technical training is essential for an opportunity to support a family or secure a middle-class lifestyle.

• The need for traditional knowledge and skills in school subjects like math, language arts, and science is not being “displaced” by a new set of “thinking skills”; in fact, students who take more advanced math courses and master higher math skills, for example, will have a distinct advantage over their peers.

• At the same time, for success both on the job and in their personal lives, students must also better learn how to apply what they learn in those subjects to deal with real world challenges, rather than simply “reproduce” the information on tests.

• Students who develop an even broader set of in-demand competencies—the ability to think critically about information, solve novel problems, communicate and collaborate, create new products and processes, and adapt to change—will be at an even greater advantage in work and life.

• Applied skills and competencies can best be taught in the context of the academic curriculum, not as a replacement for it or “add on” to it; in fact, cognitive research suggests that some competencies like critical thinking and problem solving are highly dependent on deep content knowledge and cannot be taught in isolation.

Automation has big consequences for education

• Computers can follow directions better, faster, and cheaper than human beings, and the number of tasks computers can do grows every year.

• Any curriculum that emphasizes following directions to find a single correct answer is, by definition, preparing students for jobs that probably will not exist by the time those students graduate.

“To educate our children to compete with either a computer [is

to educate them for] a competition they cannot win.”

—Frank Levy and Richard Murnane (2007)

Trades becoming more technical, requiring stronger math & reading

“Don't be influenced by those who see the electrical

construction trade as an occupation requiring only a

strong back and a weak mind. The electrical trades

are becoming more technical each day.”

—Website of the Electrical Training Institute of Southern California

“If you want to work in the real world, if you want to

wire buildings and plumb buildings, that's when it

requires algebra.”

Construction industry recovers

Huge demand for skilled workers:

“The numbers are staggering in Ontario; 85,000 new jobs will be created just by construction activity; another 73, 000 will be created by retirement.”

Boilermakers, Crane operators, Electricians, Construction millwrights, Plumbers, Gas fitters, Sheet metal workers

Content

What should we

teach? Does each

teacher have deep

knowledge of the

curriculum?

Pedagogy

How should we teach? Does

each teacher use effective

instructional techniques?

Relationships

Are we a community? Do

students and teachers care

about, inspire, and motivate

each other?

Academic Success for all Students

Improved student performance depends on

strengthening three legs of an instructional tripod:

You can’t motivate a

student you don’t

know. There is no

learning without trust

and respect, and

neither are granted

automatically by

today’s students.

They must be earned.

Relationships Matter!

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.

Leithwood (2010) “effective parent

engagement accounts for as much as 50% of the variation in student achievement across

schools.”

Stelmach’s (2005)research shows the following impacts:

• Higher grades • Increased homework • Improved attendance • Positive attitudes • Fewer behavioural issues • Increased rates of High School completion • decreased school leaving rates • Greater participation in post secondary

Strategies that Work

• Programs to help parents understand their children’s learning needs and helping teachers to understand family needs

• Two-way, open communication

• Meaningful parental volunteering and contributions in and outside of school – recognized and appreciated

• Parents involved as key stakeholders in decisions that impact student learning (Epstein, 2001)

• Volunteering, parent education, sharing expertise

Benefits of Parent Involvement

The Triple A’s

1. Student Achievement

2. Student Attendance

3. Student Attachment

Thank You! Together We’re Better!

For believing in the words of Butler Yeats who said

“education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of

a fire.”

For understanding that the head may need instruction,

but the heart craves inspiration.

For partnering with us to make the TDSB an

AMAZING place to be and a GREAT place to learn.

Believe!