Under the new regulations, School Boards will be mandated to publicly report their teacher professional development sessions. This is one of the first mandates announced by Ontario’s education minister under legislation which gives him greater control over boards.
Minister Stephen Lecce stated that the first set of regulations as part of the newly passed Better Schools and Student Outcomes Act will help “refocus” school boards on academic achievement as well as life and job skills.
Boards will need to post PD day details which include the content, presenters and resources shared with educators on their websites.
Also, the new regulations will require boards to regularly update the ministry on a number of student achievement benchmarks, from rates of attendance to the number of students participating in at least one job skills program.
Karen Littlewood, the president of Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation, said it’s one thing for the province to try to improve learning outcomes in core academics.
Littlewood also said without programs or support to back them up, and the money it would need, those priorities are little more than a target.
