Higher Student Achievement Focus of New Report
April 22, 2009 2:25 PM
McGuinty Government Receives Report On School Board Governance
School boards should have a clearly defined responsibility for student achievement in Ontario.
That is just one of a series of recommendations made in a new report received and released by the province today, School Board Governance: A Focus On Student Achievement.
In November 2008, the minister asked the Governance Review Committee to consult broadly with the education sector and report on how the governance system could be modernized. Some recommendations from the committee include:
- Clarifying the roles of individual trustees, board chairs and directors of education, and
- Good governance practices, including establishing audit committees and adopting a provincial Code of Conduct for trustees.
The government will review the report and consider appropriate action on the recommendations.
QUICK FACTS
- Over six months, the committee met with representatives of 70 school boards, including 137 trustees, 54 directors of education and 71 parent group representatives. It received 148 written responses.
- Sixty-five per cent of Grade 3 and Grade 6 students are achieving at or above the provincial standard in reading, writing and math skills — an 11 percentage point increase since 2003.
- Since 2003-04, 36,000 additional students have obtained their high school diploma. The province remains committed to achieving an 85 per cent graduation rate by 2010-11.
LEARN MORE
ontario.ca/education
"I'd like to thank the committee members for their time, effort and valuable advice. Their work will help to strengthen school boards across the province."
– Kathleen Wynne
Minister of Education
"We were impressed by the genuine interest and quality of participation of those who contributed to this review. The input from participants at the regional consultations and the thoughtful submissions from various stakeholder groups nourished our discussions and guided our recommendations, which we believe will strengthen and modernize school board governance in Ontario."
– Madeleine Chevalier
Governance Review Committee Chair
Communities
