New High School Policy To Cut Dropout Rate - 2005-05-02 at 13:10
New High School Policy To Cut Dropout Rate
Students To Benefit From Government-Board-Teacher Understanding
TORONTO, May 2 /CNW/ - More high school graduates, greater school stability and increased quality for all programs will result from a new provincial high school policy, Education Minister Gerard Kennedy said today. "The policy was reached with the approval of the Ontario Public School Boards' Association and the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation," said Kennedy. "Combined with other provincial policies, it will support local collective bargaining over the next several weeks." The Student Success policy will send 1,300 new teachers into high schools to deliver new courses and programs. Every school will have at least one dedicated student success teacher and additional course sections with smaller class sizes in key subjects for struggling students. The main emphasis of the new positions will be on supporting struggling students. However, lower class sizes and additional resource teachers, such as librarians and guidance, will benefit all students. The government is also providing all boards with funding for salary increases and teacher development accounts. The combined support for public English high schools from new provincial policies will be $59 million this year reaching $317 million in 2007-08. This does not include previously announced student success funds. The support is contingent on four year agreements that are within salary guidelines and are reached by June 1, 2005. One agreement has already been tentatively reached between York Region public school board and its 3,974 teachers.
1,300 MORE HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS TO DELIVER NEW STUDENT SUCCESS POLICY
NEW HIGH SCHOOL POLICY
By working together, the McGuinty government, Ontario Public School Boards' Association and the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation (OSSTF) have reached approval on a new provincial policy that will help reduce dropout rates and support local collective bargaining. The policy will provide a framework for ongoing local negotiations between 31 district school boards and local OSSTF federations.
HELP FOR STRUGGLING STUDENTS
The policy includes approximately 1,300 new teachers by 2007-08, with the first of these teachers arriving in schools this September. These teachers will work in Ontario's public English-language high schools to deliver new courses and programs.
The majority of the new teaching positions will be dedicated to improving graduation rates (especially four-year rates) and reducing the number of students who drop out. For example, special student success teachers at every school will: - Identify and work with struggling students to track student progress, - Sensitize schools to student needs, - Help students catch up on missing credits so they can graduate, - Support the development of better programs and services.
Schools that already have a position dedicated to helping struggling students, and whose graduation rate is below the provincial average of 70 per cent, will receiving funding allowing them to create another half-time position for this purpose. An estimated 30 per cent of Ontario high school students leave school without a diploma.
A portion of the new teaching positions may also be used to offer more course sections in the following key areas: - Applied stream, - Locally developed compulsory credit courses, - Workplace and/or college preparation, - English-as-a-second Language, - Cooperative education related courses, - Alternative programs (including credit recovery), with emphasis on grades 9 and 10 in particular.
The main emphasis of the 1,300 new teaching positions will be to support struggling students. However all students will benefit from lower class sizes and more resource teachers, such as librarians and guidance counsellors. School boards will be required to report publicly on the use of these new resources and the achievement of targets for student outcomes.
LONG-TERM PEACE AND STABILITY
The new resources in the provincial policy will be provided contingent on local collective agreements that: - Are for a four-year period (school years 2004-05 to 2007-08 inclusive); - Include salary increases no greater than the provincial guidelines - 2 per cent for 2004-05, 2 per cent for 2005-06, 2.5 per cent for 2006-07, 3 per cent for 2007-8. In consultation with school boards, the government has added a further .7% as of August 31, 2008; and, - Are reached by June 1, 2005.
The policy includes fair and reasonable salary increases for public English-language high school teachers that are within the provincial guidelines announced last spring. The combined support for public English high schools from new provincial policies will be $59 million this year reaching $317 million in 2007-08. This does not include previously announced student success funds. The province has also indicated to school boards and teachers' federations that it will provide as much as an additional 0.5% above the salary guidelines in 2006-07 and 2007-08 if rates of inflation and provincial government revenues in those years are higher than predicted in the 2004 Ontario budget. Earlier this year, school boards were provided with funding of $512 per teacher for teacher development accounts. This will permit boards to work with federations to arrive at the best arrangements to cover expenses for teacher-determined professional development.
