PRESIDENT'S JOURNAL

School Information Finder No April Fool’s Joke

It’s no April Fools’ joke! The ministry has launched the School Information Finder (SIF) which allows visitors to the site to search and compare information regarding schools. On March 24th school principals received a memo from Deputy Minister, Ben Levin informing them of the launch of this site and providing them with a temporary link. The tool appeared on the ministry’s public website a few days later. The tool provides access to a school profile which contains student achievement information based on EQAO results, parent and student demographics, and primary class sizes. It also provides a direct link to school websites and board websites.

In late fall, CPCO received information regarding this project. While the project was shared with us, the elements were clearly not open for consultation or revision. At that time CPCO representatives voiced their concerns regarding the profiling of schools and communities, and public access to such comparative information. We noted that comparisons based solely on EQAO scores without considering other contextual information serves no valuable purpose. Even EQAO encourages administrators and teachers to consider EQAO data in the context of other information available in the schools such as classroom assessments, report card marks, attendance and mobility data.

We are aware that several districts have been intentional about not sharing EQAO results on a school-by-school basis in the media to avoid comparisons of this nature. CPCO upholds the importance of understanding and respecting the unique characteristics of each school community. The reality is that some schools face more challenges trying to improve the learning of a diverse student population with limited resources and comparisons are of little value. Furthermore, comparison of school results is only valid when you compare your school to other schools that are similar in terms of demographics and other contextual variables. You need to compare apples to apples!

It remains to be seen if the public will use the finder tool and what implications it has for schools and school boards. Will parents think they have the right to choose schools across boundaries based on this data? What effect will this have on principals, teachers and parents in low performing schools? At the end of the day, how does all this serve to improve student achievement?

Be assured that CPCO will continue to voice your concerns and advocate for changes to the School Information Finder. The next forum for this discussion will hopefully be the Partnership Table meeting on April 6, 2009.

For further information, check out the site at: www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/sift

Upcoming Events

April 1 - EQAO Audit | Executive teleconference
April 6 - Partnership Table meeting
April 7 - Steve Munby Presentation | Focus group on Capital School Design & Construction
April 8 - Principal/Vice-principal Performance Appraisal & Terms and Conditions Work Group

If you would like to comment or provide feedback on the President’s Journal, please contact Joan Duckitt at president@cpco.on.ca.