Toronto District School Board

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Toronto District School Board Where Amazing
Happens!
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Raise the Praise
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Facts

• Widening achievement gaps
• Disengaged parents community in a number of
  schools and community
• Students health mental health problems
• Inadequate provincial funding formula
• 2.9 billion backlog in deferred maintenance,
  61.7 million capital deficit,30 million
  operating structural deficit
• Declining enrolment in some areas, growth in
  others
• Growing cultural language diversity

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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?
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We Believe!
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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.

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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.

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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.

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Innovation Platform
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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

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VisionCo-create Future TDSB Schools
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VisionCo-create the Future School
PrepareTomorrowsLeaders BuildTodays Leaders CreateSchools for the future
Early Learner Instruction Programming FDK District, Principal, Teacher/Staff Leadership Development TDSB Teaching Learning Academy Creating Innovative District School Plans
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Dimensions of Equitable Education

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We Believe In Our Staff
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We BelieveIn OurParents and Community
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Together Were Better!

• Informed, engaged and supportive community
  parents and partners.

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Overlapping Spheres of Influence

Family
School
Student
Community
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Myth 1 As a parent, the best way to get
involved in my child's education is by joining
the school council.

• To support achievement, research suggests the
  most effective parental involvement focuses on
  learning activities-reading to children, letting
  them figure prices at the grocery store or
  setting aside time and space to do homework and
  projects.
• There are benefits in joining the school
  council, such as the opportunity to share
  experiences and information with other parents
  and access to organizational resources. Just the
  same, parents can provide the support needed at
  home for their children to be successful in
  school without joining a local parent
  organization.

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Myth 2 The teacher is the sole expert in
educating a child, so a parent should never
question a teacher or staff on school-related
issues.

• Teachers and parents or family caregivers play
  different roles in a child's education. And a
  good relationship between a teacher and a parent,
  based on mutual respect and trust, benefits
  students. At times, parents may need to ask a
  teacher or school staff member for clarification
  about a specific issue or information.
• Parents should contact their children's teachers
  or other school staff when they have questions
  about their children's education. Most school
  staff members begin to see parents as partners
  when they know they will ask questions when
  information is unclear.

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Myth 3 The influence of parent involvement on
school achievement depends on the parents'
income, level of education, and employment
status.

• A large body of research confirms that family
  involvement in children's school experiences has
  a positive effect on children's attitudes toward
  achievement in school, regardless of how much
  money parents have or how many years of school
  they completed.
• More important is the parents' attitude toward
  learning. Working parents may not have much time
  to be involved at their children's schools, but
  they can show how much they value education and
  take an active interest in what their children
  are learning.

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Myth 4 The key actors in parent involvement
are the teacher, parents or family, and the
student.

• Meaningful and successful parent involvement is
  not limited to partnerships between parents and
  teachers. Parents and family caregivers should
  think of the following educators and decision
  makers as participants in their children's
  educations-teachers, the principal, the trustee,
  the superintendent, and other staff.
• Parents can influence school board members and
  public officials by participating in meetings,
  voting, and engaging in discussions of education
  matters and child advocacy issues.

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Six Types of Parental Involvement, Epstein, et.
al. 2002.
Six Types of Parental Involvement, Epstein, et.
al. 2002.
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VOLUNTEERING

• GOAL Recruit and organize parent help and
  support.

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PARENTING

• GOAL Help all families establish home
  environments to support children as students.

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COMMUNICATING

• GOAL Design more effective forms of
  school-to-home and home-to-school communications
  with all families each year about school programs
  and their children's progress.

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LEARNING AT HOME

• GOAL Provide information and ideas to families
  about how to help students at home with homework
  and other curricular-related activities,
  decisions, and planning.
• Information on homework policies and how to
  monitor, and discuss schoolwork at home, and
  skills required for students in all subjects at
  each grade.
• Information on how to assist students to improve
  skills on various class and school assignments.
• Regular schedule of homework that requires
  students to discuss and interact with families on
  what they are learning in class .
• Goal setting for students with families each
  year, and for future plans.

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DECISION MAKING

• GOAL Include parents in school decisions,
  developing parent leaders and representatives.

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COLLABORATING WITH COMMUNITY

• GOAL Identify and integrate resources and
  services from the community to strengthen school
  programs, family practices, and student learning.
• Information for students and families on
  community health, cultural, recreational, social
  support, and other programs or services.
• Information on community activities that link to
  learning skills and talents, including summer
  programs for students.
• Service to the community by students, families,
  and schools (e.g., recycling, art, music, drama,
  and other activities for seniors or others, etc.)
• Alumni to link to school programs for students.

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Benefits of Parent Involvement

• The Triple As
• Student Achievement
• Student Attendance
• Student Attachment

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Leithwood (2010) Effective parent engagement
accounts for as much as 50 of the variation in
student achievement across schools.

• Stelmachs (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

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• 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.

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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 societys richest rewards and share its
greatest joys. Daniel Pink

A Whole New Mind -Why Right-Brainers will Rule
the Future
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Relationships Matter!
You cant motivate a student you dont know.
There is no learning without trust and respect,
and neither are granted automatically by todays
students. They must be earned.
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Student Voices

• Believe in me, until I can believe in
  myself.

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How would our students respond?

• Am I being challenged?
• Do I feel sense of ownership and pride here?
• Can I talk to you?
• Will I feel confident to go to the next phase of
  my life?
• Do they care about me?
• Do I feel connected and welcome here?

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Thank You! Together Were Better!