Results from Ontario鈥檚 education consultation released

March 19, 2019

The Ministry of Education has released the results from the education consultation that took place in the fall of 2018. The consultation sought out public opinion on a range of topics, including the math curriculum, health and physical education curriculum, standardized testing, and a potential Parents鈥� Bill of Rights.

Who participated?

The Ministry received 72,000 responses to the consultations:聽 58% of responses came via the online survey, 38% were through the open submission form, and 4% came through participation in telephone town halls. Half of the participants in the town halls also participated in the online survey.

Most of the survey respondents were parents or guardians (61%), followed by educators (16%), then adults without children (11%), students (3%), employers (2%), and other (7%). Eighty seven percent of the parents who responded have children in publicly funded schools.

Most of the participating parents reported that they are active in their children鈥檚 education. Almost all of them said that they always attend parent-teacher nights, and that they are likely to read fact sheets about the curriculum, use online resources to enhance their child鈥檚 learning, and visit websites to learn more about the curriculum and school programs.

Standardized Testing

Survey respondents were divided regarding Ontario鈥檚 standardized testing system. While one third of respondents said that standardized testing should continue in grades 3, 6, and 9, almost the same percentage of respondents said that there shouldn鈥檛 be any standardized testing. When asked how they feel about EQAO, over half of the respondents said that it 鈥榙isrupts education by requiring teachers to teach to the test.鈥�

The results from the telephone town halls reflect an even stronger attitude towards standardized testing. Sixty eight percent of participants in the town halls said that they thought that Ontario didn鈥檛 need more standardized testing, and 62% didn鈥檛 value the results of the standardized tests.

STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math)

In terms of math skills, participants felt that what was most lacking are those math skills related to life skills (budgeting) and job skills (managing finances). They weren鈥檛 as concerned with coding or computer literacy as they were about other things lacking in their children鈥檚 skillsets. Town hall participants were split down the middle when asked if it is important to learn coding in schools.

When asked about interventions that might have an impact on math achievement, participants felt that to 鈥榩rovide practical examples that use math鈥� would have the most impact, followed by 鈥榤ath fundamentals鈥� and 鈥榚arly exposure to STEM.鈥� 聽In keeping with their views on EQAO, parents felt that 鈥榠mproving standardized testing鈥� would make the least difference in improving achievement in math. This is interesting given that one of the main pieces of evidence in the critique of discovery math are the grade 6 math EQAO scores.

A majority of parents reported spending time helping their kids with math. Most reported spending anywhere from 0-2 hours a week, with a small percentage spending more than five hours a week on math support.

Many of the parents who responded said they spend money to support their children鈥檚 math education, with almost 40% reporting paying for extra math supports.

Health and Physical Education

The survey asked about whether a set of topics should be included in the new health and physical education curriculum. Every topic in the list received a high level support for its inclusion. The highest level of support was for 鈥榦nline safety 鈥�, with 96% of respondents saying that it should be included. The lowest level of support was for 鈥榞ender identity and expression,鈥� with 68% responding that it should be included. Respondents that agreed gender identity should be included in the curriculum said that it should be introduced at ages 5-7 (the earliest option on the survey).

The four topics that respondents felt most strongly should not be in the curriculum were 鈥榞ender identity and expression鈥� (30%), 鈥榮exual orientation鈥� (26%), 鈥榲arious forms of family structures鈥� (23%), and 鈥榯he role of love and commitment in intimacy鈥� (17%).

Interestingly, when asked who they trusted as sources of information for sexual health, 鈥榙octors/nurses鈥� received the highest response, followed by 鈥榓cademic experts鈥�, then 鈥榩arents鈥�, and finally 鈥榮chool curriculum/teachers鈥�.

Cell phones in the classroom

The majority of participants felt that cell phones should be banned during instructional time, except for educational purposes.

No consultation on class size or Indigenous education

The consultation did not provide any opportunities for input on Indigenous education or class size.

What鈥檚 next?

The consultations depict an Ontario that is thinking deeply about public education鈥攚hat should and shouldn鈥檛 be included in the curriculum, and when subjects should be taught. In an announcement on March 15, the government addressed some of the topics discussed in the consultation, including curriculum changes, a 鈥榖an鈥� on cell phones, and modernizing EQAO testing. It will be interesting to see how the consultation results inform the Ministry鈥檚 new vision of 鈥淓ducation that works for you鈥�.

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