System Process/Organization Includes:

Collaboration

• In the London Region, time is provided and expectations are outlined to provide board-wide consistency about collaboration within schools. Literacy coaches/teachers are assigned to schools; special education resource teachers work closely with classroom teachers; Professional Learning Community (PLC) and in-school team meetings are set up to review data. There are scheduled times for teacher collaboration—e.g., same grade and divisional meetings; teacher moderation for marking; and an expectation of a collaborative, problem-solving approach in all schools. [London Region Final Report]
• In the Thunder Bay Region, a coalition of Northern Education Leaders (NOEL) has created an oral language project to support aboriginal children. The coalition has representatives from school boards and authorities across north-western Ontario, three post-secondary institutions, and the Ministry of Education. This is a research project sponsored by The Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat. The project combines the self-identification process with oral language, and studies how oral language skills and receptive language impact on literacy skills. The project arose out of concern for the achievement gap between aboriginal and non-aboriginal students. All eight school boards in north-western Ontario as well as the Northern Schools Resource Alliance are involved. All junior kindergarten and grade one teachers have received training. [Final CODE Report, p. 18]