Abstract
Much has been written about sustainable large-scale change but there are few examples of it. Over the last 4 years, the province of Ontario, Canada, has been engaged in just that work of moving from a system that was in constant conflict to one that generates both good results and positive energy. This paper describes the origin, main elements and results to date of the Ontario education strategy as an example of large-scale change in education that is respectful of educators, fair to students and communities, and based on the best available knowledge.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
This claim is based on the author’s visits to more than 100 schools across Ontario as well as conversations with leaders in all districts and all major stakeholder organizations. All Ontario education leaders will acknowledge the very significant improvement in teacher morale since 2003.
The Ministry of Education spent an additional $30 million on salaries for teachers in each of 2005–2006 and 2006–2007 because the number of teachers actually retiring fell significantly below the projections based on teacher age profiles and previous years’ retirement patterns. That is, many fewer teachers retired in each year than had been anticipated.
References
Allington, R. (2002). Big brother and the national reading curriculum: How ideology trumped evidence. New York: Heinemann.
Boll, H. (1959). Billiards at half-past nine. London: Penguin.
Campbell, C., & Fullan, M. (2006). Unlocking potential for learning: Effective district-wide strategies to raise student achievement in literacy and numeracy. Toronto: Queen’s Printer. Available at www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/literacynumeracy/inspire/research/ProjectReport_full.pdf.
Coles, G. (2003). Reading the naked truth: Literacy, legislation and lies. Portsmouth: Heinemann.
Education Quality and Accountability Office. (2006). The grades 3, 6, and 9, provincial report, 2005–2006: English-language schools. Retrieved May 9, 2007, from http://www.eqao.com/pdf_E/06/06P031E.pdf.
Elmore, R. (2004). School reform from the inside–out. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Fielding M. (Ed.) (2001). Taking education really seriously: Four years hard labour. London: Routledge Falmer.
Fullan, M. (2006). Turnaround leadership. Thousand Oaks/Toronto: Corwin/Ontario Principals Council.
Fullan, M. (2007). The new meaning of educational change (4th ed.). New York: Teachers College Press.
Gidney, R. (1999). From Hope to Harris: The reshaping of Ontario’s schools. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Hargreaves, A. (2003). Teaching in the knowledge society. New York: Teachers College Press.
Hargreaves, A., & Fink, D. (2006). Sustainable leadership. San Francisco: Wiley.
Hopkins, D. (2005). Every school a great school: Meeting the challenge of largescale, long term educational reform. Paper presented at The London Centre for Leadership in Learning, London Institute of Education, London; Published by the Specialist Schools Trust in the iNet series.
Hubbard, L., Stein, M., & Mehan, H. (2006). Reform as learning. New York: Routledge.
King, A. J. C., Warren, W. K., Boyer, J. C., & Chin, P. (2005). Double cohort study. Phase 4: Report submitted to the Ontario Ministry of Education. Retrieved March 9, 2007, from http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/policyfunding/reports.html.
Leithwood, K., Fullan, M., & Watson, N. (2003). The schools we need. Toronto: OISE/UT.
Levin, B. (2005). Governing education. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Levin, B. (2007). Inevitable tensions in managing large-scale public service reform. In M. Wallace, M. Fertig, & E. Schneller (Eds.), Managing change in the public services (pp. 136–150). Oxford: Blackwell.
Levin, B., & Fullan, M. (in press). Learning about system renewal. Educational management, administration and leadership.
Levin, B., & Naylor, N. (in press). Using resources effectively in education. In J. Burger, P. Klinck & C. Webber (Eds.), A general theory of everything in education. Dordrecht: Kluwer.
Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat. (2007). Making it happen. Toronto: Ontario Ministry of Education. Retrieved June 19, 2007, from http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/literacynumeracy/makeithappen.pdf.
Livingstone, D., & Hart, E. (2005). Public attitudes towards education in Ontario, 2004. Toronto: OISE.
McLaughlin, M., & Mitra, D. (2001). Theory-based change and change-based theory: Going deeper, going broader. Journal of Educational Change, 2, 301–323.
OECD. (2005). Education at a glance. Paris: OECD.
Ontario College of Teachers. (2006). State of the teaching profession 2006: Annual Survey. A COMPAS report to the Ontario College of Teachers. Retrieved May 7, 2007, from http://www.oct.ca/publications/PDF/survey06_e.pdf.
Zegarac, G. (2007). Secondary school reform in Ontario and the role of research, evaluation and indicator data. Paper presented to the American Educational Research Association, Chicago.
Acknowledgements
The author acknowledges that this paper was written by an insider with a deep commitment to the changes being made in Ontario. Space precludes detailed description of or evidence on many elements of the strategy. More details, including data on outcomes and strategies, can be found on the website of the Ministry of Education—www.edu.gov.on.ca. I acknowledge the intellectual contribution to the strategy and to the ideas in this paper from many colleagues in the Ministry, but particularly from Michael Fullan and Avis Glaze. However the paper represents my personal perspective only and should not be interpreted as the official position of the Ontario government or Ministry of Education.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Levin, B. Sustainable, large-scale education renewal. J Educ Change 8, 323–336 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10833-007-9041-y
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10833-007-9041-y