Ontario and PEI Curriculum: A Comparative Report

In researching both Ontario’s curriculum and the curriculum of Prince Edward Island, the issue of accountability and the differences in approach between the two provinces was eye-opening. Similarities far outweighed the differences. However, the issues of time on task, streaming English, standards and testing all lead into the question I pursued; which province has a clear vision of English study and its integrity?

I researched the Ontario Curriculum, its Program Guide, and the Ontario Curriculum Unit Planner. In PEI, I visited the Curriculum document, the Program Guide, and its Learning and Teaching Resources, which can be found at the following links:

http://www.gov.pe.ca/educ/index.php3?number=71943&lang=E
http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/curriculum/secondary/
http://www.ocup.org/

Time on Task:

In both provinces, 110 hours is uniformly assigned as the length of any English course. The Ontario curriculum and Program Guide discuss the need for teacher-allocated unit timelines, based on nature of unit, the streams attached (Oral Communication, Writing, etc.) as well as the professional judgment of the teacher. The use of Blackline masters and other curriculum documents are offered as a guide to teacher-organized unit breakdowns. PEI supports a similar vision, and focuses on breaking units of study down according to the streams, as opposed to an interpretation of the Ontario model of integrating all streams into all units. Both provinces are uniform in their time-lengths, so comparison based solely on this idea is not as easy to judge. Specifically, the units are not timed, and many vagaries exist for both.

Streaming English

Ontario and its English streams are broken down in to Academic, Applied or Essential, which later becomes University, College or Workplace stream. There is an emphasis in Academic on theory and abstract concepts, as well as more practical applications. Applied level English focuses on essential skills, concrete examples, and familiar situations for students who struggle with the discipline. Essential is in keeping with the compulsory credit requirements, and is based on needs of the class. PEI does not stream until Grade 9, which is still considered “junior high.” The achievements are measured over a grade 7-9 grid. The curriculum addresses “all learners,” but at this stage, there are all in the same group, without any streaming. PEI also focuses explicitly on Gardner’s learning theories of Multiple Intelligences at this level. Grade 10-12 is streamed in the Program of Study, but this is not obvious in curriculum document. It is only clearly illustrated in the Program Guide, which is a severe flaw of the PEI Curriculum document in terms of teacher understanding and application. The streams in PEI are Open, Enriched, Academic, General, Practical. PEI seems to provide more options for a struggling learner, whereas Ontario has only three major stream levels. In terms of accountability, PEI takes advantage. The schism between Enriched and Academic and General and Practical allows for a more complete assessment of where a child should be place. The three-stream Ontario model sometimes allows for an error in placement to occur; students who are strong but still Locally Developed may be placed in to an Applied stream due to the vast differences in teaching approaches, whereas PEI offers an alternative in Practical. As well, the requirements of Enriched may allow a gifted student to thrive and flourish, where Ontario students who master the Academic standards may feel stifled.

Standards

PEI and its vision of standards vary somewhat from Ontario. I sampled the Grade 10 course for both provinces. In PEI’s Grade 10 course, the document offers a grid which maps the achievements to be met for 10-12, which, for accountability’s sake proved a great visual for teachers and parents. The Ontario model builds and progresses in a similar fashion, but the three-year grid is not used; looking both forwards and backwards allows for a sounder approach to program planning.

PEI modifies expectations on the grid by year for its standards; for example, for the Grade 10 expectation of speaking and listening, it posits that Grade 10 should examine the ideas of others in discussion to extend own understanding, Grade 11 should follow up on and extend others ideas in order to reflect upon their own interpretations of experience, and Grade 12 should examine other’s ideas and synthesize what is helpful to clarify and expand on their own understanding.

In Ontario’s Grade 10 Oral Communication standards, which are synonymous with the Speaking and Listening in PEI, the approach is a broader description of student expectations, with Specific Expectations clearly listed after. Grade 10 students must Listening to Understand: listen in order to understand and respond appropriately in a variety of situations for a variety of purposes; Speaking to Communicate: use speaking skills and strategies appropriately to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes; and Reflect on Skills and Strategies: reflect on and identify their strengths as listeners and speakers.

For accountability, PEI offers a more outlined vision of where students are coming and going, and Ontario maintains a similar platform, but it is less transparent in writing unless intense, side-by-side grave level comparisons are made. The integration of all three levels in PEI is a solid means to account for teacher practices and student achievement.

Testing:

For teacher directed unit testing, in both PEI and Ontario, no curriculum supported the mandatory test idea. Both suggested a series of various culminating activities. In PEI, each specific outcome has Suggestions for Assessment and Notes/Vignettes that give helpful hints towards what teachers should do for instruction and appropriate assessment (review note-taking, teacher observation, performance tasks, self-assessment). PEI offers comprehensive appendices that give teacher-friendly advice on assessment tasks in the curriculum document. Both provinces make limited concrete reference to testing, and a more performance task-based approach is implemented with a high emphasis on student self-evaluation.

For broad provincial testing, PEI has the Pan Canadian Assessment Program, introduced in 2007. Before then, it completed the third cycle of the School Achievement Indicators Program (SAIP) with an assessment in Science (2004) and in Reading (2005).

PCAP focuses on 13-year-old in three subject areas (reading, mathematics, and science). Then, two years later, the same cohort of students will be reassessed using the Programme of International Student Assessment (PISA), conducted by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) will be administered to measure how well 15-year-old students are able to use what they have acquired in school to meet the challenges facing them as they approach completion of their compulsory schooling.

In Ontario the OSSLT test administered to every Grade 10 student, a barometer of literacy and language comprehension skills, as well as writing and understanding and engaging of texts. The test is uniformly administered to all students province-wide, and tests student on Reading Graphical Texts and Writing a Supported Opinion, as well as other varied tasks.

The difference here is obvious; PEI supports a multi-disciplined test of three subject areas, where Ontario has the EQAO and OSSLT as exclusive to a subject area. For accountabilities sake, the English teachers in Ontario are held all the more accountable for the success or failure of a student in the Literacy Test. PEI and its test is placing many subjects up for accountability, and this inclusive approach to a standardized test seems to address accountability as cross-curricular – individual blame based on subject area is omitted.

In Conclusion...

If I had to choose between the two systems, it seems in terms of accountability that PEI has some workable ideas to include a child’s complete education, and accounts elementary and middle school as part of a collaborative journey. Ontario’s curriculum is superior in its organization and articulation of student expectations for teachers, but PEI offers a more accountable approach in my view. Full integrity of English can only be achieved as both an individual discipline and a cross-curricular amalgam. PEI’s inclusion of Visual Understanding and Dramatic Forms is missing or not as transparent in Ontario, and I feel though the PEI document is more of a challenge to read and navigate, its overall vision supports a richer study.