Ministry of Education
Ministère de l'Éducation
Leadership Development Branch
13th Floor, Mowat Block
900 Bay Street
Toronto ON M7A 1L2
Tel.: 416-325-2623
Fax.: 416-325-7019
TTY: 416-325-3408
Direction du développement du leadership
13e étage, édifice Mowat
900, rue Bay
Toronto ON M7A 1L2
Tél. : 416 325-2623
Téléc. : 416 325-7019
ATS : 416 325-3408
MEMORANDUM TO:
Directors of Education
Supervisory Officers and Secretary-Treasurers of Non-Amalgamated
School Authorities
Director of the Provincial Schools Branch
FROM:
Marg Connor
Director
Leadership Development Branch
DATE:
September 1, 2009
SUBJECT:
Ontario Leadership Strategy: Next Steps, Updated Guidelines
and Resources for Mentoring for Newly Appointed School
Leaders and Principal/Vice-Principal Performance Appraisal
Further to Assistant Deputy Minister Barry Pervin’s June 24, 2009 memo on the Ontario
Leadership Strategy (OLS), I am writing to share an update on the OLS as well as guidelines and
resources to assist you in putting Mentoring for Newly Appointed School Leaders and
Principals/Vice-Principal Performance Appraisal (PPA) in place in your school board.
I look forward to the new school year and to continuing to work with you and our other partners to
move forward on deeper implementation of the OLS commitments in order to support student
achievement and well-being.
Update on the Ontario Leadership Strategy
The Ontario Leadership Strategy is intended to support student achievement and well-being by
attracting and developing skilled and passionate school and system leaders. It focuses on both
individual and board development, embedded in daily practice and refined through continuous
learning.
Attached, for your information and to distribute to your staff, is Ontario Leadership Strategy: Quick
Facts 2009-10. It provides an overview of the strategy including highlights from 2008-09 and
expectations for 2009-10 and 2010-11. You can learn more about the Ontario Leadership Strategy
on the ministry’s revised leadership development website at: www.ontario.ca/eduleadership
A key commitment for 2009-10 is for all boards to take first steps, (or further steps) to put
succession and talent development plans in place. I am delighted that all school boards have
committed to this and as a result will be receiving funding to support their work. School boards are
at various stages in implementation and some boards have resources and significant expertise to
share. As you may recall, the Institute for Education Leadership (IEL) contracted with CODE to
develop a resource sharing bank for boards to access at their website at:
www.education-leadership-ontario.ca. You will hear more about this from the IEL in the fall.
…/2
-2Ministry Professional Learning: Five Core Leadership Capacities
As you know, the Ontario Leadership Framework (OLF) of Effective Practices is a foundation for
initiatives under the OLS. A copy of the Framework can be found here:
www.education-leadership-ontario.ca/resources.shtml. Almost all school boards have participated
in IEL workshops to learn more on how to use the Framework to focus and strengthen their
leadership development strategies.
The Leadership Development Branch in collaboration with key ministry branches and partners
recognized that five Core Leadership Capacities (CLC) derived from the OLF are in fact essential
to making progress on our three educational goals of: High levels of student achievement;
reduced gaps in student achievement; and increased public confidence in publicly funded
education. The CLCs include:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Setting goals
Aligning resources with priorities
Promoting collaborative learning cultures
Using data
Engaging in courageous conversations
In 2009-10, the ministry will be working to embed these capacity areas into ministry-sponsored
professional learning for leaders. In the fall, you will be receiving the first issue of a new ministry
publication Ideas into Action which will provide you with greater detail about the five CLCs.
Mentoring for Newly Appointed School Leaders
Mentoring helps to build the confidence and capacity of newly appointed school leaders. To
support your board’s implementation, I am pleased to attach a revised School Board Guideline for
Implementation of Mentoring for Newly Appointed School Leaders (Version 2 – August 2009). The
revisions have not changed the policy or program parameters. The revisions help to make the
guideline clearer and user friendly and are based on feedback from our education partners and
boards who participated in Mentoring in the 2008-09 school year. The revised guideline refers to
Conversation Starters and Sample Learning Plans. These will be provided as an additional
resource at a later date.
The 2008-09 provincial rollout of Mentoring included all school boards with new vice-principals and
principals (70 of 72). To monitor implementation, we reviewed board implementation plans and
final reports and we also had conversations with the program lead in every school board. Finally,
in cooperation with the principals’ associations, we conducted an online survey of mentees and
mentors. Together we heard overwhelming support for mentoring and learned about successes as
well as areas we need to continue to work on together. For your reference, and to share with your
staff, attached is a summary report that highlights school board and mentee/mentor experiences. I
trust the feedback and advice will assist you in strengthening delivery at your board and it will also
be helpful in guiding provincial planning for this school year.
Details on implementation and funding supports for Mentoring in 2009-10 are provided below.
…/3
-3Principal/Vice-Principal Performance Appraisal (PPA)
Consistent with one of the focus areas of the ministry’s Operational Review of boards, PPA is
designed to ensure that school leaders are well supported in their development through targeted,
system-wide strategies that provide formal and informal opportunities for feedback and ongoing
professional learning. Performance appraisal provides structured opportunities for formal feedback
and is a useful vehicle in influencing principals’ beliefs about their ability to lead school
improvement.
The PPA guideline was released in 2008-09 and as with Mentoring, the ministry monitored
implementation and planning at school boards across the province. In comparison to Mentoring,
only a small number of boards have fully implemented the provincial PPA model while some
indicated that they are planning to do so this school year. I encourage you to review the attached
Principal/Vice-Principal Guideline for Board Implementation (Version 3 - August 2009) and to
move ahead to implement the provincial model in your board. The revised guideline is based on
feedback from boards and stakeholders and contains minor revisions that clarify expectation and
make the document more user friendly (e.g., separating PPA requirements from effective
practices).
Principals’ associations and supervisory officers’ associations are working together to offer boards
supports and staff development for PPA in the new school year. I encourage you to contact your
principal or supervisory officers’ associations for further details.
I am also pleased to let you know that the ministry will be providing some funding to support
implementation of PPA. The total amount of funds will be identified in the fall. See below for details
on how to express interest in implementing the provincial model of PPA and receiving funding
support.
Please be aware that, as noted in my January 6, 2009 and April 17, 2009 memos, the ministry is
moving forward with the work required to introduce a regulation governing PPA. Such a regulation
is conditional upon the approval of the regulation by the Lieutenant Governor in Council. The
ministry intends to seek the approval from the Lieutenant Governor in Council in spring 2010 with
the result that, if approval of the regulation is granted, boards would be required to implement it for
the 2010-11 school year.
Implementation Planning and Funding
Mentoring for Newly Appointed School Leaders
In order to receive proportional funding for 2009-10, please submit the attached School Board
Implementation Planning Template to [email protected] with a copy to [name of
regional education officer] by Friday October 2, 2009. This template is Appendix C of the revised
guideline.
Principal/Vice-Principal Performance Appraisal
Grant amounts will be identified in the fall. You are invited to express your interest for funding to
implement the provincial model of PPA by completing and returning the attached Expression of
Interest Form to [email protected] with a copy to [name of regional education officer] by
Friday October 2, 2009.
…/4
-4For your information, a table of key dates to remember is provided below. In addition, we are
hosting regional teleconferences in September for board Mentoring and PPA leads to review key
deliverables and timelines (dates TBA).
Timeline
October 2, 2009
November 18, 2009
March 31, 2010
July 2, 2010
Action Steps
 Participating school boards provide to the ministry:
• School Board Mentoring Implementation Plan
• Expression of Interest Form – Principal/Vice-Principal
Performance Appraisal
 Ministry confirms with each board allocation they will receive for
Mentoring and PPA Implementation (through a revised Schedule B).
Ministry provides:
• 75% of proportional allocation to school boards for Mentoring
• PPA implementation allocation
School boards provide Final Report for PPA to ministry for 2009-10
(report template to be provided in advance).
School boards provide Final Report for Mentoring to ministry for
2009-10 (report template to be provided in advance).
Thank you for the leadership you provide in your school boards and communities. Continued
partnership and shared responsibility among schools, boards, the ministry and education partners
are key to the success of the Ontario Leadership Strategy.
I am looking forward to meeting with you at Regional Education Council (REC) and other meetings
throughout the school year. If you require further information or have any questions or comments,
please contact [add name and phone number of regional EO lead] or me at (416) 325-1079.
Sincerely,
Marg Connor
Attachments
c. c.
Denys Giguère, Executive Assistant, Deputy Minister’s Office
Marla Hume, Policy and Briefings Co-ordinator, Deputy Minister’s Office
Assistant Deputy Ministers, Ministry of Education
Executive Assistants to Assistant Deputy Ministers
Kit Rankin, Director, Field Services Branch
Regional Managers, Field Services Branch
Ginette Plourde, Director, French-language Education Policy and Programs Branch
Council of Ontario Directors of Education
Conseil ontarien des directrices et directeurs de l’éducation de langue française
English Catholic Council of Directors of Education
Association des gestionnaires de l’éducation franco-ontarienne
Ontario Catholic Supervisory Officers’ Association
Ontario Public Supervisory Officials’ Association
Association des directions et directions adjointes des écoles franco-ontariennes
Catholic Principals’ Council of Ontario
Ontario Principals’ Council
Association des enseignantes et des enseignants franco-ontariens
Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario
Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association
Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation
Ontario Teachers’ Federation