Inside this Issue:

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Full Day Kindergarten Study:

Researchers at Queen’s and McMaster universities recently released the results of a study conducted to measure the impact of the province’s full-day kindergarten program and to help identify effective practices to improve delivery.

Key findings from the study:

• Overall, students in FDK are better prepared to enter Grade 1 and to be more successful in school.
• In every area, students improved their readiness for Grade 1 and accelerated their development.
• Comparisons of children with two years of FDK instruction and children with no FDK instruction showed that FDK:
• Reduced risks in social competence development from 10.5 per cent to 5.2 per cent.
• Reduced risks in language and cognitive development from 16.4 per cent to 4.3 per cent.
• Reduced risks in communication skills and general knowledge development from 10.5 per cent to 5.6 per cent.

Full report on the Ontario government’s Newsroom site.

Staffing Announcements

By Kevin Kobus, OCSTA Executive Director

As an association we have been blessed with employees who have exceptional professional experience in their respective fields and a heartfelt attachment to Ontario’s Catholic schools.

While those attributes serve the Association well, they also make it difficult to announce departures.  This fall we will say farewell to two respected OCSTA employees.

Robert Murray

For the last two years the Association has benefited from the perspective and insight of Dr. Robert Murray, a former student trustee and alumnus of the Niagara Catholic District School Board and an esteemed political analyst serving effectively as OCSTA’s Director of Political and Legislative Affairs.

It is with great appreciation for his service that we announce that Bob will be resigning from his role at OCSTA to accept the position of Vice-President of Research at the Frontier Centre for Public Policy.

Bob will be returning to Edmonton to assume this position and to continue with his work as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Alberta.

“I want to express my sincerest thanks to everyone who helped make my time at OCSTA so memorable and impactful.  By far the best part of my tenure at OCSTA has been the people.  Between the OCSTA staff, members of its Board of Directors, the province’s Catholic trustees, our stakeholder partners in the education sector, the Government and Ministry bureaucracy, and the Opposition Parties, I have been so very lucky to encounter countless outstanding and dedicated servants of education in the province” said Bob.

Bob will continue in his role at the Association until November.

Noel Martin

Since 2006, OCSTA’s Director of Catholic Education, Noel Martin has undertaken, on behalf of the Association, initiatives and projects designed to maintain and develop the specifically Catholic characteristics of our school system. A former Director of Education at the Toronto Catholic District School Board, Noel brought more than 30 years of teaching and administrative experience to his role at OCSTA. After such a fulfilling career in Catholic education, Noel has decided that the time has come to retire.

“My experience working with our gifted staff, the dedicated leadership of this Association, our vibrant membership and our tremendous network of Catholic education partners across Ontario, confirms for me that we are a strong and faithful system, well suited to the needs of the students and families for whom we serve,” said Noel. 

Noel will conclude his tenure with OCSTA in October.

We wish Bob and Noel much happiness and success in their future endeavours.

OCSTA Fall Regional Meetings

Each year OCSTA hosts a series of meetings for trustees in regions across the province.  The purpose of these meetings is to provide professional and faith development opportunities at the local level and to offer an opportunity for trustees to explore regional issues with their peers from across the region.

These regional sessions also offer an opportunity for OCSTA members to engage OCSTA’s President and staff in discussions about provincial issues and local priorities.

Please use the following information to reserve the dates now for the regional meeting in your area.

North West Meeting: Friday, September 20, 3-9 p.m. at the Da Vinci Centre, 340 Waterloo St. South, Thunder Bay
Hosted by the Thunder Bay Diocesan Catholic School Trustees’ Conference

West Meeting: Wednesday, September 25, 10 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. at the Huron Perth CDSB, 87 Mill St., Dublin
Hosted by the Huron Perth CDSB

North East Meeting: Saturday, September 28, 10 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. at the Holiday Inn Express Suites, 30 Algonquin Blvd. W., Timmins
Hosted by the Northeastern CDSB

Central Meeting: Tuesday, October 1, 10 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. at the Durham CDSB, 650 Rossland Rd. West., Oshawa
Hosted by the Durham CDSB

East Meeting: Thursday, October 3, 10 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. at the Ottawa CSB, 570 West Hunt Club Rd., Nepean
Hosted by the Ottawa CSB

If you are unable to attend the meeting in your area you may register for a meeting in any of the other areas if more convenient.

Fall Regional Meetings Online Registration Form

View Meeting Agenda

2013 EQAO Assessments Released

Recently published on the province’s Education, Quality and Accountability Office’s (EQAO) website were highlights from the 2013 Assessments for: Reading, Writing and Mathematics at the Primary and Junior Division; Grade 9 Mathematics and; the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test. Results can be viewed here.

Timeline for Release of Reports to CDSBs and Schools:

• September 18: EQAO will release individual reports for each elementary school and its board, as well as a full provincial report on the elementary school assessments.
• September 25: School and board reports will be released for Grade 9 Assessment of Mathematics as well as for the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test.  A full provincial report on the secondary school assessments will also be released on this date.