SPECIAL EDUCATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE (INFO) 25 March 2015 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE (PUBLIC) 21 April 2015 Report No

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1 SPECIAL EDUCATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE (INFO) 25 March 2015 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE (PUBLIC) 21 April 2015 Report No Annual Certification Rate Key Contact: Pino Buffone, Superintendent of Curriculum, ext Olga Grigoriev, Superintendent of Learning Support Services, ext PURPOSE: 1. This report provides baseline information for the Annual Certification Rate (ACR) as described in Report No : Methodology for Annual Certification Rate presented to Committee of the Whole on 23 April 2014 and to the Special Education Advisory Committee on 6 May CONTEXT: 2. Objective 1 of the OCDSB Strategic Plan states that the 90% graduation rate goal is on track to be met by, or in advance of, the 2020 target. This objective is unique in that it is the only objective in the current strategic plan which predates this plan and which will be fully measured six years after the plan has finished. For the duration of the current strategic plan, the emphasis of this objective is two-fold: (i) to develop a common understanding and mechanism to measure the graduation rate; and, (ii) to ensure that strategies are in place that will not only put us on track, but will help us advance our work towards achieving the goal. Graduation rates are commonly used as a means of measuring the success of education systems, however, the variety of methodologies that are used to calculate these rates make it difficult to compare results across contexts. For the past few years, the OCDSB has used the Ministry of Education definition of graduation rate. This measures the number of Ontario Secondary School Diplomas (OSSD) granted to students within five years of commencing secondary school. Additional information can be found in Appendix A of this report for The following provides an overview of limitations associated with this methodology for calculating graduation outcomes for students: Report Annual Certification Rate Page 1

2 Transitions students who leave the district during the five-year period are excluded from the district measure since they cannot be tracked across educational institutions, but are included in the provincial measure if they continue their schooling in Ontario. Further, students who enter a secondary school after grade 9 are not included in either the district or provincial measure. Definition of success only students on a path to the OSSD are included; students who are pursuing other successful outcomes such as the Ontario Secondary School Certification (OSSC) or Certificate of Accomplishment (COA) are not part of the calculation; and, Length of time students who complete the OSSD in more than five years are never counted in the graduation rate. Moving forward, the Ministry of Education has announced its intent to publicly release Board-level graduation rates at the same time the provincial rate is released, effective this spring. In part, this will help to address limitations in the methodology associated with student transitions across school districts. In addition to producing a cohort graduation rate, the district has been working on the development of a methodology that would include other kinds of certificates that reflect successful outcomes for students as they complete their schooling and transition to a range of post-secondary pathways workplace, apprenticeship, college, university, or community living. This measure, the Annual Certification Rate, would be more inclusive of our entire student population and more fully reflects the number of students who finish school with a diploma or certificate in their final school year. KEY CONSIDERATIONS: 3. Method for Calculating the Annual Certification Rate The Annual Certification Rate reflects the proportion of students who have earned an OSSD, OSSC, or COA from an OCDSB secondary school (or Crystal Bay and Clifford Bowey) in what is theoretically their final year of school. More specifically, the group of students on which the calculation is based includes those who, for the target year, are: enrolled in an OCDSB secondary school, Clifford Bowey, or Crystal Bay; between the ages of 17 and 20, inclusive, on 31 December; identified as being in pre-grade 9 (i.e., student is enrolled in a specialized special education program in a secondary school dual support, general learning, or developmental disability) or in grade 12; in their fourth, fifth, sixth or seventh year of secondary school; and, demitted from an OCDSB school (i.e., secondary, or Clifford Bowey/ Crystal Bay) between 1 November 2013 through 30 June 2014, inclusive, for a reason other than pursing their secondary education (i.e., students with the following demit codes were not included: other board, this board, home school, private school, and federally-funded school ). Report Annual Certification Rate Page 2

3 In order for a student to have been considered to have earned an OSSD, OSSC, or COA in the target year, both the award and the award date field in Trillium must be completed. This is consistent with the methodology used to calculate the cohort graduation rate. This calculation can be expressed in the following way: ACR = Number of students in their final year of school who received an OSSD, OSSC, or COA prior to 30 June 2014 / Number of students in their final year of school Calculated Annual Certification Rate (ACR) for Based on the above criteria, the Annual Certification Rate for the OCDSB was 88% (i.e., 4,756 of 5,379 students). The majority of these students earned an OSSD (99%; n=4,714). Of the remaining students, nine earned an OSSC and 33 earned a COA. Using the analyses conducted for the Cohort Graduation Rate as a guide, the ACR sample was disaggregated by student sub-group. The following trends were observed: female students (90%) were more likely to earn a diploma or certificate than male students (87%); compared to the overall student population, students who were English language learners (80%) and students who self-identified as First Nations, Métis, or Inuit (FNMI; 84%) were less likely to earn a diploma or certificate; students identified with a special education need (not including gifted students) were somewhat more likely to earn a diploma or certificate (91%) compared to the overall student population. With the exception of students with special needs and students who selfidentified as FNMI, trends for the ACR were consistent with those observed for the cohort graduation rate. The most striking difference, however, was for students with special education needs, 91% of whom left the OCDSB in having earned an OSSD, OSSC, or COA. This statistic helps to illuminate the fact that it may take more than five years for some students to attain one of these Ministry-recognized diplomas/certificates. Limitations/Challenges Associated with the ACR Methodology The ACR is more inclusive of successful graduation outcomes that honours the OCDSB student population. Nevertheless, it is important to recognize that there continue to be limitations associated with it, as well. Specifically, adults over the age of 21 who choose to enroll in our continuing education programs and who subsequently earn a diploma or certificate are not captured in either the cohort graduation rate or the annual certification rate. It should also be noted that in order for staff to include this new measure of student success in the Annual Student Achievement Report (ASAR), it will be Report Annual Certification Rate Page 3

4 important to ensure timely access to reliable student data from Trillium. In this regard, school staff responsible for data entry plays a key role. A dedicated staff resource in Business & Learning Support Services provides additional support to school staff, helping to ensure data quality of student information for reporting purposes. RESOURCE IMPLICATIONS: 4. There are no financial costs associated with the calculation of the ACR, as work was undertaken by staff as part of divisional work plans. Moving forward, this work will continue to be embedded within annual work plans. In , the OCDSB received $59,131 from the Ministry of Education through the Managing Information for Student Achievement (MISA) initiative in support of Local Capacity Building. A portion of these funds ($20,000; approximately 0.33 FTE) was put towards having a dedicated staff resource from Business & Learning Technologies to work directly with secondary school staff responsible for Trillium data entry to help improve data accuracy and quality. Continued support for this position is warranted and may be brought forward as part of the Budget Consultation process. COMMUNICATION/CONSULTATION ISSUES: 5. In the spring of 2014, staff in Quality Assurance, Learning Support Services, and Business & Learning Technologies met with secondary school vice-principals to present the concept of developing an Annual Certification Rate for the district, and to seek their input regarding the methodology and criteria for doing so. In June 2014, a memorandum was sent to all OCDSB principals, vice-principals, secondary guidance teachers, secondary student success teachers, and secondary learning support/resource teachers to inform them of this work. Work is currently underway to support school staff responsible for Trillium data entry through the work of the dedicated staff resource and existing training opportunities provided through Business & Learning Technologies. STRATEGIC LINKS: 6. There is a clear link between the new ACR methodology and the District s graduation rate objective. However, given that there are many successful students each year who are systematically excluded from the Ministry of Education s cohort methodology, it s important for the District to devise a complementary measure which tracks the successful outcomes of these students. A 90% graduation rate by 2020 is one of the ten objectives identified in the OCDSB Strategic Plan. As a result, it is important to monitor progress towards this objective on a regular basis. GUIDING QUESTIONS: Report Annual Certification Rate Page 4

5 7. The following questions are provided to support the discussion of this item by the Committee: What other questions pertaining to high school graduation/certification should be considered in order to understand outcomes for OCDSB students? Pino Buffone Superintendent of Curriculum (ext. 8573) Jennifer Adams Director of Education and Secretary of the Board Olga Grigoriev Superintendent of Learning Support Services (ext. 8254) APPENDICES Appendix A Fact Sheet: OCDSB Student Outcomes for the Secondary School Grade 9 Cohort: to Report Annual Certification Rate Page 5

6 Appendix A Ottawa-Carleton District School Board Student Outcomes for the Secondary School Grade 9 Cohort: to Annual vs. Cohort Graduation Rates This fact sheet looks at one cohort of Grade 9 students who were enrolled at any time during the academic year and who were either in their fourth or fifth year in an Ottawa- Carleton District School Board secondary school. Cohort and annual graduation rates are not the same, since they look at different groups of students or different lengths of time. What It Is The chart below shows 4 and 5 year outcomes for the 5,297 students who were: enrolled at any time in the academic year 13 to 15 years old on December 31 st, 2008 registered in grade 9 for the first time in a secondary school in the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board 1 By Fall of 2012 (4 years later) and Fall of 2013 (5 years later) students were categorized as: 1) graduated with an OSSD (small percentages of these students returned for a 5 th or 6 th year, respectively); 2) transferred to another educational institution in Ontario; 3) left school without an OSSD; or 4) returned for a 6 th year of school. Student Outcomes 100% 80% 60% 40% 20% 0% 6% 72% 1% 4% 1% 11% 4% OSSD Other education Left without OSSD Year 6 (Fall 2012) 4 year 5 year Year 4 and earlier ( ) Year 5 ( ) Graduated with OSSD % 294 6% Transferred to another educational institution in 44 1% 38 1% Ontario Left without an OSSD (e.g., to employment, other province/country) achieved or more required credits achieved or more compulsory credits 40 or more community hours achieved a certificate of accomplishment or OSSC 594* % 10% 22% 15% 1% % 45% 66% 29% 3% Returned for 6 th year 211 4% 1 Ministry definition stipulates students who were registered in Grade 9 for the first time in the secondary school system. * This number includes 382 (7%) of students who left an OCDSB school before Year 4. Report Annual Certification Rate Page 6

7 5-Year Student Outcome by Sub-Group, (baseline) For the first time, the Cohort Graduation Rate has been disaggregated by student sub-group. Based on this analysis, for the cohort of students starting grade 9 in , the following observations were made: girls were more likely than boys to graduate with an OSSD within the 5-year timeframe (81% compared to 74%, respectively); 69% of English Language Learners (ELLs) in the cohort earned an OSSD within 5 years; 47% of students with special needs graduated with an OSSD within 5 years, another 31% were still enrolled in an OCDSB school in the fall of their 6 th year of secondary school; 81% of students who had self-identified as First Nations, Métis, or Inuit (FNMI) earned an OSSD within 5 years of commencing secondary school. ABOUT THE SECONDARY SUCCESS INDICATORS The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board uses Student Success Indicators to look at patterns and trends in annual achievement. These indicators are reported on in the Annual Report on Student Achievement that accompany the Board Improvement Plan for Student Achievement, released in the fall of each year, and include such things as: achievement in grades 9 and 10 compulsory courses (e.g., pass rates and patterns of achievement across subject areas and course levels), grade 10 credit accumulation rate, and success rates on the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test. For more information please contact: Yasmin Sankar Khan, Research Officer, Quality Assurance at yasmin.sankar.khan@ocdsb.ca Report Annual Certification Rate Page 7