A Critical Analysis of the School Effectiveness Framework and the Research Implications of Its Implementation

The Canadian educational system continues to search for more effective ways to enhance learning for all students. Schools and educators are being asked to ensure that schools are truly inclusive and that students from diverse backgrounds are exposed to effective teaching and learning to ensure educational success for all. It is no secret that the socalled “achievement gap” between students from diverse ethnic background continues to grow (Heiling & Darling-Hammond, 2008). The School Effectiveness Framework (SEF) of the Ontario (province in Canada) Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat targets inequity of student outcomes. SEF aims to reduce the achievement gap between struggling schools and those reaching provincial standards. The SEF‟s focus is professional accountability within a process of ongoing school-based selfassessment and district review processes that assess individual school strengths and needs in order to determine areas for directing support and resources. We detail in this article the context, objectives, components and theoretical underpinnings of the SEF and provide a critical analysis of the SEF‟s strengths, possibilities and limitations.

[1]  Jaekyung Lee.  Is Test-Driven External Accountability Effective? Synthesizing the Evidence From Cross-State Causal-Comparative and Correlational Studies , 2008 .

[2]  J. V. Heilig,et al.  Accountability Texas-Style: The Progress and Learning of Urban Minority Students in a High-Stakes Testing Context , 2008 .

[3]  R. Solórzano.  High Stakes Testing: Issues, Implications, and Remedies for English Language Learners , 2008 .

[4]  Sara Ahmed.  ‘You end up doing the document rather than doing the doing’: Diversity, race equality and the politics of documentation , 2007 .

[5]  Eugene E. García,et al.  Who Are These Linguistically and Culturally Diverse Students , 2006 .

[6]  J. King.  Black Education: A Transformative Research and Action Agenda for the New Century. , 2005 .

[7]  David Tyack,et al.  Tinkering toward Utopia , 1997 .

[8]  Fred M. Newmann.  Authentic Achievement: Restructuring Schools for Intellectual Quality , 1996 .

[9]  Mwalimu J. Shujaa.  Too Much Schooling, Too Little Education: A Paradox of Black Life in White Societies. , 1994 .

[10]  M. Karenga.  Black Studies and the Problematic of Paradigm , 1988 .

[11]  Milbrey W. McLaughlin,et al.  Building School-Based Teacher Learning Communities: Professional Strategies to Improve Student Achievement , 2006 .

[12]  T. Guskey.  Does It Make a Difference? Evaluating Professional Development , 2002 .

[13]  Marilyn Cochran-Smith,et al.  Relationships of Knowledge and Practice: Teacher Learning in Communities , 1999 .

[14]  C. James,et al.  Educating African Canadians , 1997 .

[15]  M. Bégin,et al.  For the Love of Learning: Report of the Royal Commission on Learning , 1995 .

[16]  A. Hilliard.  Why We Must Pluralize the Curriculum. , 1991 .

[17]  G. Hall.  Change in schools , 1987 .

[18]  Jawanza Kunjufu.  Developing positive self-images and discipline in Black children , 1984 .

[19]  M. Karenga.  Introduction to Black Studies , 1982 .