QUEEN’S PARK — The McGuinty government's new online progress reports for each district school board allow parents to see how their school board is helping more students succeed, said Education Minister Sandra Pupatello.

“We have made extraordinary progress over the past three years to reach every student through a $2 billion funding boost and new innovative programs,” said Pupatello. “Now the general public has an online tool to see the progress being made locally.”

“These board progress reports prove that our government is being transparent with and accountable for the changes we’ve made to help students reach their full potential.”

The District School Board Progress Reports, available at www.ontario.ca/schoolboardprogress uses eight indicators to show Ontario boards’ progress. The indicators represent some of the government’s education priorities including improved literacy rates, smaller class sizes in the primary grades, and sound financial management.

"The school boards and the ministry are accountable to the public," said Rick Johnson, president of the Ontario Public School Boards' Association. "And now, the public can see clearly how students, school boards and the ministry are performing. They no longer have to dig for the numbers."

“The government is giving parents the tools they need to measure the success of the Ontario education system both provincially and locally,” said Larry Langan, director for Huron-Perth Catholic District School Board. “And I’m very proud that the results are positive — class sizes have gone down and student achievement has gone up.”

Strong progress has been made across the province:
? Ontario’s youngest students have benefited from smaller class sizes. Forty-eight per cent of Ontario’s primary classes had 20 students or fewer in 2005-06 — up from 31 per cent in 2003-04.

? In Grade 6, 63 per cent of English-language students met the provincial standard in reading in 2004-05 — a seven percentage point increase from 2002-03. In French-language schools, there was a four percentage point increase to 67 per cent.

? In secondary schools, 60.5 per cent of Ontario students in 2004-05 earned 16 or more credits by the end of their second year of high school.

? 84 per cent of English-language students passed the Grade 10 literacy test in 2005-06, a 12 percentage point increase from 2002-03. On the same test, French-language students improved by two percentage points to 81 per cent.

The District School Board Progress Reports is just one way the McGuinty government is improving transparency and accountability in Ontario’s publicly funded education system Other initiatives include:

• The Class Size Tracker website shows how every school in Ontario is reducing primary grade class size (www.ontario.ca/eng/cst)
• Suspension and expulsion numbers, which have been published for each school board.
• The creation of the Student Success Commission, which puts teachers’ federations, school boards and the government on the same side of the table.
• The establishment of the Provincial Stability Commission that brings the ministry, boards and elementary teachers together to promote good relations and solve issues.

“Our government made a strong commitment to boosting student achievement and reducing class size in our Literacy/Numeracy Strategy and Student Success Strategy,” added Pupatello. “I’m pleased that the public can now see the evidence of our progress and how we are helping Ontario students succeed.”