Le Projet D'une École Canadienne Restructurée
Canadian
Vocational Association © CVA/ACFP 1998 |
APPENDIX C
Chronology of Steering Committee Resolutions and CVA Board’s Actions
Over a ten-month period, the Steering Committee had three meetings, namely at Charlottetown in July 1995, Edmonton in October 1995, and Fredericton in May 1996 to set the direction of the Project, select sites, determine priorities, and approve the principles and structure of learner guides.
1995
At its first meeting in Charlottetown in July l995, the Steering Committee reviewed CRSP, the framework for the Project, approved a basic plan of action including a critical path, and initiated the following activities: identification of learning outcomes in the different Provinces by the Project Director; development of criteria for site selection for the development of learner guides together with a Project "story line" for the information of potential sites; and preparation of a communications strategy. Following the meeting, a former university Vice-President (Academic), who was subsequently appointed Principal Researcher, prepared two background papers, one on Provincial curriculum outcomes and implications for CRSP (Ryan, l996a), and the other on the theoretical framework for Learner Guide Project (Ryan, l996b). For the development of criteria for site selection and identification, the President of CVA and the Chair of the Steering Committee created a Technical Design Team composed of Steering Committee members. The President and Chair also created a Communications Team, again composed of Steering Committee members, to prepare a communications strategy. (See Appendix B for composition of the two teams.) The Advisor to the Steering Committee prepared the Project "story line."
At its second meeting in Edmonton, the Steering Committee adopted, with some modifications, both background papers and the Project "story line." The Committee also adopted, again with modifications, both the site selection criteria - including a proposed cost breakdown for site funding and teacher professional development - recommended by the Technical Design Team, and the Communication Team’s proposed communication strategy which included the development of a funding request to Industry Canada for a computer technology platform to support the Project and the eventual use of its materials in secondary schools. Given that most provincial Education ministries had identified graduation and curriculum outcomes, it was agreed that selected sites should be intra- rather than inter-provincially based. The Steering Committee recommended that, given the limited Project resources, the CVA Board approve four sites, two rural and two urban. Following the adoption of the site selection criteria, the Committee gave approval for a New Brunswick site as suggested by the Assistant Deputy Minister for English-language Education in New Brunswick. Finally, the Steering Committee again reviewed the CRSP components through the presentation by Dr. Doug Crawford of his newly launched private school in Edmonton built around CRSP principles. However, the Steering Committee reached no agreement on the use of DACUM and the structure of learner guides.
1996
For the purpose of creating a CRSP network of educators interested in educational change and CRSP in particular, the CVA President, following the Edmonton meeting, invited all those who had helped with the development of CRSP in l993 and who participated in the CRSP consultation in Calgary in l994 to become part of the CVA network on OBE and CBE, and their use in schools. The CVA committed its national office in Ottawa to keeping the database up-to-date. Early in l996, the President arranged for the main Project documentation and information to be included in the CVA Website. Towards the end of l996, the CVA President arramged for all Project materials, as they were completed, to be made available on the Website.
At its third meeting in Fredericton in May l996, the Steering Committee finalized the selection of Hunting Hills High School in Red Deer, Alberta, an urban site, and approved, in principal, the Grande Yellowhead and Glenlawn Collegiate site proposals. The Grande Yellowhead site comprises three networked, rural Alberta schools; and Glenlawn Collegiate is one of the St. Vital School Board’s secondary schools in Winnipeg, Manitoba. In addition, the Steering Committee changed the name of the Project from the Learning Outcomes Project (LOP) to the Learner Guide Project (LGP); accepted a set of definitions of a hierarchy of outcomes prepared by the Principal Researcher to be used in the Project - the definitions are given in the section on Goal Enabling Strategies; and approved a learner guide template and handbook prepared by the Steering Committee’s Advisor for developing learner guides. The Learner Guide Handbook covers the approach to learner guides according to CRSP model, the major steps that must be undertaken, the characteristics of learner guides, and the components of learner guides. The Committee also reviewed the resource binder prepared by the Principal Researcher to aide the sites in the development of learner guides. With regard to the operation of the Project, the Steering Committee accepted both a revised budget and time frame, and suggested to the CVA Board of Directors that the Project Evaluator, who would be hired by CVA to review the fulfilment of the Project’s objectives, be a person familiar with the curriculum and organization of learning in Canadian secondary schools.
Since representatives of the four sites were present at the Fredericton meeting and had their first Project workshop, it was agreed by the four sites that work would start immediately on the development of learner guides despite the lack of Steering Committee agreement on DACUM and elements of learner guide structure. At the time of the meeting, the New Brunswick site had already started work. In August l996, when it was decided that ongoing feedback should be provided to the writers of learner guides at the different sites, the Project Director, on behalf of the CVA President, created a Learner Guide Working Group from the membership of the Steering Committee (See Appendix B for composition of Working Group). The participation of the whole Steering Committee in the feedback process was considered unwieldy. From August 1996 - September 1997, the Learner Guide Working Group worked with the sites on improving the draft guides, gave professional workshops at sites, and made the final selection of the sample of guides for inclusion in the Project Report.
At the Edmonton meeting, it had been noted by the Communications Team that the CVA/HRDC Agreement did not cover the use of technology to facilitate and administer the use of learner guides in secondary schools. Information House in Charlottetown, PEI, was contracted to draft a funding proposal to Industry Canada on the development of a technology platform to facilitate inter-site development of learner guides and their subsequent implementation by interested schools and school districts. The proposal was subsequently discussed with SchoolNet officials and a SchoolNet technical assessment for the Project was provided to representatives of the Steering Committee in September 1996. A survey of computer facilities, conducted in site schools, indicated that the level of computer technology and expertise varies considerably in the different schools. Effective December 31, l996, the Principal Researcher resigned from the Project.
1997
As a consequence of the resignation of the Principal Researcher, the Project Director on behalf of the CVA President, in January l997, appointed an External Reader to assist the Learner Guide Writing Group with the provision of feedback to the guide writers on the four sites. With specially designated resources provided by HRDC, the Advisor to the Steering Committee prepared a manual on how to develop and implement learner guides within a CRSP framework. This manual or "Start-Up-Kit" is provided as a separate document accompanying the Report. In June l997, a Project Evaluator was appointed to assess the fulfilment of the Project’s objectives as stated in the CVA/HRDC Agreement: and an editor was contracted to provide a stardard framework and reporting structure for the learner guides (See Appendix B for details of these appointments.)
In July 1997, the CVA President requested and received from Human Resources Development Canada (HRDC) an extension of the Project completion date of two months to October 31, l997. The extension was requested to allow the Project Evaluator to start the assessment of the Project’s goal fulfilment when all the sites had completed their work. The initial completion date for all learner guides coincided with final examinations and the school holiday period: consequently, many guides were not submitted until mid-summer.
