Secondary schools are facing a number of challenges, including the increasing diversity of the student population, the changing world of work and the impact of new communications and information technologies.

The Canadian Restructured School Plan (CRSP) is a project developed and administered by the Canadian Vocational Association and funded by the Applied Research Branch of Human Resources Development Canada. Its goal is to explore a different way of organizing learning in secondary schools.

1. Stress on results and outcomes

2. Focus on personal and individualized learning

3. Mastery or competency approach

4. Use of computer technology to support the system

5. Flexibility in school organization and scheduling

6. Site-based management.

The ideal is that every learner can be successful given the right combination of: (a) expectation, (b) approach, (c) support, (d) resources, (e) time, and (f) assessment.

CRSP is based on a number of current developments taking place in education: mastery learning, outcome-based education, standards, personalized learning services, use of communication and information technologies, flexible program and management structures, school-based management, research on school effectiveness, new patterns of school-community links, contemporary theories of knowledge and learning, and policies of lifelong learning.

Curriculum involves establish a balance among:

1. Content knowledge arising from disciplines

2. Student attitudes

3. Cross-curricular system skills.

Many Canadian provinces are identifying key cross-curricular outcomes or expectations such as literacy and numeracy, problem solving, technological competence and citizenship. These need to be analyzed into their elements and linked to curriculum at different levels and in different subject areas.

There are various ways of organizing curriculum units: within a course, as a coordinated set in two or more courses, as a "stand alone" element or across a whole curriculum. In dividing courses or programs into units, it is important to avoid fragmentation and to keep the "big picture" in view.

One phase of CRSP is the Learner Guide Project. Learner guides are curriculum and learning materials prepared for the use of learners and teachers.

These guides:

• are written to the student
• are designed to encourage independent learning
• offer learners flexibility of timing and approach
• encourage learners to make choices
• follow a common format
• are built around specific learning outcomes
• focus on a specific curriculum unit of a program
• represent about 10% to 15% of a full year’s program
• link outcomes, standards, activities and assessment
• are about 10-20 pages in length.

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INTRODUCTION Why should I study the topic?
(rationale)

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PRE-REQUISITES What do I need to know before I begin?
(necessary knowledge, skills and attitudes, pretest)

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OUTCOMES What will I know or be able to do when I am finished?
(knowledge, skills, and attitudes expected at the end of the unit)

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RESOURCES What resources are available to help me?
(references, Internet, people)

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OPTIONS How may I meet the expectations of the guide?
(challenge for credit, follow the guide, customize the guide)

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DURATION When should my work be done?
(deadlines, normal duration for completion)

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EVALUATION How will I demonstrate I have met the expectations or achieved the outcomes?
(product, presentation, test, standards expected, criteria used)

NEXT STEPS Where do I go from here?
(links to other units or courses, career possibilities, choices, further questions)

Before beginning the development of learner guides, a school should be clear about its goals, its special situation, its resources and the implications. It needs a structure of leadership and organization and a plan of action that involves all interested parties. Writing a guide is best done by one individual in cooperation with a small working group that will feed in ideas and react to drafts.

Technology can facilitate the production of guides, enrich their content and enhance their value. Interested schools should consider networking with other schools interested in the approach.

Research should be done on the quality of the guides and on their effectiveness in promoting learning outcomes; both surveys and experimentation can provide a base for further improvement.

Guides should be implemented carefully; this involves, among other things, vigorous leadership, good management, staff development, effective communication, sensible planning, and adequate resources.

Education systems are a complex structure of interrelated parts; a change in one element can affect many others. Use of learner guides can have important consequences on the role of teachers, the structure of curriculum, the organization of classes and schools, and the way students learn.

Secondary schools are facing a number of serious challenges:

• the increasing diversity of the student population in terms of background, abilities, interests and expectations: one size does not fit everyone
• the changing world of work, with its stress on intellectual, communication and social skills, lifelong learning, initiative and flexibility: distinctions between academic and vocational education are blurring and there are many kinds of transitions and pathways between school and work, between working and learning
• the impact of communications and information technologies in broadening access to learning services and resources: computers, Internet, and multimedia are challenging our fixed notions of learning, time, schedule, place, attendance and the interrelationship of teaching and learning.

Schools and school systems are taking a number of steps to address these challenges, by

• identifying key cross-curricular outcomes, learnings, skills, values and understandings
• stressing basic knowledge and generic skills such as learning how to learn
• underlining the relationships among different subject areas and suggesting new areas
• showing the relevance of learning
• developing programs to improve the employability skills of young people - academic, teamwork, and personal management
• linking school learning with the community
• making creative use of technology to support classroom learning and supplement it with independent and co-operative learning
• devising creative means of evaluating performance to supplement traditional tests
• shifting more decision making about curriculum, processes and learning activities to the school - and to the individual learner.
• moving to an educational policy of lifelong learning that considers formal schooling of the young as an important first stage.

These challenges and trends have important implications for secondary school administrators and teachers:

• Schools are competing with one another and with other learning services
• Schools are under pressure to demonstrate the quality, effectiveness and distinctiveness of their programs and services
• Schools must build and sustain close and diverse ties with their communities
• Schools need to teach the twin skills of co-operative and independent learning to their students to prepare them for further study and the changing world of work
• Schools must be prepared to rethink some of their assumptions about teacher tasks, schedules, class organization, instruction, curriculum, courses, student involvement, evaluation, technology, allocation of resources, and control.

Many of our institutions are changing and some are in the process of re-inventing themselves. This is happening in the fields of health care, social services, finance, community development, entertainment, communication, and research.

Learning institutions are also learning to change—and changing to promote learning more effectively.

Background

The Canadian Restructured School Plan (CRSP) has its origins in the interests of some members of the Canadian Vocational Association (CVA) to apply the principles of competency-based education to the reorganization of the traditional secondary school.

The Canadian Vocational Association is an organization composed of teachers, administrators, program developers and policy makers. The members of CVA work in government, secondary schools, community colleges, universities, business and industry. Their major concern is preparing young people for the world of work.

Over the years the CVA has been developing expertise in formulating and measuring competencies and providing leadership in individualized curriculum, flexible learning systems and technology transfer, particularly in community colleges.

It has been promoting links between schooling and work, secondary and post-secondary institutions, adult learning and learning for the young, and between vocational programs and academic areas of the curriculum.

In 1992, the CVA obtained funding from the federal department of Employment and Immigration Canada, now Human Resources Development Canada (HRDC), for a study of an alternative structure for secondary schools. The Association contracted with Glendenning Educational Resources (Charlottetown PEI) to do the study and the final report was presented in March 1993.

A major consultation on the plan took place in Calgary in April 1994 involving over 40 Canadian educators and policy makers in government, community colleges, associations and the K-12 system. Response to the overall plan was favourable.

A new phase of CRSP began in 1995 when the CVA received special funding from HRDC to develop learner guides as one component of the overall Plan. This phase would cover the period August 1995 to August 1997 and would involve the creation of a limited number of prototype learner guides in different areas of the secondary school curriculum.

Dr. Miriam Bailey was appointed project director and a steering committee was established, chaired by Don Glendenning of PEI, and composed of CVA members, government officials and representatives of the K-12 sector.

Contracts were established with four sites to develop learner guides: (1) a large rural school district in New Brunswick, (2) a large rural district in Alberta, (3) a secondary school in Red Deer, Alberta, and (4) a secondary school in Winnipeg.

Teams of teachers in these sites prepared draft guides in a variety of areas and these were critiqued by CRSP personnel and consultants.

This Handbook has been developed on the basis of these experiences and it draws from the ideas and work of the learner guide teams in the four sites.

The CRSP approach

The Canadian Restructured School Plan proposes a vision of the secondary school which has these features:

1. Stress on results and outcomes
There are clear statements of the knowledge, skills and attitudes expected for success, what standards should be met and how these expectations are demonstrated.

2. Focus on personal and individualized learning
Emphasis is placed on the responsibility of the learner and learning activities are organized around learner guides which permit individual pacing of learning decisions - a preparation for lifelong learning.

3. Mastery or competency approach to learning
Instruction follows a general pattern of clear objectives/outcomes/expectations, feedback and correctives, and performance assessment, but in many areas this approach needs to be integrated with other strategies such as constructivist teaching and co-operative learning.

4. Use of computer technology to support the system
Appropriate use is made of (a) computer-aided learning, multimedia and networks for instruction, (b) on-line resources for learner guides and curriculum , and (c) computer-managed record keeping for tracking progress and administration.

5. Flexibility in school organization and scheduling
School organization encourages flexible program entry and exit, recognition of prior learning, continuous progress through programs, and flexible and varied time-tables permitting a range of learning activities.

6. Site-based management of learning
Individual schools have freedom to do their planning in a collaborative manner and in co-operation with their communities, within a system of limited external regulations and controls.

The first three features suggest a different way of thinking about curriculum and instruction. Stress is shifted from specific content, group presentations and vague unmeasurable objectives to clear outcomes or standards towards which students should strive. Emphasis is placed on individual responsibility for learning decisions, and there are logical links among expectations, standards of performance, and assessment activities.

The second three features suggest the major implication of this approach for how a school is organized, based on the assumption that form should follow function. Communication and information technologies should be used to enhance learning and manage a flexible learning system in an efficient way. Flexibility in curriculum and learning requires flexibility and adaptability in school structures, including scheduling, admissions, attendance and recognition of attainment. And all this implies that the school has the freedom and resources to design and implement a learning environment adapted to the communities it serves.

If a school adopts any one of these elements (such as learner guides) in a serious way, there will be pressures to adopt other elements of the system to address the new expectations and approach to learning.

There is a natural flow among elements:

The CRSP model has evolved through experiences in the fields of college teaching, adult training and vocational education. The present project is an attempt to apply the principles more generally to secondary schools. There are many other possible applications to learning situations outside the formal system, in individualized, small-group and "mixed delivery" learning environments for home schooling, community animation and development, distance education, independent study projects, and for alternative schools wishing to encourage more learner autonomy and initiative.

For a full description of the CRSP model, see:

Canadian Vocational Association, Canadian Restructured School Plan: Final Report. Ottawa: CVA, 1993.

The CRSP model has roots in a number of contemporary educational theories.

Mastery learning is based on the principle that all students can learn a set of reasonable objectives (a) with appropriate instruction and (b) with sufficient time to learn.

It suggests a curriculum structure based on 10 to 15 units per subject per year.

The core is an instructional model using four steps:

(1) regular instruction

(2) formative test

(3) corrective or enrichment instruction

(4) second formative test.

At the end of a term or year a summative test is given and usually only this test is used to assess student achievement. Mastery learning does not prescribe any particular teaching method.

This is an approach to instruction that is based on the precise definition and assessment of student performance in skills. It usually stresses the skill (e.g. keyboard skills), the standard or level of performance to be attained (speed, accuracy), and the conditions under which the demonstration of attainment is made (type of material, length, type of machine, etc.).

Outcome-based education (OBE) addresses this question: What is most essential for our students to know (knowledge), be able to do (skills), and be like (attitudes, values) in order to be successful once they have graduated?

It is a systems approach for a district or school more than a classroom approach and has five components:

(1) using clearly defined outcomes for all students

(2) organizing instructional delivery based on the performance capabilities and learning needs of students

(3) adjusting instructional time and learning opportunities to enable all students to reach outcome goals successfully

(4) acknowledging and documenting student learning and success whenever they occur

(5) modifying the instructional program on the basis of documented student learning results and available data on instructional effectiveness.

Its curriculum and instructional strategy involves:

(1) dividing curriculum into units linking intended outcomes, standards and learning materials

(2) focusing instruction on these expectations, adjusting time needed, and providing feedback

(3) using assessment strategies that demonstrate attainment of mastery.

There is a current movement in the United States and Canada to define standards (levels to be attained in different curriculum areas such as history and mathematics) and benchmarks (expected skills and understandings at various developmental levels such as K-3, 4-6, 7-9, 10-12).

There are content standards in various subjects defining what students should know and be able to do and performance standards which specify "how good is good enough" and the manner in which performance is demonstrated.

There are a variety of approaches to accommodate the backgrounds, needs, abilities, interests and expectations of individual learners. Strategies include:

• non-graded programs
• flexible grouping
• continuous progress
• challenge for credit
• independent learning
• co-operative and collaborative learning
• self-instructional materials
• learner guides.

This category includes the use of technology (computers, software, CD-ROM, etc.)

• to complement traditional methods of instruction (e.g. remedial work, enrichment)
• to enhance independent or co-operative study projects and programs (e.g. assignments, computer-based courses or modules)
• to provide curriculum and learning materials (on-line learner guides, learning software, databases, Internet links)
• to manage instructional systems (record keeping, tracking student progress, scheduling, communicating between students and teacher, etc.).

There are a number of organizational structures that schools are using to make their resources and services more accessible and more adaptable.

These include:

• links with programs of distance education
• year-round schooling
• flexible entry and exit
• semestering
• extended hours
• work-study and co-operative education programs
• links with other community resources such as libraries, business, and cultural resources
• links with post-secondary institutions
• advanced credit
• flexible scheduling

There is a major trend across Canada to enlarge the territory of school boards and assign more responsibilities to individual schools.

This decentralizing usually includes:

• more freedom for a school to define and articulate its mission
• more control over decisions relating to program, choice of teaching materials, school culture and services to students
• more collaboration among teachers
• school choice for parents
• closer links with the community
• more stress on accountability for budgets, resource allocation, and student performance, usually measured by external examinations
• some form of consultative or policy-making body at the school level (parent council, school committee, governing board, etc.).

During the 1980s and 1990s there has been considerable stress on the characteristics of a good, effective, successful or exemplary secondary school and on the factors which are related to success. Effectiveness and success are defined in different ways (academic attainment, social integration, equity, help given to students "at risk,") and different measures are used to judge success.

Among significant factors are leadership in the school, a sense of common purpose, good links with the communities the school serves, climate of order, ethos of support for learning and learners, common belief that the school is "good."

There is also an important body of research that is instructive on how change or reform can take place, how "bottom-up" and "top-down" approaches can be merged, and the importance of the participation of stakeholders in setting goals, planning strategy and working for implementation.

In recent years many schools have been more conscious of the need to establish or strengthen their links with the communities they serve. These links include parent councils or similar bodies involving parents and community representatives in advising or developing school policy, involvement of community groups in school programs and activities, partnerships with local business and industry, and a range of community or business programs to give students work experience or a chance to be involved in community projects.

More and more schools are turning to specific groups to work with teachers to develop special programs in work skills, problem solving (issues of violence, inclusion, intercultural or interethnic understanding, etc.) and programs in different curriculum areas, especially technology, the arts, fitness and cultural identity.

A major concern today is the link between schooling and work, between the priorities, content and learning approaches in secondary schools and the skill demands of a rapidly changing labour market.

This has led to various efforts to improve the relevance of curriculum by emphasizing certain skills and practical applications of theoretical knowledge, and by developing different kinds of work experience and work-study options for young people.

One approach is the development of an Employability Skills Profile by the Conference Board of Canada. This lists three categories of skills:

• Academic Skills related to communicating, thinking and learning
• Personal Management Skills related to positive attitudes and behaviours, responsibility and adaptability
• Teamwork Skills involving working with others.

Contemporary research stresses constructivist approaches which see knowledge as a search for meaning, an appreciation of uncertainty, an ongoing inquiry that is developmental and socially constructed. Learning is not essentially being given knowledge, teaching is not a cookbook of recipes. The learner must construct his or her learning, in an environment created by the teacher.

Nor is intelligence a single entity but more and more we are conscious of multiple intelligences: linguistic and literary, logical, mathematical and numerate, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, musical, interpersonal (social) and intrapersonal (reflective).

It is also clear that people - teachers as well as students - have different learning styles, different ways of acquiring understanding, mastering a skill and cultivating an attitude or value.

These approaches have this in common: they shift the focus of education, schooling and teaching from the system, the institution, the class and the teacher to the learner.

In most societies, rapid and profound changes - cultural, social, economic and technological - are prompting a rethinking of the traditional model of education which relies primarily on the formal schooling of the young. For most people in our society of the 21^st Century, learning will be a lifelong enterprise, and their initial education will have to prepare them with the basic understandings, skills, and attitudes they will need in order to see learning as an integral part of their life.

"Schools of tomorrow" will need to develop and draw on the active participation of learners, to address diverse learning needs and interests of all ages, to emphasize cross-curricular efforts and to adapt methods and contexts of learning in the light of new possibilities.

Learners will have to acquire not only basic skills and skills of interpersonal relationships but also advanced skills and, most important of all, the attitudes and skills of "learning how to learn."

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