Ontario teaching survey raises concerns about de-streaming rollout

A new report by an education non-profit suggests teachers in Ontario are struggling to implement changes introduced to make classrooms more equal.

In a new report, the group People for Education found only 20 per cent of high school principals in the province feel they have the support they need to implement de-streaming.

The de-streaming policy was introduced for Grade 9 by the Ford government in 2021. It ended the practice of sorting students into different classes by perceived academic ability.

Multiple reports — including a provincially-led investigation into the Peel District School Board — found streaming disproportionally impacted Black and Indigenous students.

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“De-streaming is a significant shift in the way we teach students in Grade 9,” one secondary school principal from southwestern Ontario quoted in the report said.

“We need ongoing support from the Ministry around reducing and maintaining smaller class sizes. We also would benefit from additional (educational assistant) support and other learning supports.”

The new report is based on a survey of 1,044 principals from 72 school boards around the province.

The survey found the number of schools offering training on de-streaming dropped from 89 per cent to 81 per cent in 2022-23.

It also suggested 34 per cent of secondary schools reported smaller classes had been introduced to help with de-streaming, down from 40 per cent the year before.

The Ford government, however, said more than $100 million had been spent on de-streaming already.

“This year alone, our government is investing nearly $104 million in additional de-streaming supports and hired 2,000 new educators, with nearly half of those educators focused on de-streamed classes,” a spokesperson for Education Minister Stephen Lecce said.

They also said the province had doubled the number of math coaches in schools and hired 940 educators to help students from Grades 7 to 10.

Not all principals appear to be feeling the impacts of those changes, however.

“The challenges are starting to surface,” a Toronto-area principal quoted in the People for Education report wrote.