a history of curriculum services canada

I. The “Clearinghouse” Concept: A Convergence of Interests
The Increasing Need for Learning Resources in the Education Community
Although the Centre franco-ontarien de ressources pédagogiques (CFORP) in Ottawa had
already been developed, as the 1990s approached Anglophone teachers in Ontario still had no
convenient way to access each other's materials, no way to stay abreast of what was being
developed in other boards, and little useful information about the resources they were seeking. It
was difficult for them to find the materials they wanted and needed to enrich their classrooms.
As well, the duplication of effort in curriculum development was costing all boards valuable
time, money, and human resources.
At the same time, school boards were coping with both diminishing funds for curriculum
development and mandated changes in curriculum that rendered many existing teaching tools
and aids obsolete. Their only official source for texts was the Ministry's C-14 document, which
listed but did not describe approved texts and offered no critique of their strengths and
weaknesses. Not only were entries frequently out-of-date, but while the list included texts, it did
not include other types of classroom resources - supplementary or “second generation” materials
upon which teachers rely to enrich their classes.
Thus in 1986, after lengthy discussion, a meeting of the Ontario Teachers' Federation (OTF)
Curriculum Forum resolved to investigate the feasibility of developing a mechanism—"a
clearinghouse"—that would enable teachers to share materials. Fortunately, a successful model
already existed in CFORP.
The “New” Curriculum
In the early 1990s, the “transition years,” grades 7-9, were the focus of a new curriculum that
was the first major step in Ontario's preparations for the termination of grade 13. Under the NDP
government of Bob Rae, two funds were created to help school boards make the adjustments
necessary to accommodate the impending changes. The first and larger of the two, the
Transition Assistance Fund—$50.2 million—was to be distributed to school boards entirely in
1991 1 . It was targetted to help them move from the old way of doing business to the new by
supporting projects for such things as the acquisition of new computers, the implementation of
labour adjustments, and the formation of partnerships with other boards and the community. As
a Ministry official later confirmed, these dollars were intended to provide "a one-time
opportunity for boards to downsize and learn to save money."
The second, smaller Transition Years Implementation Fund of $10-12 million was allocated in
1992 to support Transition Years curriculum. Jim Sebastian, an education officer at the Ministry
of Education, managed this project and its dollars flowed through the Ministry’s regional offices
to the province's school boards.
©2006 Curriculum Services Canada 2