a history of curriculum services canada
a history of curriculum services canada
a history of curriculum services canada
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On the administrative side, a new member was added to the Board <strong>of</strong> Directors in June, Lynda<br />
Bell <strong>of</strong> CIBC, who replaced Tom Strong. Thus the voice <strong>of</strong> the banking community would<br />
continue to be represented on the Board.<br />
September - December<br />
At the September Board Meeting, discussion arose about the need for a separate materials<br />
development arm <strong>of</strong> OCC. The structure <strong>of</strong> OCC was still clearly in an evolving phase.<br />
In September the Ministry confirmed the awarding <strong>of</strong> the next phase <strong>of</strong> the textbook evaluation<br />
contract to OCC. This was good news for OCC and a natural step in the expansion <strong>of</strong> its<br />
evaluation consultation <strong>services</strong>. The contract included the review <strong>of</strong> 54 textbooks, with<br />
ancillary materials numbering 299 items. The review was completed within three months,<br />
meeting MET’s deadline <strong>of</strong> January 5.<br />
A related development was a request from the Canadian Publishers Council for a presentation to<br />
a large combined group <strong>of</strong> publishers to share the learning experience <strong>of</strong> the first Call For<br />
Resources. This was taken as a strong sign <strong>of</strong> support for the goals and process <strong>of</strong> OCC’s<br />
evaluation <strong>services</strong>. The presentation was arranged for February 1999, and a booklet on best<br />
practices was prepared and sent to all publishers in advance.<br />
Other good news was a large contract from York University for OCC to provide teacher<br />
education expertise. An appropriate consultant was hired on contract with OCC to fulfill this<br />
mandate.<br />
Within OCC itself, other activities continued. These included continued work on online training,<br />
the installation <strong>of</strong> a new website computer management system, and discussions about an<br />
appropriate new database for the submission <strong>of</strong> new materials by publishers. OCC was also<br />
audited and established its Y2K certification. Finally, it was indicated that all new resources<br />
reviewed by OCC would be shipped to the Canadian Organization for Development through<br />
Education, Ottawa, for distribution to schools in third world countries. A total <strong>of</strong> 34 boxes <strong>of</strong><br />
student textbooks and other printed resources were received and acknowledged by CODE in<br />
mid-October.<br />
The withdrawal <strong>of</strong> OTF from OCC membership was formally announced and accepted at the<br />
November Board meeting, the first meeting without OTF representation.<br />
On a more positive note, November brought another contract with the Ministry, this time the<br />
responsibility to manage a field test trial <strong>of</strong> the new tool for the review <strong>of</strong> Secondary School<br />
Course Pr<strong>of</strong>iles. Three Project Directors were hired in Science, English, and Health and<br />
Physical Education, and each Project Director subsequently recruited and trained a team to do<br />
two reviews each, for a total <strong>of</strong> six reviews. The work continued throughout December with<br />
draft reports produced, feedback given, and numerous revisions made. This process gave OCC<br />
1998<br />
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