SPECIALIST HIGH SKILLS MAJOR
OCTE Conference-May 11th 2012
Aldo Cianfrini
Reece Morgan
MINISTRY OF EDUCATION
Student Success/Learning to 18-Strategic Policy Branch
Topics:
• Student Success Initiatives and Specialist High
Skills Major Programs
• The role of Technological Education in Student Success
• Advice for those new to SHSM
Grade 9 to Post Secondary Destinations after
Five Years
33% to
University
19% to
College
18% OSSD
to work or
apprenticeship
30% Leave
Before OSSD
Grade 9
Enrollment
= 100%
Double Cohort Study 2005
Ontario Ministry of Education
Student Success
Reach every student
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
SHSM
Dual Credits
Expanded Coop
New Courses
E-Learning (OERB)
Student Success teams in every school
Student Success teachers in every school
Promote Student Success culture
Grade 8 and 9 transition supports
Credit recovery
Specialist High Skills Major
A Specialist High Skills Major (SHSM) is a ministryapproved specialized career-focused program that
allows students to acquire technical knowledge and
skills that are of particular importance in specific
economic sectors as they work towards meeting the
requirements for an OSSD.
SHSM – Drummond Report 2012
“Similarly, the Commission supports continued emphasis on
programs that have proven critical to increasing graduation
rates. More students have graduated with the help of the
Student Success Strategy. Unique programming to support
higher graduation rates, such as dual credits, co-operative
education and the Specialist High Skills Majors program, has
encouraged a transition to post-secondary education or better
employment opportunities. Care should be taken to increase
class sizes in a manner that does not jeopardize programs that
have helped increase graduation rates and benefited Ontario
students.”
2006-07
2007-08
2008-09
2009-10
2010-11
2011-12
2012-13
Year 1
Year 2
Year 3
Year 4
Year 5
Year 6
Year 7
600 students in 27
programs in
6000 students in
153 programs in
44 schools
212 schools
Sectors:
Arts and Culture
Construction
Hospitality &
Tourism
Manufacturing
Agriculture
Forestry
Horticulture &
Landscaping
Mining
Addition of:
Business
Environment
Health & Wellness
Transportation
14,000 students in
over 480 programs
in
20,000 students in
over 740 programs
in
28,000 students in
over 1000
programs in
335 schools
430 schools
540 schools
Addition of:
Information
Communication
Technology
Justice, Community
Safety and
Emergency
Services
Addition of:
Energy
Aviation and
Aerospace
Addition of:
Sports
Non-profit
34,000 students
in over 1300
programs in
over 630
schools
38,000 students
in over 1,500
programs in over
670 schools
No new sectors
Possible
Food
Processing –
to be confirmed
“Successful new initiatives are
10% policy
and
90% implementation.
After you have developed the policy, the real
work begins.”
Premier McGuinty, Sept 14,2010
2011- 2012 SHSM Program Statistics
Projected number of programs
207
176
141
99
96
97
3
86
48
40
20
134
132
29
7
24
26
9
Source: SSL18, 2010
2011- 2012 SHSM Enrolment
Projected number of students
7,281
5,605
3,625
3,204
2,654
2,329
1,990
1,427
1,125
421
72
3,078
2,650
108
595
673
735
130
Source: SSL18, 2010
Growth of SHSM Students 2006-2012
2010-11 Credit Accumulation
Number of SHSM Students
34,000
28,000
20,000
14,000
6,000
600
2006-07
2007-08
2008-09
2009-10
2010-11
2011-12
Source: SHSM Student Data Reports, 2010
2010-11 Credit Accumulation
2010-11
Provincial - All Boards
Credits Attempted
and Not Earned
8%
Credits Attempted
and Earned
0%
92%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Source: SHSM Student Data Reports, 2010
% of SHSM students with an IEP
24%
18%
15%
Provincial average – 13%
2008-2009
2009-2010
2010-2011
Source: SHSM Student Data Reports, 2010
SHSM Student Survey 2011-12
Current formal reporting requirements (SHSM) and the Dual
Credit (DC) programs focus on the retention rate and credit
accumulation of students completing the SHSM
However, information pertaining to the student’s destination
after graduation is not readily available through the information
collection systems and protocols between the Ministry of
Education, Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities, and
their partners (school boards, colleges and universities).
SHSM Student Survey 2011-12
In order to be able to look at how these students are doing after graduation a
SHSM student survey is planned
The online survey will require approximately 10 minutes to complete and will
be conducted in October – November 2012.
Student consent forms will be sent to board leads to pass on to all SHSM
students in May 2012
Questions will focus on the student’s status at the time of the survey (e.g. in
high school, in university /college/ apprenticeship, working), as well as a few
questions on how the SHSM and/or DC program influenced their future
educational and career goals.
Highlights: SHSM Tracking Survey Province-Wide
Respondents
My SHSM program helped me realize that I needed
to complete my high school diploma in order to
pursue my future study/career plans
75.6%
78.4%
My SHSM program motivated me to set goals
The SHSM program gave me more confidence that
this is the field I would like to study/work in after
graduation
79.4%
I felt more interested in learning during the SHSM
program
I had generally better marks in my courses during
the SHSM program than in my previous high school
experience
83.6%
71.9%
Graph represents percentage of 5,6 and 7 ratings on a scale of 1 to 7 where 1 was “Not at all” and 7 was “A lot”
Specialist High Skills Major
The Five Components at
a Closer Look…
SHSM Policy and Implementation Document
Policy: overall and by sector
Implementation: provides schools and school boards with
tools and strategies in planning a
SHSM program and includes
information about:
•
•
•
•
•
SHSM Advisory Committees
Which SHSM programs to offer
Delivery models
Marketing and promotion strategies
Partnerships
Resources: also available online
SHSM Web Site: www.Ontario.ca/SHSM
Specialist High Skills Majors
5 Components
Bundle of Credits
Certifications
and Training
Programs
(8-10 credits)
Experiential
Learning & Career
Exploration
Essential Skills
and work
habits/OSP
“Reach Ahead”
Experiences
1. BUNDLE OF CREDITS
1 credit = 110 hours of in class instruction
Contextualized Learning Activities (CLA) in the ‘other required credits’ link this
learning to the sector.
* May include dual credits and LDC.
Contextualized Learning Activities (CLAs)
• in each of the other required credits (English,
science, mathematics, business, the arts)
• enable students to connect their learning in
these courses to their SHSM sector
• minimum 6 hours in length
• based on curriculum expectations from the
other required courses
2. Sector Recognized Certifications & Training
Certificates are added to the student’s portfolio
3. Experiential Learning & Career Exploration
Activities
• Planned activities that take place outside of the regular
classroom and related to the SHSM sector
•
•
•
Activities match student goals and interests
Give students the opportunities to explore, observe, participate in and reflect on a
variety of sector-specific experiences and careers
Increase student awareness of, and develop Essential Skills and work habits required
in the sector and have their performance of these skills and habits accessed and
documented
4. Reach Ahead Opportunities
• Opportunities for students to experience their selected post
secondary pathway
• May include:
–
–
–
–
–
–
Auditing a college or university class/lecture specific to a SHSM sector
Attending a campus tours (Red Carpet Day) or industrial centre
Interviewing a skilled trades person
Participating in or visiting skills competitions
Attending a conference/event held in the sector
Completing one or more ministry-approved dual credits in a secondary
school/college program
5. Development of Essential Skills and work
habits and use of the Ontario Skills Passport
(OSP)
• Focus on the development of Essential Skills – as identified
through the sector consultations
• OSP documents demonstration of the Essential Skills
• identifies work habits required of employees
• identifies and labels occupations using National Occupation
Codes (NOC)
• each SHSM framework lists careers (with NOC) in each of the
four destinations
Upon Completion of a SHSM Program…
SHSM Record
SHSM Sector
‘major’ and ‘other
required’ credits
Certifications and
training programs
‘Reach Ahead’ activities
Use of the Ontario Skills
Passport (OSP)
Principal’s signature
What Difference Does an SHSM Make for
Students?
OCAS and OUAC now have SHSM students identify themselves through a
checkbox
St. Mary’s University in Nova Scotia offers a scholarship for an Ontario
SHSM student annually
Lakehead University SHSM Incentive Program
Specialist High Skills Major Entrance Award
The University of Guelph-Humber will award a $500 scholarship to 25 eligible
students who have completed a program-related SHSM. These include the
following SHSM Red Seal diplomas:
Arts & Culture
Business
Health and Wellness
Justice, Community, Safety & Emergency Services
Non-Profit
All eligible applicants, who have completed the Specialist High Skills Major are
automatically considered for this award. No application is necessary.
Articulation agreements with colleges
So what does this mean for you as a
Technological Education teacher?
• The role of Technological Education in Student
Success
• The valuing of all four destinations
• Getting to 85% Graduation Rate
The Place of Technological Education in the
Curriculum
• Enables students to become problem solvers who
are self-sufficient, entrepreneurial, and
technologically literate
• Develops student’s ability to work safely, creatively
and competently with technologies that are central
to their lives
• Provides practical contexts and applications that
meet the needs of hands-on learners
The Place of Technological Education in the
Curriculum
• Key to providing focussed programs – a building
block for Specialist High Skills Majors and the
Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program
• The only program area that specifically prepares
students to enter the program pathway leading to
apprenticeship training
Credits and Reach
• Approximately 710 high schools in 70 schools boards,
one education authority and all provincial schools
offer technological education programming
Enrolment trends:
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–
–
2002/03 - 392,024 student credits
2003/04 - 398,560 student credits
2004/05 – 407,454 student credits
2005/06 – 423,360 student credits
2006/07 – 431,636 student credits
2007-08 – 437,105 student credits
2008-09 - 421,031 student credits – this drop is a result of the
migration of Computer Studies to its own curriculum program area
and no longer part of the Technological Education umbrella of
programs(08-09 – 34,684 credits in Computer and Information
Science)
– 2009-10 - 418,000 student credits
– Growing enrolment in light of declining secondary school enrolment
Springboard for
Student Success & Reaching Higher Goals
A strong viable Technological Education program
provides students with the experiences they require
to pursue opportunities in the Specialist High Skills
Major (SHSM) and OYAP:
 14 of the 19 SHSMs are directly aligned to Technological
Education programs
 Many of the OYAP program’s 25,000 students are prepared
for their placements through Technological Education
programs
• Many new Student Success strategies are rooted in
technological education programs:
– 65% of “At Risk” students are enrolled in
technological education programs (Source: 2004-05 Principal Survey)
– 45% of all “Work Place” courses are technological
education courses (Source: ITE Branch, 2006-07)
– There is an expectation that capital and facilities
required to deliver course expectations continue to
be made available
Q’s and A’s
and for more information please contact
aldo.cianfrini@ontario.ca
Rob.derubeis@ontario.ca
sudeshna.dutta@ontario.ca
reece.morgan@ontario.ca
Student Success/Learning to 18 Strategic Policy Branch