YORK UNIVERSITY, SCHOOL BOARDS AND MINISTRY PARTNERSHIP DEVELOPS NEW SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY CURRICULUM TO IMPROVE SCIENTIFIC LITERACY, SKILLS OF ONTARIO STUDENTS<p>

YORK UNIVERSITY, SCHOOL BOARDS AND MINISTRY PARTNERSHIP DEVELOPS NEW SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY CURRICULUM TO IMPROVE SCIENTIFIC LITERACY, SKILLS OF ONTARIO STUDENTS

TORONTO, March 30, 1998 -- York University Education Professor Graham Orpwood says that the Science and Technology Curriculum for Grades 1-8, released today by Education and Training Minister Dave Johnson, will increase the science and technology skills of Ontario students, and lay the basis for greater scientific literacy and technological capability in the province's population.

York's Education Faculty was an important resource in the development of the new curriculum. Orpwood, who lead a project which produced the first draft curriculum last September, said the result released today is, in part, the product of the following:

intense research into science and technology curricula around the world

more than 40 workshops involving 300 teachers from 17 Ontario school boards

a full school year of review, critique and revision of the draft curriculum

a special conference, the York Forum on School Science, held in May 1997.

The first draft of the curriculum was developed as part of the Assessment of Science and Technology Achievement Project (ASAP), a project started in 1995 to support improvements in science and technology education through clearer curriculum and more effective assessment.

"The project has depended throughout on the work of classroom teachers from the schools in our partner Boards," said Orpwood, who served as ASAP's Project Director. "By drawing on the experience of teachers, we have not only been able to help to develop a quality document, we have many teachers eager to move on to its implementation."

The project co-ordinator, Marietta Bloch, who was seconded to York University from the City of York Board of Education (now the Toronto District School Board) also used recent educational research to ensure that the science and technology topics were appropriate to the stage of children's development. She was also vigilant about ensuring that the curriculum closely matched the "Pan-Canadian" Common Framework of Science Learning Outcomes, released last year by the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada.

York University Dean of Education Dr. Stan Shapson applauded both the curriculum and the process that produced it.

"It demonstrates the value of collaboration among York University faculty members, 17 Ontario school boards, and the Ministry of Education and Training," he said. "We are especially proud of the close and productive relationships between our Faculty, the boards, and teachers," he added.

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For more information, please contact:

Professor Graham Orpwood
Faculty of Education
York University
(416) 650-8001; (416) 736-5269

Sine MacKinnon
Senior Advisor for Media Relations
York University
(416) 736-2100, ext. 22087
YU/027/98

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