All Students Matter
#Learningforall
Learning for All, Kindergarten to Grade 12
is a resource guide outlining an integrated process of assessment and instruction for elementary and secondary school educators across Ontario that is designed to help raise the bar and close the gap in achievement for all students. The guide supports the three core priorities for education in Ontario:
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High levels of student achievement
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Reduced gaps in student achievement
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Increased public confidence in publicly funded education
The Vision and Purpose of Learning for All, K–12
This resource guide outlines an integrated process of assessment and instruction designed to improve student learning at both the elementary and secondary levels. Educators from Kindergarten through Grade 12 can use this process to help plan and deliver instruction that benefits all students, from high achievers to those who need additional support and those who have special education programs that include alternative learning expectations or alternative courses.
The key beliefs that drive the process outlined in this guide were first articulated in Education for All, K–6 and are now shared among various ministry initiatives designed to help all students improve their achievement and well-being.
In Relation to the School Effectiveness Framework
Learning for All, K–12 describes educational approaches that are based on one of the most important findings of educational research since 2000 – namely, that all students learn best when instruction, resources, and the learning environment are well suited to their particular strengths, interests, needs, and stage of readiness. Like the School Effectiveness Framework (SEF), this guide focuses on ways in which teachers and/or teams of educators can plan and provide the kind of assessment and instruction that enables all students to learn best. Three elements – personalization, precision, and professional learning – are critical to the process.4
Three Effective Approaches
Instruction that both responds to the characteristics of a diverse group of students and is precisely tailored to the unique strengths and needs of each student can be achieved using the principles and guidelines associated with three instructional approaches:
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Universal Design for Learning (UDL),
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differentiated instruction, and
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the tiered approach to prevention and intervention.
Used in combination, UDL and differentiated instruction enable educators to respond effectively to the strengths and needs of all students. UDL provides teachers with broad principles for planning instruction and designing learning environments for a diverse group of students, whereas differentiated instruction allows them to address specific skills and difficulties (Raynal & Rieunier, 1998). The two approaches overlap, sharing certain goals and strategies, such as providing a range of instructional strategies, resources, learning tasks, and assessment tools in order to meet the different strengths, needs, levels of readiness, and learning styles or preferences of the students in a class.