The Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat

Initiatives

Ontario Focused Intervention Partnership (OFIP)

The Ontario Focused Intervention Partnership (OFIP) is a key strategy intended to support all schools to improve student achievement. In 2006-07, the government invested $25 million to provide supports for all boards and almost 1,100 schools that have experienced particular difficulty in achieving continuous improvement. An additional $8 million was provided for before and after-school tutoring initiatives. OFIP will continue to be a major focus for The Secretariat for the 2007-2008 school year. The Secretariat has again invested $25 million in OFIP, plus an additional $8 million for OFIP tutoring initiatives for the 2007-08 school year. All school boards across the province are participating in the OFIP program.

Since low-performing and static schools can require different types of assistance than schools that are improving, the OFIP program is divided into three components:

1. OFIP 1 – schools where less than 34% of students are achieving at Level 3 (the provincial standard) or Level 4 in reading, in two of the past three years.
   
   
2. OFIP 2 – schools where 34%-50% of students are achieving at Level 3 or 4 in reading and results have been static or declining based on trends over the past three years.
   
   
3. OFIP 3 – identifies schools where 51%-74% of students are achieving at Level 3 or 4 in reading but results have been static or declining based on three-year trends.

Boards can use the OFIP funds for job-embedded professional learning for teachers, resources, literacy and numeracy coaches and release time to facilitate additional training opportunities.

Improvement strategies focus on the implementation of high-yield classroom and school approaches such as:

• dedicated blocks of uninterrupted time for literacy and numeracy
• a school improvement team that meets regularly to review school data and plan next steps
• a mechanism to regularly monitor the growth and progress of specific students
• a capacity-building strategy for school staff to improve instructional effectiveness
• a common assessment tool for primary and junior grades, used in all of the schools in the OFIP strategy
• adequate resources to ensure a comprehensive literacy program
• teacher moderation of samples of student learning which leads to instructional planning
• school and classroom organization and scheduling
• a school culture that makes school improvement a whole school priority
• professional development and capacity-building for teachers and principals aligned to the School Effectiveness Framework and the school improvement plan that strengthens instructional practice
• parental involvement and community engagement

The Secretariat's student achievement officers are working collaboratively with boards and schools to implement the OFIP initiative. Over 1,100 schools have been identified as OFIP schools for the 2007-08 school year.