ONTARIO
Specialist High Skills Major
PURPOSE: To provide a specialized pathway program that enables Ontario students in grades 11 and 12 to focus their learning on a specific economic sector, while meeting the requirements for the Ontario Secondary School Diploma.
MINISTRY
Ministry of Education, Government of Ontario
DESCRIPTION
The program was first launched in 2006–07 in eight economic sectors. There are now Specialist High Skills Majors offered in the 19 economic sectors for the 2014–15 school year, in sectors such as Agriculture, Manufacturing, Construction, Transportation, Hospitality and Tourism, Energy, and Information and Communications Technology. Specialist High Skills Major sectors are launched after extensive consultation with the sector’s major employers, postsecondary education representatives, and relevant provincial ministries. These consultations are designed to:
• Elicit the knowledge, skills, and industry-recognized certifications and training valued by the sector;
• Ascertain the potential for employment opportunities for graduates in all four pathways (apprenticeship, college, university and the workplace); and,
• Identify the sector’s responsiveness to providing opportunities for experiential learning.
Students who fulfill all the requirements of the Specialist High Skills Major and graduate receive the Specialist High Skills Major seal on their diploma indicating their accomplishment. Each student receives a Specialist High Skills Major Record indicating their specific Specialist High Skills Majorrelated achievements including industry-recognized certifications and training programs.
RESULTS
Specialist High Skills Major programs are offered in all Ontario school boards with secondary schools. The program started in 2006–07 with 600 students in 27 programs in 44 schools. In the 2014–15 school year there are over 44,000 students in over 1,680 programs in over 660 schools. Funding to school boards ($25.6 million annually) is provided to support the delivery of the required components.
Achievement data indicates that approximately 95 percent of all credits attempted by students enrolled in Specialist High Skills Major programs were achieved compared to 93 percent by non- Specialist High Skills Major students with the greatest impact on students taking college and workplace courses in grades 11 and 12:
• Specialist High Skills Major students taking ‘workplace’ courses achieve their credits at a rate of 94 percent as compared to non-Specialist High Skills Major students’ rate of 86 percent; and,
• Specialist High Skills Major students taking ‘college’ courses achieve their credits at a rate of 94 percent as compared to non participating students’ rate of 89 percent.
In August 2013, Specialist High Skills Major was awarded the Gold Innovative Management Award from the Institute of Public Administration of Canada.
FURTHER INFORMATION
