Committees at Work

Quality Assurance Committee

Council’s Quality Assurance Committee reviews the performance of the College relative to its objects as defined in the Ontario College of Teachers Act and ensures that the objects are achieved. The committee reviews each of the 11 objects and identifies opportunities to further support their achievement. The committee reports at least once a year to Council. In 2016, Council approved the motion recommended by the Quality Assurance Committee to amend its mandate to include a review of Council strategic priorities.

In 2016, the committee reviewed presentations from various College departments and units that demonstrated how their work met objects and strategic priorities. The presentations included discussions of strategic initiatives that the committee reviewed using an assessment rubric.

The committee heard from the Membership Services Department, whose presentation included a discussion of quality control measures used in the certification process and efforts to ensure transparency and accountability in this process. The department told the committee of its efforts to implement new certification requirements associated with the introduction of enhancements to the teacher education program on September 1, 2015. The goal of the department’s work was to ensure that as many applicants as possible were certified prior to the implementation of the new requirements, while maintaining the highest standards in processing these applications.

The Standards of Practice and Education Unit staff presentation provided an overview of the extensive community, member and provider consultations undertaken for Additional Qualification (AQ) policy and guideline development. Also explored were the rigorous processes in place to ensure that the profession’s standards and AQs met the needs of College members and the educational system in Ontario. The presentation included a discussion of how the unit’s work is informed by established quality assurance principles, which include a commitment to high quality, relevance, accessibility, capacity building, transparency and accountability. The review of the Professional Learning Framework was highlighted to illustrate the policy development and consultation processes.

The presentation by the Accreditation Unit outlined its work to support and facilitate the application for the accreditation process and the Accreditation Committee’s review of teacher education programs, to assess whether accreditation requirements set out in Regulation 347/02 of the Ontario College of Teachers Act were satisfied. The presentation also included an overview of the verification report process, which ensured that all teacher education programs had successfully transitioned to the Enhanced Teacher Education Program. The committee heard that collaboration between the College and providers, and the work of the Accreditation Committee during the verification report process, was critical to its success in that it allowed for transparent and streamlined reviews.

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