The Department of Education in Newfoundland and Labrador subscribes to an inclusive education philosophy. It promotes “a continuum of supports and services in the most appropriate setting (large group, small group, individualized) respecting the dignity of the child.”
The classroom is seen as a diverse setting where a variety of students can bring their own learning styles, abilities, experiences and backgrounds. In this learning environment, the differences among students are not merely respected but embraced.
Inclusivity and holistic ideals in an education system are closely associated with each other.
By adopting an inclusive mindset, the need for appropriately personalizing an education experience for a student rises. The holistic learning approach allows a school to dig deep to retrieve such information that would allow it to be truly inclusive.
2023-2024 Education Budget Announcement
The Newfoundland & Labrador Department of Education is investing $3.5 million to expand the Pre-Kindergarten Pilot Program. Also, it is allocating a budget of $25 million towards the sustenance of school-based reading specialists, teaching and learning assistants, teacher librarians, and English-as-a-second-language teachers.
Holistic Early Learning
Newfoundland and Labrador has a Return to School Plan. It directs educators to meet the returning students at their skill levels and build strong relationships that support further learning. Assessment practices will have flexibility and allow multiple opportunities for students to demonstrate their understanding of key concepts.
Teachers are expected to maximize the effectiveness of assessment strategies and practices by understanding the purpose of assessment and knowing how the collected data will build efficacy and achievement. They have to ensure that all formative assessments are rich, varied, and used for instructive purposes and not for summative assessment.
The assessments have to encompass a large variety of data sources, and they should provide opportunities to students to demonstrate progress in a full range of learning.
Mandatory kindergarten?
No
Early Childhood Education Announcement
A Provincial Reading and Mathematics Assessment (PRMA) for grade three, six, and nine students will begin in May 2022.
The Premier’s Task Force on Improving Educational Outcomes, Now is the Time, identified a need for a new provincial assessment of curriculum outcomes in reading and mathematics curricula to better align with national and international assessments.