Jason To | 杜澤信

@nsachdeva2019 @ToddTruitt76508 Is destreaming perfect right now? Of course not. But it's had 5 years vs. 100 years of streaming in Ontario. This study's recommendation of providing stretch opportunities for higher-attaining pupils is a good one, and I'll make sure to support that in my role.

@nsachdeva2019 @ToddTruitt76508 It's a well-designed study & its results are worth considering, but it's England-only & notes the few mixed attainment schools & high attrition. Jumping to conclusions is NOT being evidence-informed. What are the study's recommendations? OECD recommends against tracking...

Let's dig deeper... The EEF gave the study 2 out of 5 for evidence strength due to attrition, small sample, not controlling for teacher quality, etc. The conclusions warn mixed- and ability-grouped classes about issues already known and do not call to end mixed classes.

Ontario elementary teachers can exercise judgement, but need more time to collaborate and also strengthen the consolidation portion of math learning. “Chinese and Canadian approaches to math teaching have a lot to learn from each other.” theconversation.com/chinese-and-ca…

It was a great 3-year title run, but every streak must end. Congrats to Greg (AngryJay) for making NHL94 history & cementing 🐐 status. I’ll be back to try and start a new streak. Thanks to Darrell at @nhl94dotcom for giving so much time & energy to running this every year 🙏🏽

Well that was fun! My mind & ❤️are full. I missed my Mathies! Thanks @OAMElearns for another great #oame2026 conference. Thx to those who joined my session. Can’t wait to bring all the new learning back to @FaywoodABC. See you all next year!

This year's @OAMElearns conference was amazing! It’s always so great to connect with & learn from math teachers, consultants, and coordinators from across Ontario. I now know more about the kindergarten play continuum! Getting to chat with @pwharris was icing on the cake 🍰

Ability-grouping advocates can’t solve the issue that plagues every jurisdiction that does it: the gross overrepresentation of marginalized groups by race, SES & disability into lower streams taught by less-qualified teachers that lead to fewer opportunities and worse outcomes.

It was a pleasure earlier this week meeting with other members of the @LDatSchool Advisory Committee. Great brainstorming about system change, resource development, pedagogy, and coalition building to support students with LD & ADHD.

Students who take notes by hand get better grades than those who use laptops, especially in STEM fields.

If learning occurs at the point of challenge then struggle, with guidance, is essential. Paper by @MrDixonMath @TomMahoneyEdu: Productive struggle in mathematics: Utilising challenging tasks to establish richer mathematical learning experiences researchgate.net/publication/38…

If education research is “weak and sloppy,” then we should be cautious about all claims of certainty. Not just the ones we don’t like. You can’t dismiss CRP, SEL, and UDL as “unproven” while treating explicit instruction and retrieval as settled science.

During my visit to Summit Heights Public School, I saw innovative examples of math exercises and peer-to-peer learning. Students, staff, families, and partners have come together to create a culture where student confidence and leadership can thrive.

@realJ_Mitchell @ToddTruitt76508 Oh for sure - a warning would likely suffice

@Jason_To @ToddTruitt76508 I can’t imagine putting a student in jail for 30 days for skipping school.

Grading attendance & participation seems incongruent with the Ontario government's stance on meritocracy, will fuel the flames of grade inflation, and will likely be subject to racial bias. 👇🏾 mrjasonto.com/2026/04/17/a-f…

@ToddTruitt76508 @realJ_Mitchell Judging from the Minister’s comments, grading attendance is actually a carrot to reward hard work. The sticks that we have include a truancy law that I’ve never heard enforced. Improve instruction, track attendance interventions, more social workers…these are just a few ideas.

@realJ_Mitchell @Jason_To Sometimes it takes sticks, not only carrots. 40% chronic absenteeism is sending way too many kids to significantly reduced lifetime opportunities. The cost of chronic absenteeism is very high.

Using mini whiteboards is a great way to carry out quick formative assessments as seen here with our math partner teacher @tdsb_DSS & allows for students to think-pair-share. @Jason_To @LizBHolder @ldilworth1 @mervisalo

A really important question; how often do students need to encounter something to remember it? I first encountered this idea through Graham Nuthall's work and his estimation based on close examination of students thinking processes that students learn concepts when they encounter it three times (see passage) but it wasn't until I read the literature around varied retrieval, spacing and interleaving that I understood what was going on. Basically it's not so much the amount of times you retrieve something as the ways in which you retrieve it. So what we want is not so much rote repetition 3 times (although this has its place for certain things) so much as a kind of variation in how students retrieve knowledge. We want students to have to retrieve something in a range of different ways, across a range of different times and to apply it in a range of new ways. So when planning retrieval, the key things are: 1. Structuring learning so concepts are revisited through different activities and assessment types. 2. Ensuring retrieval occurs across distributed time intervals. 3. Creating opportunities for students to apply knowledge in novel contexts. 4. Designing assessments that require different forms of processing the same material. There is a broad consensus that varied retrieval practice enhances long-term retention significantly more than simple repetition or rereading. When students encounter material through different modalities and contexts, they develop multiple retrieval pathways to access that information.

The Ontario government must increase education funding & improve working conditions to address chronic staff shortages. Overcrowded classrooms without consistent teachers do not improve outcomes. We need to do better. policyalternatives.ca/news-research/… peopleforeducation.ca/our-work/staff…

@nhl94dotcom @tickenest Dirty.

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