Policy, Program Evaluation, and Assessment
Project 1: Program evaluation for the Provincial Outreach Program for Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (POPFASD)
Funding: Kids Brain Health Network
Co-Investigator: Dr. James Reynolds
The overarching goal of this objectives-based program evaluation is to evaluate the effectiveness of the Provincial Outreach Program for Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (POPFASD) in preparing educators in British Columbia (BC) to support students with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). The program evaluation will be completed over the next three years, starting September 2019. Approximately 100 educators and affiliated staff will be recruited with support from our teacher consultant partner, from each of the 67 school districts in BC to participate in this program evaluation. The participants will include teachers, education assistants, youth care workers, early childhood educators, administrators, district support staff including speech pathologists, counselors, behaviour specialists, and occupational therapists. Data will be collected from annual outcome reports and pre- and post- questionnaires.
The mandate for POPFASD is to increase educators' capacity to meet the educational needs of students with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) through FASD-informed practice that benefits all students. This objectives-based program evaluation will support us in understanding the extent to which POPFASD is meeting their specific objectives and the ways in which they can better prepare teachers to support students with FASD.
Project 2: Partnering to support and scale up assessment efforts of refugee-led early childhood education programs in emergencies
Funding: SSHRC Partnership Engage Grant
PI: Dr. Aurelia Di Santo | Co-Investigators: Dr. Kristy Timmons, Dr. Jason Nolan, Dr. Andrea Bellucci, and Sara-Christine Dallain
Education is a fundamental human right for all children worldwide. Many children who have fled war zones and are living in refugee camps are denied this right to education. In the early years, quality play-based programs are known to support learning and development (Bakken et al., 2017; OECD, 2016). Unfortunately, for children living in refugee camps, early learning programs are beyond the scope of legislation related to compulsory education (UNHCR, UNICEF, IOM, 2019). Thus, it is not surprising, that early learning programs that do exist in refugee camps are often limited in scope and ability to document and assess learning. Furthermore, assessing early learning outcomes within emergency learning contexts requires a unique approach that shifts away from traditional Euro-Western standardized testing models.
iACT is an international organization that provides humanitarian action to support and empower those affected by mass atrocities and is currently experiencing the challenges cited above. iACT works in some of the most challenging places around the world. Currently they are working in refugee camps located in five countries that have accepted refugees fleeing war conflict zones. Despite being one of the few NGOs offering refugee-led early learning programs in refugee camps, they are currently facing challenges with documenting and assessing learning within their unique programs. This research will directly respond to the challenges iACT is currently facing through 3 research objectives: 1) to conduct a case study to critically examine iACT's current model for assessing their early childhood education and development (ECED) programs in refugee camps in Chad; 2) to complete a rapid review of assessment practices/tools being used in other ECED programs in emergency contexts; and 3) to draw from the case study and rapid review to provide recommendations for an assessment framework.
The development of an assessment framework will also assist iACT with the scaling-up of programs to reach more children and to fill the gap between the emergency phase of programs, funding, and the development aid that is essential in protracted situations. The findings will serve as a guide for future research, including piloting the assessment in a refugee camp in eastern Chad. More broadly, this research will benefit other NGOs, researchers, and faculty in Canada and internationally.
Project 3: Comparative Analysis of the Ontario Kindergarten Curriculum (2016 and 2026)
What changed when Ontario replaced its 2016 Kindergarten Program, and what it means for play, literacy, and equity.
In December 2025, the Ontario Ministry of Education released The Ontario Curriculum: Kindergarten, replacing The Kindergarten Program (2016) for all Kindergarten classrooms beginning in September 2026. This project is a detailed comparative analysis of the two documents, identifying what has changed, what has been preserved, and what those changes mean for educators, children, and families. The core of the 2016 approach remains in place, including play-based learning, inquiry, pedagogical documentation, the educator team model, and a whole-child vision, but the way it is delivered has shifted. Pedagogical guidance now lives on a provincial website rather than within the document itself, and explicit instruction has been added alongside play rather than in place of it. The most significant content change is in literacy, where the new curriculum introduces explicit phonics, phonemic awareness, and reading fluency expectations, a research-backed response to the Ontario Human Rights Commission's Right to Read inquiry. The revision also brings Kindergarten into the same policy, assessment, and accountability framework as Grades 1 to 12, and adds new domains including coding, transferable skills, financial literacy, and a dedicated focus on Indigenous education. Taken together, these changes mark a shift in emphasis, from following the child toward preparing the child for Grade 1, and our analysis sets out the implications for practice and policy in the early years.