HomeMy WebLinkAboutP 109 CUR - Prior Learning (SS)POLICY P.109.CUR
TITLE: PRIOR LEARNING ASSESSMENT AND RECOGNITION IN
SECONDARY SCHOOLS
Date Authorized:
Last Revised:
Last Reviewed:
4 January 2002
30 January 2024 (Tier 1 Minor Housekeeping Edits)
30 January 2024
COMMITMENT TO INDIGENOUS RIGHTS, HUMAN RIGHTS, AND EQUITY
The Board recognizes its responsibility to ensure that this policy and associated procedures promote
and protect Indigenous rights, human rights, and equity. The Board will strive to address and
eliminate discrimination and structural and systemic barriers for students, staff, and community.
1.0 RATIONALE
To provide guidelines for the implementation of Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition
(PLAR) in secondary schools in the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board, in accordance with
the Ministry’s Policy and Program Memorandum 129 Prior Learning Assessment and
Recognition (PLAR): Implementation in Ontario Secondary Schools.
2.0 DEFINITIONS
Please refer to Appendix A for a full list of definitions of terms used in this policy.
3.0 POLICY
Application and Scope
3.1 This policy does not apply to mature students. Mature students should refer to Policy
P.112.CUR Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition for Mature Students for
additional information.
Challenge Credits
3.2 Students may challenge for credit only for Grade 10, 11, and 12 courses in provincial
curriculum policy documents.
3.3 Schools may not charge students any fee for undergoing the challenge process.
3.4 Students may earn no more than four credits through the challenge process, including a
maximum of two credits in any one discipline.
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3.5 Students may challenge for credit for a course only if they can provide reasonable
evidence that they would likely be successful in the challenge process.
3.6 Students may use certificates or other records of accomplishment earned outside
Ontario classrooms as reasonable evidence of eligibility to challenge for credit for a
related course within the Ontario curriculum,if they wish to earn credit for the course
without taking the course.
3.7 Students with music certificates that are accepted for credits are not required to
challenge for credit for the appropriate music courses,but are granted credits in
accordance with OSS Program and Diploma Requirements,Appendix 4,OSS.
3.8 Each secondary school course calendar shall contain information on the challenge for
credit process.
3.9 The responsibilities of the student include:
a)completing the application process by gathering “reasonable evidence”to
support the application;
b)completing assessments,as directed by PPM 129 and facilitated through the
PLAR Central Team.
3.10 Arrangements may be made with other boards to provide opportunities for eligible
students to challenge for credit for courses that are not offered by the District.
3.11 A record of all challenges for credit that were completed –that is,all challenges for
which students earned a final percentage grade,whether a passing or a failing grade –
shall be included in the Board’s September Report to the Ministry.For semestered
schools,this information shall also be submitted in the School March Report.
3.12 The responsibility for Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition (PLAR)shall be
carried out under the direction of the school principal who grants credits in the school in
which the student is registered and in conjunction with the PLAR Central Team.A
student must obtain permission from the principal of the regular day school in which
they are registered if they intend to apply for a PLAR at any other public school or
inspected private school.
3.13 In cases where a student who is an adult or the parent of a student who is not an adult
disagrees with the decision of the principal about whether or not the student should
challenge for credit,the parent or adult student may ask the appropriate Superintendent
of Instruction to review the matter.
3.14 The challenge process is an evaluation process and shall not be used as a way for
students to improve their mark in a course for which they have already earned a credit,
nor as a way to obtain a credit for a course they have previously failed.
Equivalency Credits
3.15 Students who are eligible for equivalency credits are those who transfer to Ontario
secondary schools from non-inspected private schools or schools outside Ontario.
Equivalency credits are granted for placement only.
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3.16 The principal of the receiving school shall,in the process of deciding where the student
should be placed,determine as equitably as possible the total credit equivalency of the
student's previous learning,and the number of compulsory and optional credits still to
be earned.
3.17 In cases where a student who is an adult or the parent of a student who is not an adult
disagrees with the principal's placement decision for students transferring to an Ontario
secondary school from a non-inspected private school or a school outside Ontario,the
adult student or the parent may ask the appropriate Superintendent of Instruction to
review the matter.
3.18 Principals shall ensure that equivalency is recorded in accordance with the Ontario
Student Transcript (OST):Manual,2013.
3.19 The Director of Education is authorized to issue such procedures as may be necessary
to support this policy.
4.0 APPENDICES
Appendix A:Policy Definitions
5.0 REFERENCE DOCUMENTS
Ontario Secondary Schools,Grades 9-12:Program and Diploma Requirements (OSS),1999
Ministry of Education Policy/Program Memorandum No.129,Prior Learning Assessment and
Recognition (PLAR):Implementation in Ontario Secondary Schools
Ontario Student Transcript (OST):Manual,2013
Ontario Schools,Kindergarten to Grade 12 Policy and Program Requirements,Revised 2016.
OCDSB Procedure PR.634.CUR:Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition in Secondary
Schools
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APPENDIX A:POLICY DEFINITIONS
In this policy,
Board means the Board of Trustees.
Challenge means the process whereby students'prior learning is assessed for the purpose of
granting credit for a Grade 10,11,or 12 course developed from a provincial curriculum policy
document published in 1999 or later.
Credits:Challenge for credit for courses based on provincial curriculum policy documents will be
available to students only in courses that are actually taught in schools operated by the Board.All
credits granted through the PLAR process –that is,through either the challenge process or the
equivalency process –must represent the same standards of achievement as credits granted to
students who have taken the courses.
District means the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board.
Equivalency means the process of assessing credentials from other jurisdictions.
Mature student,for the purposes of PLAR,means a student who is 18 years old or will turn 18 by
August 31 in their fourth year of secondary school.
PLAR Central Team means a team consisting of at least one system principal and at least one OCT
qualified teacher who facilitates and organizes the PLAR challenge process.
PLAR Designate means an OCT-qualified teacher or administrator who the Principal of a school
designates to conduct elements of the PLAR challenge and/or equivalency processes.
Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition (PLAR)means the formal evaluation and
credit-granting process whereby students,excluding mature students,may obtain credits for prior
learning.Prior learning includes the knowledge and skills that students have acquired,in both formal
and informal ways,outside secondary school.Students may have their knowledge and skills
evaluated against the expectations outlined in provincial curriculum policy documents in order to earn
credits towards the secondary school diploma.The PLAR process involves two components:
“challenge”and “equivalency”.
Reasonable Evidence means documentation (including written artifacts,video's,graphic organizers,
stories and other oral expressions of experiences and learnings,etc.)that the curriculum expectations
of the course have already been achieved and that the student would likely be successful in the
challenge process.
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