Public Education. Public Accountability.
Independent research on how Ontario’s school boards put provincial policy into practice.
School Board Research examines selected clauses of provincial education policies as they appear in board documents. This is an in-development research program that applies one documented, repeatable method to all Ontario boards.
Grounded in policy
Each finding is grounded in the board’s own published policy.
Published method
The audit framework is documented and open to challenge.
Human-verified
A person reviews every ambiguous or borderline determination.
Representative sample
A representative sample of policy clauses, not an exhaustive review.
School Board Research accepts no funding from any school board, ministry, union, or government body. The work answers to the evidence — and to the families it affects.
Understand the findings and act
Plain-language articles on what the evidence shows, and a step-by-step guide to raising it with your board and the Ministry.
Where policy meets practice
Compliance findings tied to the specific provincial requirement, with the method documented and open to challenge. The 2025 pilot results are published now. A full review of all 72 Ontario school boards will be conducted in 2026.
Closing the compliance gap
Where boards fall short of provincial requirements, the audit shows which clauses and by how much. This is the accountability evidence the Ministry needs to enforce policy and close the gap between what is mandated and what boards deliver.
Research in Progress
Each study applies one documented, repeatable method to a representative sample of clauses. Aggregate 2025 pilot results are shown below. A full review of all 72 Ontario school boards will be conducted in 2026.
Compliance Audit
PPM 128 Code of Conduct: Selected-Clause Review
Aggregate results from our 2025 pilot: selected Code of Conduct clauses assessed against provincial requirements. A full review of all 72 Ontario school boards will be conducted in 2026.
Policy Brief
Bullying Prevention Plans Under PPM 144: Selected-Clause Review
Aggregate results from our 2025 pilot: selected bullying prevention and intervention clauses assessed against provincial requirements. A full review of all 72 Ontario school boards will be conducted in 2026.
Executive Compensation
Director of Education Compensation (BPSECA)
A review of selected executive-compensation disclosures against provincial requirements, across Ontario boards. Full study in development.
The CPAT Framework
The Computational Policy Audit Toolkit applies one documented, repeatable method to every study: systematic collection, source-quality scoring, structured determination, and human verification of every ambiguous or borderline result.
The method is documented. Analytical choices and their limits are recorded. Deviations are logged. The result is research built to withstand scrutiny — including from the institutions it examines.
01 COLLECT — one documented method 02 QUALIFY — source-quality scoring 03 AUDIT — structured determinations 04 VERIFY — human-in-the-loop gates 05 ARCHIVE — documented, versioned record