Ontario Ministry of Education Initiatives on School Board Business Operations (SBBO) Program Review

In 2006, the Ministry of Education (EDU)’s School Business Support Branch (SBSB) launched two initiatives (the Operational Reviews of Ontario School Boards and the Effectiveness and Efficiency Reviews of Student Transportation) which were intended to promote best business practices in school board operations and student transportation in Ontario. As these initiatives approached their final year of operation, SBSB commissioned Universalia Management Group Ltd. (UMG) to undertake a program review in order to examine the effects and impacts of these two initiatives, to identify lessons learned, value for money, and to inform the SBSB’s future capacity building strategies for the sector. In the absence of measurable goals and objectives, the context of this evaluation required a goal-free evaluation involving data collection on a broad range of tangible effects, evaluating the importance of these effects in fulfilling demonstrated needs.