Ontario College of Teachers v. Brown, 2014 ONOCT 11

DISCIPLINE COMMITTEE OF THE ONTARIO COLLEGE OF TEACHERS

Citation: Ontario College of Teachers v Brown, 2014 ONOCT 11

Date: 2014-02-06

IN THE MATTER OF the Ontario College of Teachers Act, 1996 (the "Act") and the Regulation (Ontario Regulation 437/97) thereunder;

AND IN THE MATTER OF a discipline proceeding against

Leanne Barbara Brown, a member of the Ontario College of Teachers

PANEL: Monika Ferenczy, OCT, Chair Annilee Jarvis, OCT Pauline Smart

BETWEEN:

ONTARIO COLLEGE OF TEACHERS Ava Arbuck, McCarthy Tétrault LLP, for Ontario College of Teachers, assisted by Daniela De Bartolo, Law Clerk

• and -

LEANNE BARBARA BROWN (CERTIFICATE # 420885) was not present, nor was she represented

Julie Maciura, Steinecke Maciura LeBlanc, Independent Legal Counsel

Heard: February 6, 2014

DECISION, REASONS FOR DECISION AND ORDERS

This matter came on for hearing before a panel of the Discipline Committee (the "Committee") on February 6, 2014 at the Ontario College of Teachers (the "College") at Toronto.

A Notice of Hearing dated March 12, 2013 was served on Leanne Barbara Brown (the "Member") requesting her presence on April 18, 2013 to set a date for a hearing and specifying the charges. The hearing was subsequently set for February 6, 2014.

The Member was not in attendance.

THE ALLEGATIONS

The allegations against the Member in the Notice of Hearing, (Exhibit 1) dated March 12, 2013 are as follows:

IT IS ALLEGED that Leanne Barbara Brown is guilty of professional misconduct and/or is incompetent as defined in subsections 30(2) and 30(3)of the Act in that:

(a) she failed to maintain the standards of the profession, contrary to Ontario Regulation 437/97, subsection 1(5);

(b) she failed to comply with the Education Act, Revised Statutes of Ontario, 1990, chapter E.2, and specifically subsection 264(1) thereof or the Regulations made under that Act, contrary to Ontario Regulation 437/97, subsection 1(15); and

(c) she displayed a lack of knowledge, skill or judgment and/or disregard for the welfare of her students of a nature or extent that demonstrates that the Member is either unfit to carry out her professional responsibilities or that the Member's certificate should be made subject to terms, conditions or limitations.

Counsel for the College requested that the allegations of professional misconduct outlined in paragraphs (a) and (b) of the Notice of Hearing (Exhibit 1) be withdrawn.

STATEMENT OF UNCONTESTED FACTS

1. Leanne Barbara Brown (the "Member") was at all material times, a member of the Ontario College of Teachers. Attached hereto and marked as Exhibit "A" is a copy of the Ontario College of Teachers Registered Member Information respecting the Member.

2. At all material times, the Member was employed by the Trillium Lakelands District School Board (the "Board") as a teacher at King Albert Public School (the "School") in Lindsay, Ontario.

3. At all material times, the Member taught Junior and Senior Kindergarten.

4. During the 2008-2009 academic year, the Member's performance was assessed on two occasions. The Member's performance was assessed on or about December 18, 2008 and April 17, 2009. On each occasion, the Member's performance was deemed to be unsatisfactory in the areas of Commitment to Pupils and Pupil Learning, Professional Knowledge, Professional Practice, Leadership in Learning Communities and Ongoing Professional Learning. Attached hereto and marked as Exhibit "B" and "C" respectively, are the Summative Reports dated December 18, 2008 and April 17, 2009.

5. During the 2009-2010 academic year, the Member's performance was assessed for a third time. The Member's performance was assessed on or about January 8, 2010 and was deemed to be unsatisfactory in the areas of Commitment to Pupils and Pupil Learning, Professional Knowledge, Professional Practice, Leadership in Communities and Ongoing Professional Learning. Attached hereto and marked as Exhibit "D" is the Summative Report dated January 8, 2010.

6. The Member's classroom management skills, her curriculum knowledge and delivery, her lesson planning and preparation, her effective teaching performance, her evaluation of student work and progress and her assessment practices all failed to meet the standards expected of a teacher with training and experience in that the Member:

(a) did not set up her classroom for optimal learning;

(b) did not set up classroom workstations to have connection to the class lessons prior to or following their use;

(c) did not give correction or purposeful feedback to the students;

(d) did not use her classroom walls effectively to promote learning and/or to emphasize progress;

(e) failed to demonstrate that she adequately understood the importance of activating prior knowledge in her students and/or that she was attempting to engage students through the use of higher order thinking or deeper richer tasks;

(f) had not taken a planning course despite the advice and support of her Federation;

(g) did not use Jolly Phonics in a way that would coincide with the day plans she was required to submit;

(h) had discrepancies between what she indicated she would teach and what she actually taught;

(i) was unable to explain the particulars of her Math program and/or her lessons were not differentiated for all learners;

(j) had very little student work from which to draw for assessments purposes;

(k) did not keep an updated mark book with notes for each student;

(l) did not include writing as part of the daily class schedule and did not always have a writing station set up for students;

(m) used a tone of voice that was loud and/or shrill;

(n) did not engage the entire class;

(o) did not correct behaviour such as students leaving the classroom without her permission;

(p) did not make strong teaching decisions that promote the learning of her students;

(q) spent an entire period playing a board game on letter and sight words with only one student, at the expense of six other students;

(r) did not provide any instructions, targets or other guidelines to students;

(s) did not adequately help and/or challenge students resulting in an inadequate use of time and/or inadequate instruction, assessment and feedback;

(t) kept a closed door policy;

(u) failed to adequately update parents on students' achievements;

(v) made inappropriate comments concerning what children were bringing to school for snacks;

(w) did not complete any of the PM Benchmark, Teachers' School Readiness Inventory or the Early Reading Intervention Assessments;

(x) missed several deadlines and submitted report cards the morning that they were due to go home;

(y) did not allocate the time necessary to properly evaluate and record the progress of her students;

(z) demonstrated little evidence of any sustained partnerships involving herself at the School;

(aa) did not take suggestions regarding writing, anchor charts and exemplars, offered by colleagues to enhance the quality of her classroom;

(bb) showed dominance and contempt towards the classroom educational assistant;

(cc) showed insufficient evidence of improvement with respect to her communication with parents, despite supports and structures that were put in place following previous performance appraisals;

(dd) failed to demonstrate that she transferred skills, strategies or information from Kindergarten meetings and workshops she attended, into effective teaching practices;

(ee) breached the requirement of the Improvement Plan by not maintaining contact with the Kindergarten consultant and/or Kindergarten teacher mentor.

7. The Member resigned her employment with the Board effective January 30, 2010.

PLEA OF NO CONTEST

8. By this document, the Member pleads no contest, for the purposes of this proceeding only, the truth of the facts and exhibits referred to in paragraphs 1 to 7 above (the "Uncontested Facts").

9. The Member hereby pleads no contest to the allegation of incompetence in that she displayed a lack of knowledge, skill or judgment that demonstrates that her Certificate should be made subject to terms, conditions or limitations, as defined in subsection 30(3) of the Ontario College of Teachers Act, 1996.

10. By this document the Member states that:

(a) she understands fully the nature of the allegations against her;

(b) she understands that by signing this document she is consenting to the evidence as set out in the Uncontested Facts being presented to the Discipline Committee;

(c) she understands that by pleading no contest to the allegations, she is waiving the right to require the College to prove the case against her and the right to have a hearing;

(d) she understands that any agreement between herself and counsel for the College with respect to the penalty proposed in this document does not bind the Discipline Committee;

(e) she understands and acknowledges that she is executing this Agreement voluntarily, unequivocally, and without the advice of legal counsel.

11. The Member provides this plea of no contest pursuant to Rule 3.02 of the Rules of Procedure of the Discipline Committee under protection of the Evidence Act, R.S.O. 1990, chapter E. 23, for the purpose of this proceeding under the Ontario College of Teachers Act 1996, chapter 12, and for no other purpose. The Member's plea of no contest does not constitute an admission by the Member as to the facts or findings in any other civil, criminal or administrative proceeding.

12. In light of the uncontested facts and circumstances, the Ontario College of Teachers and the Member submit that the Discipline Committee find the Member to be incompetent.

College counsel also tendered the Member's plea inquiry entitled Questions with Respect to the Plea of No Contest (Exhibit 3). This document is signed by the Member and states that she voluntarily executed the Statement of Uncontested Facts and Plea of No Contest (Exhibit 2).

DECISION

Having considered the College's request to withdraw allegations (a) and (b) of the Notice of Hearing, namely subsections of 1(5) and 1(15) of Ontario Regulation 437/97, the Committee permits these allegations to be withdrawn.

Further, having considered the evidence and onus and standard of proof, and the submissions made by College counsel, the Committee finds the Member to be incompetent in that she displayed a lack of knowledge, skill or judgment that demonstrates that her Certificate should be made subject to terms, conditions or limitations, as defined in subsection 30(3) of the Ontario College of Teachers Act, 1996.

REASONS FOR DECISION

The Member admitted the truth of the facts referred to in paragraphs 1 to 7 of the Statement of Uncontested Facts and Plea of No Contest (Exhibit 2). The Committee accepted the Member's plea of no contest and accepts that the Uncontested Facts amount to incompetence as pleaded to by the Member.

The Member received three "Experienced Teacher Performance Appraisals" ("ETPA") over the 2008-2009 and 2009-2010 academic years (Exhibit 2, Tabs B, C and D). On each occasion, the Member's performance was deemed to be "unsatisfactory" in the areas of Commitment to Pupils and Pupil Learning, Professional Knowledge, Teaching Practice, Leadership and Community, and Ongoing Professional Learning.

In light of this evidence, the Committee finds that the Member failed in her interactions and dealings with students, parents and colleagues. She did not maintain communication or follow-up with her mentor or her kindergarten consultant as recommended after the first unsatisfactory ETPA. The Member did not incorporate strategies from willing and helpful colleagues, sufficiently communicate with parents or provide quality learning opportunities for students.

Challenges the Member faced included her inability to differentiate instruction to meet student needs, establish a positive learning environment, plan and implement curriculum, provide appropriate feedback, utilize appropriate assessment and classroom management techniques. In addition, the Member lacked understanding of the kindergarten curriculum. The Member did not comply with the school improvement goals, her professional Improvement Plan and the delivery of curriculum.

Despite additional professional development and many supports, the Member could not sustain an effective learning environment for her students. Therefore, the Committee determines that a finding of incompetence is appropriate in this matter.

JOINT SUBMISSION ON PENALTY

Counsel for the College tendered a Joint Submission on Penalty (Exhibit 4) signed by the Member and stating the following:

1. The Ontario College of Teachers and the Member jointly submit that the appropriate penalty to be imposed by the Discipline Committee in this matter would be that the Committee:

(a) directs the Registrar to impose the following terms, conditions, and limitations on the Member's Certificate of Qualification and Registration, and to record the fact of such terms, conditions, or limitations on the Register until such time as they are fulfilled:

(i) the Member shall advise the Registrar at least thirty (30) days before her return to any teaching duties of the date of such return, the name of her employer, and the nature of said employment, and will ensure that the requirements at (ii) and (iii) below have been complied with;

(ii) prior to any return to a teaching position for which a Certificate of Qualification and Registration is required, the Member shall attend, at her own expense, and successfully complete the following course, pre-approved by the Registrar:

A. an Additional Qualification course or Additional Basic Qualification course which covers curriculum, lesson planning, instructional strategies and assessment of student learning;

(iii) within thirty (30) days of her completion of the course referred to at paragraph A above, the Member shall provide evidence to the Registrar in writing, of her successful completion of same.

PENALTY DECISION

The Committee makes the following order as to penalty:

1. The Registrar is directed to impose the following terms, conditions and limitations on the Member's Certificate of Qualification and Registration, the fact of such terms, conditions and limitations to be recorded on the register until such time as they are fulfilled:

i. the Member shall advise the Registrar at least thirty days before her return to any teaching duties of the date of such return, the name of her employer, and the nature of said employment, and will ensure that the following requirements have been complied with:

ii. prior to any return to a teaching position for which a Certificate of Qualification and Registration is required, the Member shall attend, at her own expense, and successfully complete the following course, pre-approved by the Registrar:

A. an Additional Qualification course or Additional Basic Qualification course which covers curriculum, lesson planning, instructional strategies and assessment of student learning;

iii. within thirty days of her completion of the aforementioned course, the Member shall provide evidence to the Registrar in writing, of her successful completion of same.

REASONS FOR PENALTY DECISION

The Member has acknowledged her demonstrated incompetencies in her teaching practice. In spite of additional supports the Member failed to remediate deficiencies in her abilities in the classroom. An Additional Qualification course will assist the Member in acquiring the necessary and effective skills, prior to resuming any teaching responsibilities in publicly funded schools in Ontario.

The penalty also serves as a specific deterrent to the Member by way of reinforcing her awareness of the competencies expected of a teacher, which include curriculum, lesson planning, instructional strategies and assessment of student learning.

The Committee is satisfied that the public interest will be served by imposing these terms, conditions and limitations.

Date: February 6, 2014

Monika Ferenczy, OCT Chair, Discipline Panel

Annilee Jarvis, OCT Member, Discipline Panel

Pauline Smart Member, Discipline Panel