Appendix: Textbooks and supplementary learning resources
School boards are required to select Minister-approved textbooks from the provincial Trillium List for use in their schools. They are also responsible for the selection and approval of supplementary learning resources.
Textbooks on the Trillium List
The Trillium List contains the titles of current textbooks approved by the Minister of Education that educators can use to teach students in Kindergarten to Grade 12 in Ontario’s publicly funded schools. The ministry posts the up-to-date list on its website.
The Minister’s authority to select and approve textbooks and to publish the Trillium List is established under the Education Act.
Regulation 298, “Operation of Schools – General”, made under the Education Act, requires that school principals select textbooks from the Trillium List in consultation with teaching staff, and requires that their selections be subject to the approval of their school board.
In instances where no textbook for a subject or course is included in the Trillium List, principals must consult with teaching staff and decide whether a textbook is required, and if so, select a suitable textbook for approval by their school board.
A textbook on the Trillium List is a comprehensive learning resource. It may consist of a single resource or a package of resources, and may be in print or digital format, or a combination of both. It is intended for use by an entire class or group of students and must support a substantial portion (at least 85%) of:
- the Ontario curriculum expectations for a specific grade and subject in elementary school or for a course in secondary school, or
- the expectations in one or more of the four frames of The Kindergarten Program
In addition, a textbook on the Trillium List must:
- use an appropriate reading level and writing style for the subject, and be intended primarily for students’ use
- demonstrate sound scholarship and have contemporary relevance
- support a broad range of instructional strategies and learning styles
- be free of bias and promote diversity and inclusion
- reflect healthy, safe practices and environmental responsibility
- have Canadian-orientated content, be manufactured in Canada, and, wherever possible, be written by Canadians or permanent residents of Canada
- reflect current and appropriate uses of technology
- demonstrate sound technical design
- be accompanied by a teacher’s guide and follow the ministry’s requirements regarding safe web links
More details about the Trillium List appear below.
Supplementary learning resources
A supplementary resource is any learning resource that is not a textbook. Examples are storybooks, novels, dictionaries, instructional guides and online learning tools. A supplementary resource is not comprehensive. It supports:
- only a limited number of curriculum expectations, or the curriculum expectations in a single strand, as outlined in the curriculum policy document for a subject or course, or
- a limited number of expectations in one or more of the four frames of The Kindergarten Program
School boards have the responsibility for the selection of supplementary resources for use in their schools. Boards are expected to ensure that an effective process is in place for evaluation and approval and that the resources selected are age-appropriate, free from bias and discrimination and enable the promotion of inclusion.
The Trillium List textbook “life cycle”
The Trillium List textbook “life cycle” begins once the Ministry of Education issues new or revised curriculum and decides to phase out outdated textbooks. It has four stages, as follows:
Each stage is explained in more detail below.
Textbook legislation and regulations
The rules regarding textbooks, their use and school boards’ responsibilities are set out in the Education Act and in Regulation 298, “Operation of Schools – General”, made under the Education Act.
The Education Act provides the Minister of Education the legal authority to approve textbooks, establish criteria and publish the Trillium List. Paragraphs 4, 5, 6, and 7 of subsection 8(1) state that the Minister may:
| (4) establish procedures by which and the conditions under which books and other learning materials are selected and approved by the Minister
(5) purchase and distribute textbooks and other learning materials for use in schools (6) select and approve for use in schools textbooks, library books, reference books and other learning materials (7) cause to be published from time to time lists of textbooks … selected and approved by the Minister for use in elementary and secondary schools |
The roles of school boards, principals and teachers in the use of textbooks are also set out in the Education Act. Clause (k) of subsection 264(1) of the Education Act states that, it is the duty of a teacher and a temporary teacher:
| (k) to use and permit to be used as a textbook in a class that he or she teaches in an elementary or a secondary school,
(i) in a subject area for which textbooks are approved by the Minister, only textbooks that are approved by the Minister, and (ii) in all subject areas, only textbooks that are approved by the board |
Clause (h) of subsection 265(1) of the Education Act states that, it is the duty of a principal of a school, in addition to the principal’s duties as a teacher:
| (h) to ensure that all textbooks used by pupils are those approved by the board and, in the case of subject areas for which the Minister approves textbooks, those approved by the Minister |
The roles of school boards, principals and teachers in the selection of textbooks are set out in subsections 7(1) to 7(3) of Regulation 298 made under the Education Act:
| (1) The principal of a school, in consultation with the teachers concerned, shall select from the list of the textbooks approved by the Minister the textbooks for the use of pupils of the school, and the selection shall be subject to the approval of the board.
(2) Where no textbook for the course of study is included in the list of the textbooks approved by the Minister the principal of a school, in consultation with the teachers concerned, shall, where they consider a textbook to be required, select a suitable textbook and, subject to the approval of the board, such a textbook may be introduced for use in the school. (3) In the selection of textbooks under subsection (2), preference shall be given to books that have been written by Canadian authors and edited, printed and bound in Canada. |
