It is claimed that in the first phase of the "turnaround programme", 84% of schools showed dramatically improved results.

It was established in the wake of a new strategy to reform education by the then Liberal administration in Ontario, led by Dalton McGuinty, from 2003.

He set the following rules:

l No league tables – instead, schools were divided into four bands according to the degree of disadvantage in a school community;

l Tell schools "compare yourself with yourself";

l Tell schools "compare yourself with those in similar circumstances";

l Tell schools "compare yourself to an absolute standard".