Currently the Founder and President of StratPoint Advisory Inc., Dr. Pino Buffone has had a 33-year career in public education, serving as classroom teacher, vice-principal, principal, superintendent and director of education in two dynamic and diverse district school boards in Ontario – the Renfrew County District School Board and Ottawa-Carleton District School Board.
He holds a Bachelor of Science, Honours from Queen’s University, a Diploma in Education from McGill University; a Master of Education in Educational Leadership and Administration from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto; a Professional Master of Public Administration from the School of Policy Studies at Queen’s University; and a Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership and Administration from Western University.
Pino shares his extensive experience with large-scale, performance-based assessments, beginning with his involvement with the Western Quebec School Board’s assessment team in the 1990s. He later worked with the Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) as an education officer, and subsequently as the coordinator of English-language assessments in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Following his secondment to EQAO, he supported capacity building in large-scale assessment for other educators and served as EQAO’s board contact for the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board, while working as a centrally-assigned system principal. He was also involved in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) multinational, longitudinal study on non-cognitive skills, serving as a supervisory officer for the district.
Pino recognizes the value of large-scale assessments in informing classroom instruction. He supports the use of online platforms for their logistical and adaptability benefits, while cautioning that students must be familiar with these platforms to ensure they have the greatest opportunity for success.
He also emphasizes the need for ongoing capacity building around assessment literacy, particularly as the field shifts towards digital and computer-adaptive testing models. He highlights innovative practices in assessments, including the use of technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), and expresses cautious optimism about AI’s potential to enhance data analysis while maintaining validity and reliability.
Pino is excited about the future of large-scale assessments in a technology-influenced educational environment. He points to opportunities such as generating contextually-relevant variations of items for use as content across versions of assessments, automated grading and feedback, as well as enhanced predictive analytics related to learning and student success. He emphasizes, however, that human oversight will remain an essential element as large-scale assessments continue to evolve.
Through his association with EQAO’s Modernization in Measurement Advisory Panel and his senior management roles in two Ontario school boards, Pino is familiar with and supportive of Vretta’s online platform, which is being used by nine Canadian provinces and territories, as well as the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada’s (CMEC) Pan-Canadian Assessment Program (PCAP). He shares his positive experience with the online assessment platform, noting benefits such as reduced logistical burden on teachers and greater adaptability among students to digital environments. He emphasizes the importance of familiarizing students with assessment platforms throughout the year and highlights the advantage of online platforms, which can evolve more easily than paper-based assessments.
Following his career in public education, Dr. Buffone founded StratPoint Advisory Inc. in 2025, an independent advisory firm that connects business entities with public, private, and non-profit organizations in the knowledge and information sector. He helps companies introduce products and services into educational systems, both in Canada and internationally, with a focus on pedagogical solutions, including educational innovation and instructional practices, as well as executive leadership and organizational governance, strategic planning, and change management.
Reflecting on his long career, Pino expresses pride in the relationships he has built as a mentor to superintendents and aspiring senior leaders over the past 15 years. He describes how he encouraged mentees to expand their roles and responsibilities beyond their comfort zones, much as he benefited from mentorship and exposure to diverse portfolios throughout his own career.
Away from his professional responsibilities, Pino’s personal interests include his passion for football (soccer), as well as running and learning to play the guitar. Please feel free to reach out to Pino at: buffonepino@gmail.com.
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