Student Success: Pathways Grades 7 - 12 Initiative

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Student Success PathwaysGrades 7 - 12
Initiative

• 1. Historical Context
• 2. TDSB Context (Schools Students)
• 4. Impact of Secondary School Policy on Student
  Success
• 5. What are we doing to improve Student Success
  in TDSB?

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• HISTORICAL
• CONTEXT

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• 1870
• 5-6 of students entered high school (commercial,
  academic)
• 25 entered university
• 1960 - 5 year / 4 year programs
• - streaming - students locked into streams
• - Students passed/failed (full year)
• 1972 - Credit system - students passed/failed
  courses (streamed by ability)
• - 2/3 students in general level dropped out
• - job opportunities for students graduating in
  general level - poor (OSSTF research)
• - Wells Before the end of the 70s, grade 13
  will be a thing of the past

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• 1984 - Ontario Schools Intermediate/Senior
  (OSIS), Grades 9-OAC
• - streamed by level of difficulty
  (Basic/General/Advanced)
• - 30 credits (110 hours each) required to
  graduate (16 compulsory credits)
• 1993 -The Common Curriculum, Grades 1-9
• - no discrete subjects eg. 4 Program areas
• - Credits and streaming eliminated in Grade 9
• - Students either achieve all subjects and move
  on to Grade 10 or repeat Grade 9
• R. Stamp Schools of Ontario 1876-1976
• Gidney (1999) From Hope to Harris

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TDSB CONTEXT - Schools

• Variety
• TDSB is a Composite system vs. system of
  composite schools
• Organization
• 88 secondary schools
• 8 junior high schools
• 17 alternative schools
• Inequitable distribution of programs/specialized
  schools

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COUNTRY OF BIRTH

• 56.4 (47,800) of secondary students were born in
  Canada
• 43.6 (36,976) of secondary students were born
  outside of Canada in more than 150 different
  countries
• Of those secondary students born outside Canada,
  the greatest numbers were born to China (4,517 or
  5.3) and Sri Lanka (Ceylon) (2,924 or 3.4)

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LANGUAGE

• English is the mother tongue or primary home
  language of 55.0 (46,624) of secondary students
• 45.0 (38,157) of secondary students have a
  language other than English as their mother
  tongues or as the primary language spoken in the
  home
• Over 70 languages are reflected in the language
  background of secondary students
• Chinese and Tamil are the most common languages
  other than English of secondary students - 112
  (9,519) of students have Chinese in their
  language background and 4.0 (3,378) have Tamil

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RECENT ARRIVALS

• 13.0 (11,003) of secondary students have arrived
  in Canada in the last three years
• An additional 7.3 (6,196) have arrived in the
  last 4-5 years

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Percent of children in poverty in GTA
40
35
30
25
of children (0-12) under LICO
20
15
10
5
0
Halton
York
Toronto
Durham
Peel
Region/Municipality
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IMPACT OF ONTARIO SECONDARY SCHOOL POLICY
ONSTUDENT SUCCESS
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International Assessment

• Only two countries - Finland and Hong Kong
  (China) - topped Canadas performance in math,
  which was the main focus of the 2003 study
  conducted for the Organization for Economic
  Co-operation and Development (OECD).
• Ontario ranks among the top provincial performers
  compared to the Canadian average, second to
  Alberta.
• In reading, Canada was second only to Finland.
• The report also praised Canada for cultivating
  high scores from students across various
  socio-economic backgrounds (narrowing the
  achievement gap).
• In Canada and especially Ontario, not only are
  high average standards maintained, but
  differences in the extent to which students reach
  these standards are determined relatively little
  by their home background.

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Year 2000 Ontario Student Flow from Grade 9 to
Post Secondary Destinations
Projections
24 OSSD to work
25 Leave Before OSSD
23 to College
28 to University
Grade 9 Enrollment 100
Double Cohort Study 2002 Ontario Ministry of
Education
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• Students in the Grade 9 Cohort of Fall 2003
• 17 of Grade 9 students completed fewer than 7
  credits by end of 2003-4.
• Proportion completing fewer than 7 credits has
  declined slightly over past four years.

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• While 26 of Grade 9 students in the lowest
  income grouping had achieved less than 7 credits
  by the end of Grade 9, only 7 of students in the
  highest income grouping had failed to acquire 7
  or more credits. This pattern is very similar to
  that of previous years.

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• Grade 10 Students as of Fall 2003
• 25 of Grade 10 students completed 14 or fewer
  credits by end of 2003-4.

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• As absenteeism increases, students are more
  likely to be behind in their credit accumulation
  by the end of Grade 10, putting them more at-risk
  of dropping out.

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• Literacy Requirements (OSSLT/OLC)
• 82 of student had completed their literacy
  requirement by end of Year 4 (Grade 12).

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Dropout rate of Grade 10's based on
credit accumulation
60
40
32
40
Dropout rate
21
14
20
5
0
12
13
14
15
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Number of Credits Earned by 16 years of age
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• The proportion of 17 year old (Grade 12) students
  graduating has increased over time.
• The proportion of 17 year old graduates returning
  for Year 5 is less than a third of what it was
  under OSIS.
• The trend is that students who are now returning
  for a fifth year tend to have lower credit
  accumulation.

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• 39 of 17 year old students applied to Ontario
  universities (including 6 who also applied to
  community colleges), and 26 actually registered.
• 12 of 17-21 year olds applied to Ontario
  community colleges (include 6 who also applied
  to universities), and 5 actually registered.

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Parental Aspirations ( of children whose
parents say they)
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What are we doing to improveStudent Success?
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• Goals of the TDSB Student Success initiative are
• to increase Equity of access and outcomes for all
  students
• to increase Program choices
• to engage and re-engage students who are at risk
  of dropping out of school
• to increase the number of students who achieve
  16 credits by age 16
• to increase the number of students who graduate
  with an Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD)

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March 2001Toronto District School Board Approved

• VISION FOR CHANGE
• DIRECTIONAL STATEMENTS
• SYSTEM INITIATIVE LAUNCHED

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In March, 2001, the following directional
statements were approved by the Board

• Parents, students and community members are
  integral to the success of the TDSB vision and
  they will be involved throughout the process of
  planning for secondary school programs
• All destination pathways (university, college and
  workplace) will be equally valued and equitably
  supported in planning, communicating, resourcing
  and acting
• System leaders will take responsibility for
  educating students, parents, staff and community
  members about the full potential of each
  destination pathway

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• Schools will share responsibility for students
  in school to school transitions using shared
  information systems and assuring that resource
  allocation and intervention strategies are
  implemented for those at risk
• All system leaders will share responsibility
  for continuous improvement in student achievement
  and for identifying and addressing gaps in our
  service model
• The system will assure that students have
  access to a range of appropriate programs that
  meet their varying needs within a reasonable
  geographical region of their homes

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• Each school will assume ownership for the
  care and support of students within the boundary
  of that school community and provide direct
  service or assure connection to service that
  meets each students programming needs

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Research Underway

• consultation process with schools, parents,
  superintendents and system leaders
• research provided through literature search and
  in consultation with OISE/UT
• an investigation of TDSB data banks and Ontario
  reports re patterns of student success
• Student voices (Imagine Student Success
  initiative) - interviews with at-risk students
• Research on program effectiveness
• Targets supporting, tracking and monitoring 15
  of students who are identified as most at risk
• Tracking and monitoring student progress
• Identifying resources and program needs through
  SIP

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• Coordinating Programs to ensure equity of access
  and increase
• program choices
• It is very difficult for any one school to
  sustain all the pathways that students need
• Resources are spread too thinly to support all
  programs in all schools
• Facilities to support program require
  upgrading/renewal
• Access patterns across the City are inequitable
• Most vulnerable students are travelling the
  furthest to receive appropriate programs/services

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Initiatives Include

• Ministry-funded pilots to inform future policy
  and funding
• Building Bridges 2.4M
• Learning to 18 (in final approval stage)
• Others include
• Middle Years Literacy
• Summer School/Camps
• Tutoring - Grades 7-12
• Homework Clubs
• Expansion of Placement Centres
• Partnerships
• Colleges - eg. Seneca
• University Windsor, UofT, York, Ryerson
• Sector Councils

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Specific Initiatives

• Ministry-funded pilots to inform future policy
  and funding
• Building Bridges 2.4M
• Learning to 18
• Students Success
• Partnerships - Colleges/Universities/Community
  groups
• Tutoring and Intervention Programs

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To improve equity of Outcomes

• Focus on professional development and appropriate
  classroom resources in all Program areas (Grades
  7-12) in order to
• support teachers in expanding and enhancing
  teaching methodology
• introduce or expand programs that support Student
  Success
• Expand knowledge of career opportunities for
  students, teachers, and parents including direct
  experience

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PROCESS

• January 2005 - Complete
• Identifying all existing specialized programs
  and specialized/alternative schools
• Complete
• Analysis of facilities/enrolment trends in each
  school
• February 2005
• Meetings in each region with school
  staff/superintendents/trustees to suggest
  additional programs/schools per region/quadrant
• March 2005
• School principals meet with staff, community to
  propose sites
• May 2005
• Recommendations to Board on proposed sites to
  date for approval
• July 2005(on-going)
• Facility Renewal and program implementation