The Student Success Program

The McGuinty government's student success program is providing greater support for struggling students and establishing smaller class sizes in key areas, helping to keep students in school and increasing graduation rates.

Success for students means moving beyond college and university to include apprenticeships and skilled job placements. The government's comprehensive student success program is creating a new role for publicly funded high schools and working to create a good outcome for every student.

"The Commission recommends...working in partnership with school boards, community colleges, and other community partners, to establish programs that will assist secondary school graduates and drop-outs to transfer successfully to the workforce, including increasing opportunities for apprenticeship and for other kinds of training as well as employment counselling..." - For the Love of Learning, Recommendations, Report of the Royal Commission on Learning, 1995

Giving Students What They Need to Succeed

In January 2004, Education Minister Gerard Kennedy wrote directly to struggling high school students. He urged them to resist dropping out and told them their best chance for success was to remain in school. He committed to them that the government would deliver extra help to ensure they had every opportunity to succeed. Early in 2004, the McGuinty government announced a three-phase student success strategy to help all students succeed in high school and lower drop-out rates.

PHASE ONE

The first phase of an intensive student success intervention program launched in 2003-04, resulted in a four per cent rise in the four-year graduation rate from 56 per cent in 2002/03 to 60 per cent in 2003/04. Based on information reported to date, a similar gain is anticipated in the five-year rate, from 68 percent in 2003/04 to 72 per cent 2004/05. These rates are calculated by the Ministry of Education based on information reported by schools and school boards across the province.

The first phase of the student success intitiative included:

• Updates to the revised Grade 9 and 10 applied math curriculum, which is now available online and is being delivered to schools as of this September
• An investment of $45 million to support the improved delivery of technological education in schools across the province
• Six new locally developed compulsory credit courses to provide greater choice for struggling students in Grades 9 and 10. Last September, three additional locally developed compulsory credit courses in Grade 10 were introduced to provide choice for students. The new courses help students advance to workplace courses in Grades 11 and 12.
• The ministry has funded a student success leader in every school board and resources for principals and teachers to deliver local action plans to meet the specific needs of students in communities across the province.
• Funding for 105 lighthouse projects aimed at increasing credit accumulation, reducing drop-out rates, and encouraging students who left school to return and complete their diploma requirements.

Delivering Projects That Work

In the 2003-2004 school year, the government invested $18 million to fund 105 student success lighthouse projects. The projects allowed 318 teachers to work with more than 8,000 students and resulted in students accumulating a combined total of more than 14,000 credits last school year.

Funded projects were focused on six key areas:

• Credit recovery : 17 projects to help students regain failed credits while building learning skills for future success.
• Alternative programs : 38 diverse projects designed to re-engage students who struggle in traditional classroom environments. Projects included on-line learning, co-op education and connections to business and community agencies.
• Program Pathways : Twenty-six projects that provide learning experience to prepare students for apprenticeships (Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program, OYAP), workplace destinations and industry certification.
• Strategies for Grades 9 and 10 : Eight projects provided support and intervention for students struggling in their first two years of secondary school.
• Links to College : Five projects were aimed at re-engaging and motivating students by improving their understanding of potential college programs. These projects included a partnership betweeen school boards and colleges. Students attended secondary-level classes on college campuses or enrolled in college-level courses.
• Targeted Populations : Eleven projects designed to serve specific student populations with unique social or cultural needs including ESL students, youth from low-income backgrounds, aboriginal youth and homeless youth.

Overall, 82 per cent of students enrolled in the projects successfully acquired the course credit.

This year, continued funding will enable 99 of the current successful projects to expand and 26 new projects to emerge for boards that were not funded in 2004-05. Over the two years of investment, all 72 boards will have received funding for pilot projects.

Successful projects are being replicated and best practices are being shared with all school boards through a virtual network. To view, visit www.edu.gov.on.ca and click on "Student Success/Learning to 18 in the "popular topics" area.

PHASE TWO

In May 2005, the McGuinty government launched phase two of the program, expanding on the success of phase one and further intensifying the effort to re-engage students and improve the graduation rates through class size limits in key courses, new student success teachers and expanded and additional lighthouse projects.

Class Size Limits, Dedicated Student Success Teachers

In May 2005, the McGuinty government announced 1,300 new teaching positions in high schools this school year to deliver new courses and programs. Every school will have at least one student success teacher and additional course sections with class size limits in key subjects for struggling students and more resource teachers, such as librarians and guidance counsellors.

This year, more than 800 new teachers are dedicated to the student success program to help struggling students improve academic achievement and graduation rates. These teachers will work with students to track their progress, help students catch up on missing credits and support the development of better programs and services.

"The student success teacher helps the student negotiate the puzzling route through high school and beyond, helping him or her to understand their learning styles, overcome obstacles and recognize new opportunities. Student success teachers know that all students can learn. Their job is to spread that awareness to students, staff and parents and advocate tirelessly on behalf of the student." Mag Gardner, Principal (Student Success Program), Halton District School Board

PHASE THREE

This fall, phase three in the government's plan to turn around the drop-out rate will introduce targets for graduation rates, introduce new legislation to keep students learning until age 18 and change the requirements for the Ontario Secondary School Diploma to recognize alternative forms of learning, giving prominence to the ability to develop a skill or trade.

The full Phase Four Report of the Double Cohort Study is available at www.edu.gov.on.ca.