BUU, Alm.del - 2011-12 - Bilag 265: Udvalgets studietur til Ontario den 9.-14. september (program og deltagerliste)

GraduatingNBen LevinOntario high schoolsimproved their high schoolgraduation rate from 68%to 81% in five years.A comprehensive strategyfor improvement focused onenabling students’ success andacting proactively when theyhad problems.Schools built in opportunitiesfor teachers to collaboratewith one another and forstudents to connect withtheir communities.

ot long ago, Ontario’s 900high schools and their 600,000students were in a rut. Theprovince had experienced 101years of tumult in education, includ-ing an entirely new program for highschools, rapid implementation of newcurricula, a zero-tolerance approachto discipline, budget reductions, andmuch labor unrest. Teachers and par-ents were unhappy. More importantly,the graduation rate was declining. In2003, only 60% of the cohort gradu-ated in the normal four years, and only68% graduated after five years.By 2010, the situation had com-pletely turned around. The five-yeargraduation rate rose to 81%, mean-ing that nearly 20,000 more studentswere graduating each year than in2003. Labor disruptions had ceased,few young teachers were leaving theprofession, and many teacherswere staying on even afterthey reached

retirement eligibility. Meanwhile theperformance of Ontario students inthe international PISA tests improvedrelative to the rest of Canada—whichis among the highest-performingcountries in the world.But an 81% graduation rate is nothigh enough. The province’s currentgoal is 85%, and even that is lowerthan the public expectation for its highschools. Nonetheless, the change inthe last few years is striking, especiallygiven the challenge in most systems ofimproving high school outcomes. Theresults from Ontario’s high schoolsshows what can be done if the rightstrategies are implemented in theright ways.

MoreStudentsSecond, improvement cannot comefrom any single strategy; it requiresaddressing many aspects of the school’swork in an integrated way. Third,improvement requires sustained effortover time. All three ideas run againstthe grain of many current proposalsthat tend to focus on low-performingschools and on one or two changeforces and that do not last very long.No wonder many educators are cynical.The Ontario Student SuccessStrategy was introduced in 2005.The main elements of the strategyincluded:nDedicated infrastructures in theministry and school boards, staffedby outstanding educators, that ledthe initiativenSchool leaders who setambitious but achievabletargets and plan forincreased studentsuccess andgraduationnnnn

A “student success leadershipteam” in every school district andevery schoolEffective practices that aregrounded in researchExtensive, carefully targetedprofessional development foreducatorsEffective use of data to trackstudents and intervene early whenproblems occurA “student success teacher” inevery high school, who acts asa champion for success forall studentsIncreased focus on lit-eracy and numeracyin all areas of thehigh schoolcurriculumTargeted atten-tion to key underper-forming groups, includ-ing minority students, ESL

OntarioOntario schools enroll 2 millionchildren in 5,000 schools in 72school districts that range in sizefrom a few hundred students tomore than 100,000, in a totalarea the size of North and SouthCarolina, Tennessee, Mississippi,Alabama, Florida, Georgia,and Louisiana combined. Thepopulation is 80% urban, butthere are also many small schools.Enrollment is very diverse, with27% of the population bornoutside of Canada and 20%visible minorities. The provincialgovernment provides 100% ofthe funding to school boards,prescribes curricula, and controlsmany aspects of policy. Thefederal government plays norole. Teachers and support staffmembers are fully unionized.

Revised curricula in some keyareas, such as mathematics andcareer educationnExpanded program options, suchas cooperative education, creditsfor external learning, and dualcredit programs with collegesnA “high-skills major” that allowsschools to work with employ-ers groups to create packages ofcourses leading to real employ-ment and further learningnLegislation to support thosechanges and also to require stu-dents to be in a learning situation(e.g., school, college, apprentice-ship, work with training, and soforth) until high school graduationor age 18nVarious mechanisms to bringstakeholders together to en-sure that the program could besmoothly implemented and toprevent disputes at the local level.This list feels like a lot of initia-tives, but the entire approach can bedistilled into four key strategies:1. Know the status and progress ofevery student, know the reasonsfor any problems, and interveneas soon as there are signs ofdifficulties2. Provide a program and approachthat enable a good outcome forevery student3. Work on improving daily teachingand learning4. Connect schools deeply to theirlocal and broader community.It is essential to address all fourareas to achieve higher graduationrates. There is never enough time todo everything, however, so principalsmust focus on those elements thatcombine the greatest impact withthe least effort. There is no point intackling the “most important” strategyif it is too difficult to achieve. It is farn

Know theStudentSStudents say repeatedly that the mostimportant factor in deciding whetherthey stay in school is whether anyonethere knows who they are and caresabout what happens to them. (Rum-berger & Lim, 2008). This is one ofthe clearest findings in all the researchon secondary education. The key is toensure that caring about students isbuilt into the school’s work throughprocesses that ensure that eachstudent’s progress is tracked and thatthere is effective intervention as soonas a student encounters difficulties.“We care about you” only becomesreal when it turns into action to helpstudents achieve success and whenthat success is at the very core of howschools organize their work.This strategy is the easiest of thefour to implement and can pay largedividends very quickly. When theysense that the adults really do care,students will often meet the adultsmore than halfway by increasing ef-fort. Moreover, this strategy is gener-ally consistent with what teachersbelieve and does not ask for significantchanges in daily teaching practice.At the same time, as soon as onestarts delving into the reasons whystudents are not doing well, otherissues arise, such as the timetable,school rules, teaching methods, and

connectSchooLS totheircoMMunitieSSchools are necessarily influenced bytheir communities because studentsare highly influenced by their families,peers, and neighborhoods. Yet schoolsoften see communities as sources ofbad influences, rather than look tothem for the resources and strengthsthat even the most-stressed com-munities have. With care, the naturaltensions between schools and familiescan be managed.Communities can also be sourcesof learning for students, if schoolsare willing to use them in that way.Employers and postsecondary insti-tutions can increase the range of learn-ing opportunities for students and canprovide alternatives for students indifficult circumstances. The part-timework that many students do providesanother opportunity for learninginstead of being seen as a distractionfrom students’ schoolwork.As with any other area of workin a school, community connectionsdo not come without effort. Some-one must do the work of initiating,organizing, and maintaining therelationships between the school andthe community. In many schools, thisis the kind of task that is not assignedto anyone, so it tends not to get done.But the rewards in terms of increasedtrust, increased understanding, andnew ways to connect with studentsare valuable and well worth the effort.

Provide therightMixSecondary schools often take theposition that greater student success islargely a matter of providing enoughdifferent courses, but this approachmay segregate lower-achieving stu-dents and put them into courses thathave low levels of intellectual demandand no connection either to postsec-ondary education or to meaningfulemployment. Students soon get theidea that they do not need to do anywork because the school does notbelieve that they have much ability.Students who in many ways need thebest teaching are often assigned theleast-experienced teachers.Better approaches than addingmore courses include:nHigh expectations for all studentsin all coursesnPrograms that have flexibilityto support students’ inevitablechanges of plans and goalsnCredentials with real value forfurther education, employment, orbothnRecovery options so that students’poor choices can be remedied andmore-ambitious pathways pursuednRecognizing the importance of thecocurriculumnScheduling in ways that supportstudent success—for example,by not offering the most-difficultcourses in the same semesternAssigning teaching tasks so thatthe students who most need goodteaching are most likely to receive it.Those principles can be appliedin many different ways but will vastly

iMProveteaching andLearningAddressing teaching and learning isdifficult in secondary schools becausethey are divided into subjects and de-partments. Teachers in different areassee their work differently, and stu-dents often see little coherence acrosssubjects in terms of activities, intellec-tual demands, and ways of working.There are some promising ways toget even a large high school focusedon common and improved teachingand learning practices. One powerfulapproach is to look at student assess-ment practices. This kind of collectivework can be a powerful tool for betterschooling by focusing staff memberson the actual work that students aredoing, the standards that are beingused to assess that work, and the feed-back that students are getting. The re-sult can be better instruction and alsomore-consistent student experiences.Another opportunity lies in engag-ing students in the daily practices intheir classrooms by giving them moreinput in such areas as the organizationof classes and the kinds of work theydo. Student voice is an important cor-relate of student engagement, whichis in turn an important correlate ofbetter outcomes.A third strategy involves increasingopportunities for independent workby students. There are many waysto encourage students to work moreindependently. Whether in everydaycourses or through other venues,including online courses, independentlearning can be highly motivating forstudents.

Effective change begins withcareful attention to the evidenceon current results and possibleimprovements.nAn organization can only focus ona small number of core goals atany one time; too many goals willlead to diffused effort and littlechange.nImprovement requires dedicatedresources, systems, and processes.This means designating people andteams to lead particular changes.nThere is no such thing as toomuch communication aboutchange; communication shouldbe as positive as possible to buildcommitment and morale. If peopledon’t support a change, it won’tyield the desired results.n

Why students drop out of school: A reviewof 25 years of research.Santa Barbara, CA:California Dropout Research Project.Ben Levinholds a Canada Research Chair at theOntario Institute for Studies in Education at theUniversity of Toronto. He served for three yearsas Ontario’s deputy minister (chief civil servant) foreducation while those reforms were developed andimplemented. His new book about improving highschools,More High School Graduates,was justpublished by Corwin.