What is Our Equity Goal?
- Increasing equity of access and opportunity for all students in all schools.
- Engaging student participation through the review process and reflecting student voice in programming decisions.
How Have We Started To Achieve It?
- Designed consultation format and developed guiding questions to engage students in a conversation about the Secondary Program Review which will determine the conditions required to create exemplary secondary school learning environments that provide: equity of access, engagement and inspiration, pathway planning that positions students for success and results in equity of outcomes and programs that are creative and innovative.
- Hosted four Student Voice Consultation Sessions – one in each Learning Centre – to understand the focus of the review and how students could engage their peers.
- Trained students to host their own Speak-Up Forum to broaden the outreach with secondary students.
- Initiated a year-long collaborative inquiry involving 16 schools to actively engage with each other and provide support around Delayed Pathways. This included learning first-hand from schools that have already successfully de-streamed their programs.
What Have We Learned?
We have deepened our understanding about the possibilities and potential for de-streaming – where all Grade 9 students take core courses at the Academic level – and are continuing to use this as an opportunity to understand what we can do as a system to support this.
Student Voice – Comments from Student Voice Consultation Sessions:
- Choice of Program - This ranges from choice of course content to method of delivery, students are asking for more comprehensive choices than what has traditionally been available. There was a focus on personal finance, skills that are immediately relevant in the lives of students at a young age.
- Quality of Instruction - We have heard many comments about the quality of instruction. Students also mentioned favoritism in class and some gender inequity; lack of differentiation that is meaningful; teacher seen as holder of knowledge and a gatekeeper to next level, but not necessarily a partner for students.
- Access to Opportunity - This includes physical access to all aspects of school and learning, and also access in terms of all students receiving the same opportunities, as opposed to what currently happens - only the "chosen few" are selected, leaving others out consistently.
- Focus on Equity- Students appreciate the recent focus on equity in schools, but want to see this go deeper and be more inclusive. Not enough has happened to get our schools into a truly equitable place, and they know it, and they want to know how to improve this.
What’s Next?
- Review and implement changes to the admission procedures for all specialized schools/programs.
- Review French programs across the TDSB.
- Assess impact of the de-streaming initiative that is currently underway in a number of TDSB secondary schools through the Structured Pathways project.
- Partner with postsecondary institutions to expand Dual Credit programming in all our secondary schools.
- Disseminate report on Student Voice and confirm next steps.
- Report on Student Voice and program scan in every secondary school.