The gap between the school boards

Photo Martin Alarie
The commission scolaire Rivière-du-Nord is one of those whose performance is most improved over the past five years. On the photos of the teachers and pupils of secondary school Emilian-Frenette, Saint-Jérôme in the Laurentians.

Daphnée Dion-Viens

Sunday, 11 February, 2018 00:00

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Sunday, 11 February, 2018 00:00

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Even if the overall performance of the public network has improved over the last four years, the gap between the best and the worst of school boards, a situation considered of “special concern” by an expert.

• READ ALSO: Your school board is performing?

According to the list of school boards, compiled by the Fraser Institute, the overall rating granted to the public network is increased from 5.3 in 2011-2012 to 5.4 in 2015-2016. This rating is based mainly on the results of the students in the departmental reviews of the fourth and fifth side.

The divide between the best and the worst of school boards, however, increased over the same period. The best rating is increased from 6.6 to 6.9, and the low, from 3.6 to 2.2. “This is of concern, there is a problem. We can not tolerate that there are significant differences in performance. The minister (of Education, Sébastien Proulx) must offer a quality service and an opportunity to succeed, which is the same for everyone, ” says the education consultant, Marc St-Pierre, who accompanied several school boards in the development of their plan of success.

This expert also believes that the data presented over several years are more interesting than a simple ranking based on a single year, as they provide a glimpse into a trend that can be much more revealing, in many cases.

Up

Among the school boards where the results have improved, we find the head of the list the school Board of the Estuary, on the North Shore, with an overall rating that has increased from 35 % in the past five years (see another text).

This school board is followed closely by that of the Rivière-du-Nord, in the Laurentians, whose remarkable progress has been highlighted recently in a List of the top high schools published last fall.

The eastern Townships region, moreover, seems to stand out, since the performance of two of its school boards, Hauts-Cantons and the Eastern Townships, has improved considerably in the past five years.

Down

In contrast, the two school boards in the Montérégie region are among those where the results of the students decreased the most (see below). The Commission scolaire de Sorel-Tracy is the one that has most declined in five years, followed by Commission scolaire des Appalaches and the school Board of Samaras, located in the Lanaudière region.

“I think the bad performance is more important than good,” says Peter Cowley, the Fraser Institute. They reveal the urgency to do something now, not wait. “

Overall rating

2011-2012
2015-2016

1. Highest overall rating
6,6
6,9

2. Lowest overall rating
3,6
2,2

3. Average for the public network
5,3
5,4

The school boards who are the most improved in five years

Name
Rating 2011-2012
Rating 2015-2016
Number of schools
%

1. Of the Estuary (North Shore)
4,6
6,2
4
+35%

2. The Rivière-du-Nord (Laurentides)
4,9
6,5
7
+33%

3. Hauts-Cantons (Townships)
5,0
6,5
3
+30%

4. Eastern Townships (Estrie)
4,2
5,3
3
+26%

5. Browsers (Chaudière-Appalaches)
5,1
6,2
4
+22%

The school boards that have most declined in five years

Name
Rating 2011-2012
Rating 2015-2016
Number of schools
%

1. Sorel-Tracy (Montérégie)
4,2
2,2
1
-44%

2. Appalachian (Chaudière-Appalaches)
6,2
4,4
3
-29%

3. Samaras (Lanaudière)
4,5
3,3
8
-27%

4. Du Lac-Témiscamingue (Abitibi-Témiscamingue)
5,6
4,5
3
-20%

5. Saint-Hyacinthe, Qc (Monteregie)
5,6
The 4.7
4
-16%

A victim of the economic decline of their region

At the Commission scolaire du Lac-Témiscamingue, the lower results of the students of the last years could be explained by the bad economic situation of the region.

It is the least the claims of its general manager, Eric Lariviere.

For the past five years, the overall rating of this school board, which is based primarily on the results of the secondary school students to the departmental reviews, has decreased by 20 %.

Factories closed

However, a number of families whose parents are more educated have left the region during this period, due to plant closures or layoffs, ” said Mr. Lariviere.

“The people who leave are overwhelmingly enrolled in school. We lost a lot of families whose children did well in school. It hurt us “, lance-t-il.

Mr. Lariviere also points out that the results vary considerably from year to year due to the low number of students. “A year, if I have five more students that get their diploma, it can make a big difference “, lance-t-il.

In the average

The latter also underlines that the performance of the school board is in the middle of the public network in terms of graduation rate, an indicator different from those taken into account by the Fraser Institute.

The Newspaper has also contacted several other school districts who find themselves at the bottom of this list the results of which are in decline, but most have refused to respond to our questions.

School board the st. lawrence Estuary: put the teachers in the shot

The school Board of the Estuary, the administration has made a “corner” a few years ago, involving more teachers, which may explain why she is now one where students ‘ results have improved in the past five years.

At least that is what is claimed by its director-general, Alain Ouellet. “Who has the most importance on the success of the students ? It is the teacher. This is not me in my office that has the best solutions, this is safe “, lance-t-il.

The “turn” that has been initiated goes in this direction, ” he says. “It is a complete change in the manner of accompanying schools. It is now the school board is at the service of the institutions, and not the reverse. The accompaniment is much more individualized, in connection with the needs of each school, ” said the director-general.

The school principals are also invited to engaging more with their teams to determine what measures need to be put in place to improve the success of students.

“I believe that we can increase the educational success that way,” said Mr. Ouellet. The teachers are more engaged because they believe in it and they have had their say. It brings a involvement of the school team much more and it makes a difference on the results. I dare to believe that this is only the beginning. “

From the primary to the secondary

In recent years, the school Board of the Estuary has also worked extensively to improve the transition from primary to secondary school. “We realized, by analyzing our numbers, that there was a big drop in the results in the first newsletter after the entry in the secondary,” said Mr. Ouellet.

Efforts were made to secure the pupils, who must adapt to a new school. Measures have also been put in place to assist them to organize better.

Schedule review custom

In addition, each student receives at the end of the year a schedule of review custom, accompanied by tips for better learning and an example of the planning for the study periods.

A speaker is even available at the output of the tests to support the students for whom the test was less successful.

How are classified the school boards ?

This list, produced by the Fraser Institute, ranks the school boards in terms of the average of the “overall ratings” obtained by their secondary schools. This rating is based in large part on the results of the students in the departmental reviews of the fourth and fifth side. This indicator is in addition among other things the gap between boys and girls and the proportion of students who lag behind in their school career.