For the Love of Learning

Volume IV: Making It Happen

Chapter 16: Equity Considerations

In Chapter 15 we dealt with the concerns of communities that have special constitutional status; however, there are some minority communities without special constitutional or historic status who also raised issues concerning governance, funding, and special programs to support academic achievement. Therefore, in this chapter we address certain concerns of religious, racial, and language minorities, and make a variety of recommendations.

Ontario's rich diversity is not limited to Toronto: people from many backgrounds have settled in communities large and small. Whether born here or elsewhere, Ontarians share one home but have different religions and languages, ethno-cultural and racial backgrounds.*

We can expect this diversity to increase, as we continue to have relatively high rates of immigration from parts of the world that, in the Canadian context, produce religious, linguistic, ethno-cultural, and racial minorities. For example, Statistics Canada estimated that, in Ontario in 1992, there were 1,297,605 "visible minorities" - 13 percent of the provincial population.(1) Although it is always dangerous to make population projections, we think it safe to say that the proportion and number of racial minorities are, at the very least, likely to rise, at least for the next decade.(2)

The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms provides all Canadians with basic protection from discrimination "based on race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age, or mental or physical disability," while also allowing for "affirmative action programs." The Charter requires that it be "interpreted in a manner consistent with the preservation and enhancement of the multicultural heritage of Canadians"; this is an extension of the federal government's announcement in 1971 of a policy of multiculturalism within a bilingual framework; later, a Canadian Multiculturalism Act was passed into law.

The Commission takes with utmost seriousness the school system's mandate to serve all students. It means that the system needs to ensure that every school is welcoming to students of every faith, first language, ethnocultural background, or colour. Ontario must not only build inclusive schools and curricula but, because a student can be formally included but still marginalized, the province must also create schools and curricula that place the views, concerns, and needs of all students and communities at the very centre of the teacher's work.

We believe the Commission has done this throughout our report when dealing with issues such as those related to curriculum, teacher staffing, training, and parental and community involvement.

At the same time, we recognize that it may be necessary to include a section dealing with matters related to specific communities, based on data that indicate the children of those communities are collectively performing "below the norm," at least as compared to students from other communities or to the board average.

A small number of school boards have compiled data that allows these types of comparisons; for example, they have analyzed the proportions of students found in the advanced, general, and basic streams in secondary school. They have also looked at drop-out rates and various indicators of "risk": we know, for instance, that if students fall significantly behind in the number of credits they earn, they are more "at risk" of dropping out.

These data are broken down according to gender, class, ethnic, and racial categories, so that it is possible to see which groups are better represented in, for example, the advanced level that leads to university, and which groups have higher drop-out rates. It is clear from the data that there are substantial differences identifiable for some groups.(3)

In a paper prepared for this Commission, University of Western Ontario Professor Jerry Paquette makes a very strong case for monitoring the educational benefits derived by various sub-populations.(4) As he points out, it is not possible to assume that all individual students are equal and that all will achieve at the same high degree. Rather, "the equality dimension of public education should take aim ... at an equitable distribution of educational excellence across lines of demographic difference. That is the real and singular challenge of equality of educational opportunity..." In other words, we can expect that, in a truly equitable system, roughly the same proportions of each community will excel, do satisfactorily, or do poorly, as in the total student population. If, as is currently true, they do not, the system needs to be fixed.

We believe that the benefits of learning from and about each other more than justify meeting the challenges of providing an educational system that is sensitive to diversity.

We heard from minority groups who feel their religious beliefs are not sufficiently accommodated in the publicly funded school system. Some of them asked for more consideration and support for their differences so that their children can be educated in the public school system in a manner that recognizes and respects their needs.

Others do not feel that they can expect the public system to provide an education that is consistent with their values and beliefs, and have therefore established their own private education systems. They asked for various degrees of financial support to alleviate the financial burden of maintaining their own schools, and want the government to recognize their different needs when it develops and implements education policies.

Religious minorities

Members of religious minorities expressed two major concerns. First, they argued they should be in the same position as Roman Catholics, whose children are educated within a Roman Catholic framework through the publicly funded system. Sikhs, Jews, Christians, Muslims, and members of other groups asked for public financial support for separate schools or school systems based on their religions.

Second, they said that religious minorities are not understood and respected, either because of negative or inadequate representation in the curriculum or even because of curriculum content; they believe that all students should receive more information about a range of religions.

Public funding for religious schools is a thorny issue in Ontario. There is no consensus and there are rather convincing arguments on both sides. Although, in 1986, the Shapiro Commission looked at public funding for Ontario's private schools in Ontario, including those that are religion-based, and proposed funding them through a public board with which the school would be associated. The model was not accepted by government; moreover, support for it by members of religious minorities has been mixed, on the grounds that it does not create autonomous systems, with taxation powers and control over their own schools.

In 1990, the ruling of the Ontario Court of Appeal in the Elgin case prohibiting the teaching of a single religious tradition as if it were the exclusive means through which to develop moral thinking and behaviour(5) left some doubt about the possible legality of the Shapiro model. A court challenge is outstanding on this issue.

Early in 1994, as we were in the midst of our deliberations, the Ontario Court of Appeal ruled unanimously against a coalition of Jewish and Christian schools requesting provincial funding. The judgment held that, because public funding of Ontario's Roman Catholic school system (as of Quebec's Protestant school system) was agreed to at the time of Confederation and was part of the Constitution Act, 1867, non-funding of other denominational schools does not constitute discrimination against them. Because the issue is not one of contravening the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, funding of other schools was a matter for political decision.

After considerable discussion and debate, the Commission decided to leave the question there. We are conscious that our report argues forcefully in several places, either explicitly or implicitly, in favour of schools that respect the diversity of learners in Ontario's pluralistic society. We insist elsewhere that ethnic heritage and traditions must be explicitly included in the school curriculum. We argue for schools that are inclusive.

We realize as well - and several times mention this in our report - that curriculum includes both what is said and what is unsaid, what is supported and what is not supported, what is dealt with and what is ignored in school programs. It has been argued that the silence of the public school curriculum on matters of religion runs the risk of devaluing students' beliefs and of conveying the idea that religion is alien to the wonder and the task of learning.

But, whatever our personal opinions, and despite presentations from individuals and representatives of minority groups at our public hearings, we do not find ourselves able to recommend changes we consider beyond our terms of reference. In keeping with our mandate, our analysis and recommendations are based on the existing collective minority rights and privileges enshrined in the Constitution: the right of Roman Catholics (and of the Franco-Ontarians) to management and public funding of their education systems.

While the Elgin decision prohibits religious instruction of a doctrinal nature, it permits teaching about religion. We believe it makes sense for all schools, including Roman Catholic schools, to include more about religion, using a multifaith approach: a program that educates students about a range of religions and faiths, their basic tenets, and the way they organize themselves is quite appropriate.

The Ministry has recently released a curriculum resource guide for school boards to use in developing courses about religion for the elementary level.(6) Some schools might include education about religion in the 10 percent of the curriculum which is to be determined locally in our proposal for curriculum in Grades 1 to 9.

Although not mandatory, education about religion might be offered at the secondary level through the world religions course already available. We note, however, that the recent curriculum resource guide for elementary public schools provides a stronger multifaith focus that could be used as a model for revising the world religions course.

We recognize that a course about religions must be delivered sensitively, with respect and generosity in discussions and descriptions of diverse religious traditions. We do not minimize the challenge in doing so; there are, after all, people in other parts of the world killing each other over matters of religious belief. Nonetheless, we feel that courses on religion, taught at some depth, rather than treating the subject superficially in the hope of avoiding school or community clashes, are important.

Finally, we take seriously the concerns of members of religious and other minorities who believe they are portrayed inaccurately or who have concerns about curriculum content; the latter may come from a difference between values held by the newcomers and by members of the society they have come to - for example, in relation to the role and status of females in Canadian society.

The Commission feels that taking the time to explain different views is the best way to bridge gaps in cultural understanding, including religious differences. Strategies designed for better understanding and acceptance would include pre-service and in-service education of teachers, to ensure they are better informed about the differences within and among religions, as well as improved partnerships with the community and more sensitive leadership at all levels.

Language, ethno-cultural, and racial minorities

Members of several language, ethno-cultural, and racial minority communities came to the Commission concerned about lost opportunities: too many of their children are failing, are in special education or non-university streams, or are dropping out of school.

Schools can and must serve all students. As we have already said, while some of our recommendations will benefit all students directly, some groups of students have special needs that deserve attention. We have proposed improvements in language acquisition support for members of linguistic or ethno-cultural minorities.

We have argued that, in serving the needs of students from ethno-cultural and racial minorities, there must be significant changes in curriculum, initial teacher education, and on-going professional development; there must also be fair testing and strengthened partnerships with the community. However, we are concerned that even this may not be sufficient, and we are suggesting interventions that, we believe, would more fully respond to the needs we heard.

Because it is important to keep track of the educational attainment of different groups in society, we have already recommended that this be done. Given that we know that children of single parents, children whose parents are poor, or children from some minority groups do not do as well as others, the school system has a responsibility to identify barriers to success and, where it can, take action to remove those barriers.(7) This means conducting studies and audits, in partnership with communities, to identify problems that exist. Then, schools and school boards (and the Ministry) must develop action plans and implement them once more, of course, in partnership with parents and the communities concerned.

Finally, the circle would be closed by monitoring achievement levels for improvement, and by taking further remedial action if necessary.

In his report on race relations, Stephen Lewis was moved by what he heard concerning education. As he said,

The Lewis report recommended that the Ministry monitor the implementation of employment equity in schools and in the Ministry, and that faculties of education review their admissions criteria to attract and enrol more qualified members of minority groups. In our discussion of teacher professionalism and development in Chapter 12, we discuss the need for faculties of education and other partners to ensure the existence of a pool of qualified teachers from a variety of backgrounds.

Less than two years ago, an Anti-Racism, Equity and Access Division was created in the newly restructured Ministry of Education and Training; representatives of many groups told us they have high expectations for this initiative. The division, led by an Assistant Deputy Minister, has responsibility for responding to the recommendations of Stephen Lewis's report, and for implementing the anti-racism and ethno-cultural equity provisions of Bill 21.*

In Chapter 17, we return to the issue of the best way to represent the interests of particular communities in the Ministry.

Recommendation 136

*We strongly recommend that the Ministry of Education and Training always have an Assistant Deputy Minister responsible, in addition to other duties, for advocacy on behalf of anglophones, francophones, and ethno-cultural and racial minorities.

Other government initiatives, such as the recent proclamation of Bill 79, the Employment Equity Act, should also have an impact on the education of children of minority groups. It is expected that, as a result of this legislation, boards will employ a more representative workforce at all levels, and that, therefore, more children will be able to find role models from their own background in the adults who are part of their school communities, and interact with more adults who have an in-depth understanding of their cultural background.

We want to ensure that all these local people have the capacity to implement the anti-racism education agenda.

Recommendation 137

*We recommend that trustees, educators, and support staff be provided with professional development in anti-racism education.

We also believe it is imperative that performance evaluation for supervisory officers, principals, and teachers should explicitly make implementation of anti-racism policies an important criterion. This would ensure that professionals at all levels are involved in the implementation of anti-racism initiatives; it would also ensure that all students in the province receive the education they deserve.

Recommendation 138

*We recommend that the performance management process for supervisory officers, principals, and teachers specifically include measurable outcomes related directly to anti-racism policies and plans of the Ministry and the school boards.

In our view, part of the solution to ensuring that policy becomes classroom reality is to involve the community in the implementation and monitoring process: schools and boards should seek input from the community to decide on the measurable outcomes of anti-racism policies and plans.

As part of the monitoring process, schools and boards should receive feedback on whether these outcomes had been achieved, and should make the report public and easily accessible to parents and other members of the community.

In Chapter 17, we deal with the improvement plans schools should be required to develop, and in Chapter 19, we describe the kind of public report the Ministry should require school boards to make annually. These accountability measures should include a full report, not only on implementation of the anti-racism policies and plans, but also on the way parents and the community were involved in the process.

Recommendation 139

*We recommend that, for the purposes of the anti-racism and ethno-cultural equity provisions of Bill 21, the Ministry of Education and Training require boards and schools to seek input from parents and community members in implementing and monitoring the plans. This process should be linked to the overall school and board accountability mechanisms.

Earlier in this report, we discussed the need for teachers to have curriculum and assessment tools, including texts, tests, software, and audio-visual materials that are unbiased - not just in terms of race and ethnicity, but also on the basis of class, gender, sexual orientation, and religion.

Recommendation 140

*We further recommend that the Ministry and school boards systematically review and monitor teaching materials of all types (texts, reading materials, videos, software, etc.), as well as teaching practices, educational programs (curriculum), and assessment tools to ensure that they are free of racism and meet the spirit and letter of anti-racism policies.

Our hearings also alerted us to educational issues related to particular communities - especially the black and the Spanishand Portuguese-language communities. Of course, the previous recommendations apply to all groups, and should lead to great improvement in the learning experiences of their children; but we want to examine the particular needs of the three groups, and make recommendations designed to ensure that children from all minority groups are able to achieve as successfully as other students.

Black students, teachers, parents, and community leaders came to the Commission and expressed serious concerns about the achievement levels of their young people. They expressed frustration over a lack of improvement over the years, during which time they have voiced their concerns to school boards and to the Ministry. They are concerned about the future of young blacks who, without a secondary school diploma (let alone a college diploma or university degree), face limited job prospects, social marginalization, and personal defeat. These presenters argued forcefully that the education system is failing black students, and that there is an education crisis in their community.

While the Ministry of Education and Training does not have province-wide data on the achievement patterns of students according to sub-population, there are a variety of good, reliable data from individual boards. Provincial analyses, such as that conducted by the Child, Youth and Family Policy Research Centre for the Ministry of Citizenship in 1989,(9) use reports from individual school boards.

Probably the most comprehensive data are those available from the Toronto Board of Education. These indicate that 9 percent of its secondary school students in 1991-92 were black; in that year, they made up only seven percent of students in the advanced level, but 16 and 18 percent of the general and basic levels respectively. Between 1987 and 1991, there was a slight increase in the proportion of black students studying at the advanced level.

Data showed that 36 percent of black secondary school students were "at risk," based on their grades in English and math courses; this pattern was repeated when only students in the advanced level were considered and when the black student category was broken down into those born in Canada, in Caribbean countries, and in Africa. Even black students who have university-educated parents, or parents in professional occupations, or who live with both parents, continue to do disappointingly, according to the Toronto data. On the other hand, compared to 1987 data, there has been a statistically important improvement, mostly by Canadian-born and African-born black students, although black students still remain significantly behind their peers.(10)

In a separate analysis, the Toronto board tracked students who were in Grade 9 in 1987 and analyzed their record of achievement, based on results at the end of 1992. It found that 42 percent of the black, 1987, Grade 9 students had left the system by the end of 1992 without graduating. Even among those whose parents were in semi-professional occupations, black students were more likely to drop out.(11)

Black parents are concerned that the large proportion of black students in the general- and basic-level courses (as opposed to advanced-level courses) not only limits their opportunities to enter post-secondary education programs, it also increases the risk that they will drop out. This is confirmed by the Toronto board data, which indicate that the non-completion (or drop-out) rate of all students is: 21 percent from the advanced level, 48 percent from the general, and 64 percent from the basic.

The Board of Education for the City of York has also compiled comprehensive data on the achievement levels of various sub-populations.(12) Their data also found that black students are less likely to be taking advanced-level English and, in particular, are less likely to take math courses. Only 44 percent of black students were in the advanced math course, compared to a significantly greater percentage of other students.

When the place of birth is considered for racial groups (where numbers are large enough to permit analyses), Canadian-born black students of Caribbean descent are over-represented in basic- and general-level math courses, but equitably represented in the various English course levels. Foreign-born black students of Caribbean descent are over-represented in basic- and general-level English and math programs. On the other hand, foreign-born black students of African descent are more equitably represented at each level.

The North York Board of Education collected data on the basis of country of origin, and is now planning to do so based on racial backgrounds. Thus the information base to help identify the needs of students from different communities is widening.

Although we know that a good number of black students do very well indeed - and we heard from and worked with some of them the overall situation is hardly in dispute.

Based on the strong, even passionate, presentations from the black community, and on the available data, we agree that "there is a crisis among black youth with respect to education and achievement."(13) Our sense is that this problem is not limited to the Greater Toronto Area, but that the data could likely be extrapolated to other communities in Ontario, perhaps more so in such urban areas as Hamilton and Ottawa than elsewhere.

Others have been similarly convinced. We have already mentioned Stephen Lewis's "Report on Race Relations." In Towards a New Beginning, the report of the African-Canadian/Four Levels of Government Committee, the authors found that "virtually every facet of Ontario's education system needs to be examined critically, if it is to be made more responsive to the needs of those who fall outside the mainstream. Teacher training and recruitment, curriculum revision, employment equity, anti-racism education: all these must be the subject of closest scrutiny.(15)

Though almost every submission and presentation to the Commission from the black community included recommendations directed to existing schools and school boards, a number also called for the establishment of what have been called Black Focused Schools (BFS), or more recently, African-Centred Schools (ACS), and Inclusive Schools. (We use BFS to refer to all three.)(16)

Since 1992, when Black Focused Schools (the terminology used) were publicly recommended in the Towards a New Beginning report, there has been considerable debate on the subject, both within the black community and outside it. Our public hearings and submissions became yet another forum for that discussion.

Lennox Farrell, one of our presenters, speaking on behalf of the Black Action Defence Committee, described Black Focused Schools as not necessarily black schools - any student could attend. Nor would all the staff have to be black, but they would have to have an interest in or be experienced in teaching black students, and be willing to ensure they succeed. He went on to say that BFSs are "defined by the staff who will be empowered themselves to empower black students. [They are] not to teach black history, but to teach realistic history ... in essence, to do what education should already be doing: to be realistic, not Euro-centric or Afro-centric in that sense."(17)

The arguments in favour of BFSs are centred on building the prerequisites for academic achievement. Parents and teachers argue that, despite their attempts to bring about systemic change, not enough has been done or accomplished, and there is a need for more dramatic, potentially faster, action.

However, we recognize that we are in the middle of an on-going debate that raises fundamental issues about our values as a society. To some, the notion of Black Focused Schools smacks of a return to segregation, to a time when, unbelievably even in Ontario,(18) black students were not allowed to attend "regular" schools.

Others are not only concerned about the divisiveness such a proposal creates between groups, they are of the opinion that a policy based on race, whatever its intent, can become a racist policy. They believe as well that, in practical terms, because blacks in Canada must operate in a mixed society, moving from mixed schools would be a mistake. Don't separate the black students, they argue: fix the schools.

Opponents also accuse supporters of BFSs of seeking a segregated school system. This is a very difficult issue for members of this Commission, each of whom has spent a lifetime working towards a genuinely multiracial Canada.

There must not be the slightest doubt that this Commission shares the great concern, the desperation even, of the black community, about the under-achievement of black students as a group. We can hardly stress too strongly our conviction that the school system must better accommodate the needs of black children and young black men and women. Schools must become more inclusive, staff must become more representative of our society as a whole, courses must reflect the perspectives and contributions of minority groups.

But even that is not enough. We must, as a matter of great urgency, mobilize the best talent available throughout Ontario to develop innovative strategies for improving the academic performance of black students.(19)

The idea of a "demonstration school" is one that we see as having great promise. In this context, a demonstration school is a school in which particular interventions are planned and carried out to boost the achievement of students. The hope is that lessons from successful models would then be replicated in other schools: challenging and relevant curriculum, innovative and engaging teaching methods, and stronger and mutually sustaining links between the school and its parents and community.

Recommendation 141

*We recommend that in jurisdictions with large numbers of black students, school boards, academic authorities, faculties of education and representatives of the black community collaborate to establish demonstration schools and innovative programs based on best practices in bringing about academic success for black students.

Finally, as we noted earlier, concerns were expressed about the success levels of children, particularly those from Portuguese and Hispanic/Latin American communities. And, as we noted, the most important measure of educational equity is the level of academic success being earned (and enjoyed) by students from various communities.

When data indicate a collective problem of underachievement among the children of a particular group, it behooves schools and boards to pay attention and take steps to improve the situation.

Analyzing the data on Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking students requires care. In the former case, current reports do not distinguish adequately or at all between Central American and South American students; there is a similar lack of specificity between Portuguese-speaking students from the mainland and those from the Azores.

We do know, however, that, as the result of changing immigration and refugee patterns, more recent Spanish-speaking immigrants have been predominantly from Central America; we believe, as well, that most Portuguese immigrants to Ontario come from the Azores.

Clearly, the data on Hispanic/Latin American students and on Portuguese students should be interpreted to reflect diverse and continuously changing immigration sources, including changes in the original socio-economic levels of the immigrants and refugees.

We turn once again to data on the academic achievement of students in Ontario schools. The Toronto Board's reports are the only data we have that clearly identify Portuguese and Hispanic/Latin American students.(20) They show that, in 1991, while 74 percent of all Grade 9 students were taking courses at the advanced level, only 53 percent of Portuguese students and 61 percent of Hispanic students were doing so.

Like aboriginal students, Portuguese students had the second highest proportion of learners in the basic level. The Toronto Board data also identifies students "at risk" of failing, as indicated by low marks, and the slow pace at which they are accumulating secondary school credits: Hispanic students, at 38 percent, and Portuguese, at 33 percent, were among the most at risk.

Based on "home language," it was also found that Portuguese-speaking students have a high drop-out rate: in 1992, using the same study described earlier, 48 percent of Portuguese-speaking students who had been in Grade 9 in 1987 had graduated, and another 11 percent were still in Toronto schools. In other words, 41 percent of Portuguese-speaking students had left school without graduating (compared to a third of the overall population), among the highest of any group the board analyzed.

When the family's socio-economic status was factored in, the pattern remained the same: in comparisons of children of semi-professional parents, Portuguese students were still more likely than others to drop out. Comparing Portuguese-speaking students born in Canada with those born outside this country, those who are Canadian-born had slightly higher levels of achievement but, in the measures we have discussed, even they were below the average for the system.

Alerted by the student achievement data, we attended a Portuguese community meeting, in addition, of course, to welcoming representation from that community at the public hearings. Speakers expressed frustration with the percentage of their students being streamed into non-university courses and/or dropping out, the perceived status of Portuguese as a "heritage," rather than a useful international language, and the low expectations teachers have of their children and young adults.

They called for more Portuguese-speaking teachers, a curriculum that better reflects the presence of Portuguese-speaking people in the classroom and in the world, support for students in need of assistance, and active attempts to reach out to parents.

Presenters argued that some students need support in English (and Portuguese) language development, but that withdrawing them from the regular class to attend special classes in these areas is not necessarily the best solution. Some also asked for more analysis of the situation of Portuguese students, so that the community has information on which it can monitor improvement and interact with school boards and the Ministry.(21)

We will indicate ways of meeting these issues as well as those of all other concerned communities in our conclusion.

Conclusion

As is clear from the discussion so far, it is important that boards collect data that will indicate when children of a particular group are not achieving at the same rate as other students. Equally, it is clearly unacceptable to allow such a situation to continue; therefore, information needs to result in action.

There are various strategies that teachers can use to help students improve, just as there are ways the school community can assist the teachers, and the teachers can aid parents in helping and encouraging their children to learn.

Elsewhere in this report, we have described some strategies, such as the transitional use of the student's first language or peer tutoring, and there may well be other methods for helping these students, which are being used successfully by teachers and principals.

There are, as well, strategies that involve the entire school, such as the Accelerated Schools Project developed by Henry M. Levin, professor of education and of economics at Stanford University. The program was established there in 1986 after an exhaustive five-year study on the status of at-risk students in the United States. The study found that these students are academically behind from the day they start school, and fall further and further behind the longer they are in school. Therefore, the basic premise of the Accelerated Schools Project is that "at-risk students must learn at a faster rate - not a slower rate that drags them further and further behind. An enrichment strategy is called for rather than a remedial one."(22) Dr. Levin contends that, typically, schools have had low expectations of at-risk students.

To counteract that, the accelerated schools are built on three central principles: unity of purpose, empowerment coupled with responsibility, and building on strengths. Unity of purpose refers to an active collaboration among members of the entire school community, including parents, in setting and achieving a common set of goals for the school. Empowerment coupled with responsibility refers to the ability of the participants in the school community to make important educational decisions and take responsibility for implementing them, and for the outcome of those decisions. Finally, accelerated schools look for the strengths that all members of the school community can bring to the school, rather than trying to identify weaknesses in some participants that others have to help them overcome.

These school communities work together to create powerful learning experiences actively involving children in higher-order thinking and complex reasoning in the context of a relevant curriculum. Working together and using all available human and other resources - for example, the active participation of parents and the use of information technology - they integrate the curriculum content, teaching strategies, and supports.

Dr. Levin does not believe that the concept involves a large infusion of additional funds or new instructional packages. Instead, he concludes that

We strongly believe that implementing the recommendations of our report will move every school to becoming an accelerated school. We would expect that, over time, fewer and fewer groups of children would be identified as being at risk of having significantly lower levels of achievement. However, there are such groups at present, and there may continue to be as a result of future demographic changes.

We believe that school boards are responsible for identifying successful methods of helping at-risk children learn, and ensuring that their teachers and principals get needed professional development to acquire the skills and information to use these methods. Having done that, boards are in a position to insist that teachers and principals apply these methods to help all children achieve excellence.

Recommendation 142

*We therefore recommend that whenever there are indications of collective underachievement in any particular group of students, school boards ensure that teachers and principals have the necessary strategies and human and financial resources to help these students improve.

Our recommendations in this chapter are intended to remove barriers that prevent some students from being as successful as they could be, and to create conditions that will have a positive impact on them. We repeat what we have said elsewhere: people have to set high expectations for all students, and mobilize the strengths of all our communities to build the kinds of learning environments in which all students can attain higher levels of achievement.

__________
Endnotes (Chapter 16)

1. 1991 census data, quoted in Association of Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology, "Environmental Scan" (Toronto, 1994).
2. Using a medium population growth scenario, another Statistics Canada report projected the visible minority population to increase to 2,235,400 by the year 2001, and to 3,773,100 by 2016. See Statistics Canada, Population Projections of Visible Minority Groups, Canada, Provinces and Regions, 1991-2016, no. 4.17 (1993), appendix table. Prepared by Warren E. Kalbach and others.
3. Part 3 of the 1991 Every Secondary Student Survey, when desegregating data by race and parental occupation or parent level of education or parental presence still found significant underachievement of black students compared to white and Asian students (Toronto Board of Education Research Services, report 205 [1993], p. 30). However, an "unapproved final copy" of the "Teenage School Dropout and Young Adult Unemployment Report," based on findings of the Ontario Health Supplement, found that neither immigrant nor cultural minority status distinguished dropouts from non-dropouts (p. 24). However, as Patricia Daenzer and George Dei note, "many of these studies are methodologically limited for our purposes since the sample categories are ?visible minorities' or ?racial minorities.' This conflating of the experiences of students from a wide range of cultures and ethno-specific groupings obscures scientific specificity." See Daenzer and Dei, "Issues of School Completion/ Dropout: A Focus on Black Youth in Ontario Schools and Other Relevant Studies," p. 1. Paper commissioned by the Ontario Royal Commission on Learning, 1994.
4. Jerry Paquette, "Major Trends in Recent Educational Policy-making in Canada: Refocusing and Renewing in Challenging Times," p. 22, 23, 28, 31, and 32. Paper commissioned by the Ontario Royal Commission on Learning, 1993.
5. Ontario, Ministry of Education and Training, Education about Religion in Ontario Public Elementary Schools: Resource Guide (Toronto, 1994), p. 7.
6. Ontario, Ministry of Education and Training, Education about Religion.
7. For one school board's analyses of these phenomena, see Maisy Cheng, Maria Yau, and Suzanne Ziegler, The 1991 Every Secondary Student Survey, part 2, Detailed Profiles of Toronto's Secondary School Students, and part 3, Program Level and Student Achievement, reports 204 and 205 (Toronto Board of Education Research Services, 1993); and Robert S. Brown, A Follow-up of the Grade 9 Cohort of 1987 Every Secondary Student Survey Participants, report 207 (Toronto Board of Education Research Services, 1993).
8. Stephen Lewis, "Report on Race Relations" (1992), p. 20.
9. Child, Youth and Family Policy Research Centre, Visible Minority Youth Project (Toronto: Ontario Ministry of Citizenship, 1989). See "Education and Visible Minority Youth" in this report, p. 33-34.
10. Cheng, Yau, and Ziegler, 1991 Every Secondary Student Survey, part 3.
11. Brown, Follow-up of the Grade 9 Cohort.
12. Board of Education for the City of York, Planning and Research Department, Report to the Standing Committee on Race Relations (Newmarket, ON, 1994).
13. Scarborough Board of Education, Report on the Consultation with the Black and Caribbean Community (Scarborough, ON, 1991), p. 23.
14. Ontario, Ministry of Education and Training, Learning or Leaving? The "Dropout" Dilemma among Black Students in Ontario Public Schools (Toronto, 1994), p. 5. Prepared by George Dei.
15. The Four-Level Working Group on Metropolitan Toronto Black Canadian Community Concerns, Towards a New Beginning (Toronto, 1992).
16. See George Dei, "Beware of False Dichotomies: Examining the Case for 'Black Focused' Schools in Canada," no date.
17. Lennox Farrell, for the Black Action Defence Committee. Presentation to the Ontario Royal Commission on Learning, 1993.
18. In Ontario, separate schools were established for black students under provincial legislation (The Common Schools Act, 1850). Separate publicly funded schools for black children were located in Amherstburg, Brantford, Chatham, London, Niagara-on-the-Lake, and St. Catharines in the 19th century, although the legislation was not repealed until 1964.
    For more on the history of black education, see:
    Keren Brathwaite, "The Black Student and the School: A Canadian Dilemma," in African Continuities/L'Héritage africain, ed. Simeon W. Chilunga and Saida Niang (Toronto: Terebi, 1989).
    Daniel G. Hill, The Freedom Seekers: Blacks in Early Canada (Toronto: Stoddart, 1981).
19. For a discussion on this issue, see Dei, "Beware of False Dichotomies," p. 21.
20. For an analysis of student performance on the basis of ethnicity, language background, race, class, and parental presence, see, for example, Cheng, Yau, and Ziegler, 1991 Every Secondary Student Survey.
21. For further discussion of issues facing Portuguese students, see Ilda Januario, "A Happy Little Guy? Case Study of a Portuguese-Canadian Child in the Primary Grades," Orbit 25, no. 2 (1994): 44-45.
22. Henry M. Levin, "Learning from Accelerated Schools" (1993), p. 2, a paper adapted from his chapter in Selecting and Integrating School Improvement Programs, ed. James H. Block, Susan T. Everson, and Thomas R. Guskey (New York: Scholastic, forthcoming).

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