DOCUMENT RESUME ED 430 750 RC 021 971 AUTHOR Gaskell, Jane TITLE Secondary Schools in Canada: The National Report of the Exemplary Schools Project. INSTITUTION Canadian Education Association, Toronto (Ontario). ISBN ISBN-0-920315-72-0 PUB DATE 1995-00-00 NOTE 305p. AVAILABLE FROM Canadian Education Association, 252 Bloor St. West, Suite 8-200, Toronto, Ontario M5S 1V5, Canada ($35 Canadian dollars). PUB TYPE Books (010)-- Reports - Research (143) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC13 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Accountability; Collegiality; Education Work Relationship; *Educational Environment; Educational Policy; *Educational Practices; Educational Research; Faculty Development; Foreign Countries; *High Risk Students; School Community Relationship; *School Culture; Secondary Education; Secondary School Curriculum; *Secondary Schools; Student Attitudes; Student School Relationship; *Success IDENTIFIERS Canada; *Exemplary Schools Project (Canada) ABSTRACT The Exemplary Schools Project was a national cooperative project that identified successful Canadian secondary schools and analyzed their practices to suggest policy implications. Five issues were examined: the meaning and recognition of success; interactions between the school and its context; the influence of school structures, processes, and culture in fostering success; characteristics of student life in school; and services provided to at-risk students. From over 260 nominations, 21 diverse secondary schools were selected, including large urban schools, small rural schools, minority-language schools, and Aboriginal schools. A research team spent 20 days at each school gathering information, from which case studies, a national report, a video, and a resource archive were developed. Chapter 1 discusses challenges facing secondary education in Canada in the 1990s. Chapter 2 describes the origins of the project, research design, school selection process, data collected, and framework for analyses. Chapter 3 describes the 21 schools studied. Chapter 4 deals with the meaning of school in terms of attendance, discipline, grades, and the relationship between social and academic learning. Chapter 5 discusses issues related to the formal curriculum, especially what constitutes the core. Chapter 6 examines the school environment and how schools respond to diversity, gender issues, student power, and at-risk students. Chapter 7 explores teacher issues such as collegiality, professional development, teaching methods, and the influence of technology. Chapter 8 discusses parent involvement, partnerships with business and community, centralization, and school choice. Chapter 9 addresses the sharing of information, school accountability, and the relevance of research. Chapter 10 includes conclusions and implications for policy and practice. Two appendices list advisory committee members and the case study schools and their reports. Contains 58 references. (TD) 11)CAVIAdiAl4tett/tcddi014 6e601461(01019 66k001 1114CAKAA 'The MAMA Refort of The &et/140,m1 6d/took Protect IIIII 11 1181111 ""TAI h ... t--- , BESTCOPYAVAILABLE cy) . U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS r 411" , EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY CENTER (ERIC) i1 CV 1 This document has been reproduced as SU:Zann 0 received from the person or organization originating it. C) r: 0 Minor changes have been made to improve 1 aiN 3 U1/4.01/4. reproduction quality. k.) points of view or opinions stated in this docu- c ment do not necessarily representofficial s. TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES OERI position or policy. INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)." \... SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN CANADA The National Report of the Exemplary Schools Project Jane Gaskell, Principal author Canadian Education Association Suite 8-200, 252 Bloor Street West Toronto, Ontario M5S 1V5 1995 3 Acknowledgements The Canadian Education Association is deeply grateful to Human Resources Development Canada, without whosegenerous support this unique and valuable project could not have been carried out. Many thanks are due also to the project's Co-ordinating Committee, its Chair, Dr. Jane Gaskell, principal author of this report, and to members of the research teams for their untiring efforts in gathering so much information in the 21 selected schools and communities during the 1993-1994 school year, often inex- treme weather conditions and under severe constraints of time and budget. We also thank the hundreds of other individuals with an interest in Canadian education who contributed their time and effort to ensure the success of this project. Canadian Education Association Suite 8-200, 252 Bloor Street West, Toronto, Ontario M5S 1V5 1995 ISBN: 0-920315-72-0 Cover by Lancaster & Reid Design Printed in Canada Publié en framais sous,le titre : L'école secondaire au Canada: Rapport national de l'Etude sur les écoles exemplaires Secondary Schoolsin Canada PREFACE / v EXECUTIVE SUMMARY / vii Chapter 1: SECONDARY EDUCATIONIN CANADA TODAY /1 Challenges Facing Secondary Schools /2 The Education System Responds /6 Questions for Public Education /9 Chapter 2: THE SEARCH FOREXEMPLARY SECONDARY SCHOOLS /11 Planning /12 Studying the Schools /19 Material Produced /21 Approaches to the Subject /22 Chapter 3: THE SCHOOLS /25 Characteristics of the Set /25 The Schools /32 Chapter 4: WHAT COUNTS ASSUCCESS: THE CURRENCY OF SCHOOLING /53 Schooling and Opportunity /55 What Counts as Success for Students? /66 Success as Social and AcademicAchievement /82 Concluding Comments: The Value ofSecondary Schooling /85 Chapter 5: HOW CURRICULUMIS DEFINED: POWER AND KNOWLEDGE / 87 Core and Periphery in the Curriculum / 89 What Is Core? Debates aboutCurriculum /102 Concluding Comments: Knowledge forAll /134 Chapter 6: STUDENTS AND THESOCIAL: CARING, MOTIVATION AND SOCIALLEARNING /137 Size and School Climate /139 Discipline and Teaching the SocialCurriculum/147 Responding to Cultural and RacialDifference /155 Gender /162 Extracurricular Activities and Student Life /166 Programs for Students at Risk /173 Concluding Comments: Clarifying and Valuing the Social /179 Chapter 7: TEACHING AND TEACHERS: BUILDING COMMUNITIES OF EDUCATORS /181 Hiring /183 Shared Vision and Differences /188 Professional Development /194 Leadership /197 Teachers' Organizations /203 Teaching /207 Integration and Collaboration /212 Technology /216 Concluding Comments: A Reflective Community /219 Chapter 8: CONNECTIONS WITH A LARGER WORLD /221 Parental Involvement /223 Partnerships /231 Centralization and Decentralization: Relations among Jurisdictions /235 Choice and Neighbourhoods /242 Concluding Comments: Autonomy and Accountability /249 Chapter 9: INFORMATION AND ACCOUNTABILITY/251 Reputation and Informal Knowledge /253 Measuring Academic Outcomes /256 Measuring Other Outcomes /266 Concluding Comments: Measuring Performance for Schools, Parents, and the Public /271 Chapter 10: CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS /273 The Analysis /274 The Conclusions /277 The Policy Implications /279 REFERENCES /283 APPENDICES A. Advisory Committee for the Exemplary Schools Project / 288 B. Case Study Schools, Reports, and Researchers / 290 iv Preface THE EXEMPLARY SCHOOLS PROJECT was a major research study of a highly diverse, selected group of secondary schools across Canada. The project was funded by the Innovations Program of Human Resources Development Canada and administered by the Canadian Education Association. This national study was the largest of its kind ever undertaken in Canada. As a collaborative exercise in education research, it broke new ground and was supported by a more broadly based group of constituencies than any previous study of this type. Work on the project was assisted by an Advisory Committee of representatives from the 12 provincial and territorial govern- ment ministries responsible for elementary and secondary educa- tion, and from national organizations of parents, trustees, teachers and education administrators. (See Appendix A.) The research design was developed by a Co-ordinating Com- mittee that also supervised and co-ordinated all aspects of the research. Members of this committee were as follows: Dr. Jane Gaskell Chair (University of British Columbia), Dr. Jo-ann Archibald (University of British Columbia), Dr. Margaret Haughey (University of Alberta), Dr. Patrick Renihan (University of Sas- katchewan), Dr. Dennis Thiessen (University of Toronto), Dr. Mary Maguire (McGill University), Dr. Claude Deblois (Université Laval), and Dr. David MacKinnon (Acadia University). Dr. Norman Henchey (Professor Emeritus, McGill University) provided liaison with Human Resources Development Canada. Mr. Patrick Fleck was the Director of the Project for the Canadian Education Associa- tion. Following selection of the schools, research teams were de- ployed, through contractual arrangements with ten universities from coast to coast, to gather data in the schools and their respective communities. In all, more than 60 researchers collected data during the 1993-1994 school year. Principal researchers for each school site wrote extensive case studies, which, in turn, became the primary resource material for the national report. This report is the culmination of two and one-half years of intensive planning and research by the Canadian Education Asso- ciation, research teams, participating schools, and school districts. The principal author was Dr. Jane Gaskell, Associate Dean, Faculty of Education, University of British Columbia. Hers was the chal- lenging task of studying