Sources of research on secondary schools and student success

The following materials are links to some good quality research on secondary schools and student success.  Included are newsletters, websites, journals and excerpts from reports: 

Literature Related to Secondary School Student Success

Ferguson, B., Tilleczek, K., Boydell, K., Rummens, J.A., Cote, D and Roth-Edney, D. (2005). Early School Leavers: Understanding the Lived Reality of Student Disengagement from Secondary School. Final Report submitted to the Ontario Ministry of Education, May 31, 2005. 
Full Report     Executive Summary & Findings                                     

This report begins with a survey of the literature on risk and protective factors associated with early school leaving.  The report discusses the findings of a study that interviewed 193 young people in Ontario who have left school or are at risk of doing so.  The report addresses the question of which factors help to ensure that students stay in school or return to complete their diploma, and the implications of the research for policy and practice. 

Jerald, C. (2007) Keeping kids in school:  Lessons from research about preventing dropouts.  Center for Public Education.
Article                                                                                                    

This article summarizes research that offers lessons on how to tackle the dropout problem, from identifying students who are likely to drop out, to intervention and prevention methods, as well as what to do when intervention and prevention aren’t enough.

King, A.J.C., Warren, W.K., Boyer, J.C. and Chin, P. (2005) Double Cohort Study. Phase 4 Report submitted to the Ontario Ministry of Education.
Full Report     Executive Summary & Findings                                      

This report looks at data collected from 2003-2005 to determine factors affecting Ontario secondary school graduation rates, and projecting university and college enrolments.  Various programs are examined, and a comparison is made between the programs of Ontario schools and the schools in provinces that have higher graduation rates.

Levin (2007).  An approach to secondary school improvement.  Prepared for Alan Luke, Queensland University of Technology.  OISE, Toronto, November, 2007.  Report                                                                          

This paper sets out in brief an approach to improving student outcomes from secondary school, in particular higher graduation rates. Five areas requiring simultaneous attention are outlined that underlie such improvement and some of the main implementation challenges are discussed.

Literature Related to Secondary School Student Pathways

Bowlby, J. and McMullen, K.  (2002). At a Crossroads: First Results for the 18 to 20-Year-Old Cohort of the Youth in Transition Survey.  Statistics  Canada: Ottawa.
Full Report     Executive Summary & Findings   

This chapter looks at pathways followed by 18-20-year-old youth after high school.  The study divides the youth into five groups according to their current school status.  The characteristics of these groups are described, the self-assessed quality of the youth's skills after leaving high school are discussed, as well as barriers to post-secondary participation are examined.

Hango, D. and de Broucker, P. (2007) Education-to-labour market pathways of Canadian youth: Findings from the youth in transition survey, CPRN Research
Report, Ottawa. 
Full Report     Executive Summary & Findings                                      

This report uses Statistics Canada’s Youth in Transition Survey (YITS) to study the pathways that youth take from education to the labour market and explores the important background factors associated with these pathways. 

Looker, E. D., Thiessen, V. (2008). The second chance system: Results from the three cycles of  the youth in transition survey.  April 2008.  Human Resources and Social Development Canada.  
Full Report     Executive Summary & Findings                                     

This paper discusses second chance options that are available to young people who drop out of school but later wish to continue their formal education. This analysis examines data from three cycles of the older cohort of the Youth in Transitions Survey (YITS) to identify the characteristics of individuals who use the second chance system to complete high school or pursue PSE.

Malatest (2007).  The Class of 2003 High School Follow-Up Survey.  Prepared by:  R.A. Malatest & Associates Ltd.  June 2007.  The Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation.
Full Report     Executive Summary & Findings                                     

The Class of 2003 survey was administered in New Brunswick, Manitoba, Alberta and Saskatchewan between May 2005 and July 2006 and was intended to provide data on high school experiences and reasons for not pursuing PSE.  This report presents new research on barriers to post-secondary education (PSE) in Canada relating to interest and motivation, finances, and academic requirements.

These websites contain research reports related to education:

1. Statistics Canada research papers
2. Publications from YITS (Youth in Transition Survey) and PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) scores
3. Canadian Millenium Scholarship foundation, Millenium Research Series
4. Center for Public Education, Findings from Research
5. Canadian Council on Learning, Reports & Data
6. Canadian Education Association, Research & Policy
7. HRDC Human Resources and Social Development Canada

• Research:  Literacy, Learning, Skills Development
• Learning Policy