13 paths to success
The actions in schools and in civil society that seem to contribute the most to student success may be grouped in 13 areas. These 13 paths to success are keys in the hands of the people and groups concerned, keys leading to action to reach the objective by 2020. They will be implemented according to the specific features of each region, depending on the needs of the schools and students.
They are as follows:
- Path 1: Promote education throughout Québec and encourage students to stay in school
- Path 2: Establish targets for each school board and monitor them
- Path 3: Mobilize key players in the regions
- Path 4: Prepare children in disadvantaged areas and children with difficulties for starting school
- Path 5: Reduce the number of students per class in elementary school
- Path 6: Reduce learning delays in elementary school
- Path 7: Reinforce the New Approaches, New Solutions intervention strategy, building on actions in more than 100 schools
- Path 8: Provide individualized support for secondary school students
- Path 9: Increase extracurricular sports and cultural activities
- Path 10: Set up community projects targeting at-risk secondary school students in the most disadvantaged areas of Montréal
- Path 11: Provide better support for Secondary IV and Secondary V students in order to help them reach graduation
- Path 12: Facilitate and encourage access to vocational training
- Path 13: Encourage the largest possible number of dropouts to go back to school
These 13 paths call for active participation by everyone involved and include the concerns and measures set out in the Youth Action Strategy. They are based on actions planned by all partners, so that student success is supported by a collective effort.
The proposed actions are designed to be implemented at four critical points in schooling:
- early childhood and the start of schooling, because prevention and early screening and intervention are the first actions to take to promote success
- the transition from elementary to secondary school, a time when the possibility of dropping out too often begins to take root
- Secondary IV and V, when too many students drop out just before reaching the finish line, in order to provide support for those who no longer find meaning in their studies
- when students leave school with no diploma or qualifications, in order to help them “drop back in” as quickly as possible and enable them to later make a successful transition to the job market