| Canada - Building Literacy and Enhancing Educational Capacity in Schools |
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CURRENT PROJECT PROJECT BACKGROUND: In Ontario, one third of the 171,000 elementary school students in the Toronto public schools fail to achieve at the provincial standards in literacy and numeracy, and one quarter of the 86,000 secondary students drop out before high school graduation. In addition, according to a Toronto District School Board (TDSB) study, one third of the students have no help with their schoolwork outside of the classroom. The same statistics apply to the Catholic schools, the population of which is one-third of the public board. When taken in the global context, these academic results can only hurt Canada's competitive advantage in the world and lead to declining national wealth and quality of life, especially for those many under-achievers, the main subject of the program. This project has a practical, replicable and affordable program to address this looming crisis. The educational system has tried to address this lag over the past decade largely through proscribing standardized tests at periodic ages from 8 to 15. The improvement in student achievement has been marginal, and there is no reason to anticipate better results in the near-to-mid term unless some other proven resources and strategies can be brought to bear. This IDRF supported project takes a new approach to the challenge by engaging the highest achieving and most empathetic students to provide informed tutoring to their failing peers.Peer-to-peer tutoring can prove to be very cost-effective and successful by providing students with a strong support network in their own community.
COMMUNITY TARGETS: The project targets areas of need in the city, as outlined by the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) and the City of Toronto. The City of Toronto has identified thirteen Priority Areas or Neighbourhoods throughout Toronto. These Priority Areas are home to the city's most vulnerable. These areas have higher concentrations of children, seniors, new immigrants and visible minorities when compared to the rest of Toronto's neighbourhoods. In addition, these areas have the most civic unrest and underachievement in the schools. The Priority Areas are in need of structures, resources and support systems and services. These communities have large at-risk populations and they continue to be marginalized and underserved.
GOALS & OBJECTIVES:
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