Tracking Students who Graduate with Evergreen Certificates

Transcription

1 Tracking Students who Graduate with Evergreen Certificates In Praise of Evidence Based Practice

2 The Province of British Columbia and its ministries have committed, both in policy and in funding, to the principles of evidence-based practice. Conferences and papers sponsored by the province on a range of issues, from urban development to health practice, all speak to the importance of integrating the best available evidence with practitioner expertise. This evidence is to be drawn from the systematic collection of data through observation and measurement and the testing of hypotheses. Two strong examples of this movement to data-supported decision making are the Student Transitions Project and the Paths on Life s Way project that operate under the umbrella of the BC Council on Admissions and Transfer (BCCAT). The latter project recently published a report, Customized Lives? Multiple Life Course Activities of the Class of 88 Over 22 Years." 1 Through BCCAT, the provincial government has collected ongoing student post-secondary data, which has assisted the Ministry of Advanced Education, Innovation and Technology, the Ministry of Education and various school districts and public and private colleges and universities to plan and manage their programs in order to ensure student success. These projects have generated significant data on the post-secondary entry and exit pathways of British Columbia s high school students who graduate with a Dogwood diploma. It recently tracked the post- graduation pathways of international students. It initiated a special project examining the outcomes of Aboriginal students so that various federal and provincial funding streams could be redirected and programs reshaped. In its latest document it reviewed the postsecondary outcomes of students who did not graduate from secondary school, and who later entered post-secondary programs. It is time now to ask the Student Transitions Project to track another sector of our high school graduates, students who exit our public school system with an Evergreen Certificate. These may be the only students remaining whose post-secondary outcomes have not been measured and evaluated as part of this project. There are three principal reasons to immediately implement such an evaluation: 1) The first undeniable reason is equity for students with disabilities. Equity

3 2 has long been the ongoing narrative of this sector of students. Historically, these students were the last to be invited into the public schools, and once they were through the door, they were permitted only sanctioned access to separate schools, then separate rooms, and then classroom corners. It comes as no surprise then that now, as these same students and their families ask for assistance in charting out their post-secondary futures, they are the only group left out of the data review. International students paying a high tuition are also honoured with this level of care and interest in their post-secondary outcomes, while students with disabilities are denied the benefits of such research. Students with disabilities must be accorded full human rights and equity with other students including tracking and evaluating their post-secondary outcomes. In order to remedy this lack of equity, data collection about students who graduate with an Evergreen certificate that is equal to those who graduate with a Dogwood diploma should be implemented immediately. 2) The second key reason is to generate data to support an outcomes-based evaluation of the secondary curriculum framework for students who receive Evergreen certificates. No other area within the B.C. Ministry of Education is in more need of an outcomes-based evaluation than the current secondary curriculum framework in place for students who are labelled as having low-incidence special needs 1 by our school systems. Secondary school instruction for students who have moderate and severe disabilities has long been based on undetermined and at times vague learning objectives. High school students who follow the Dogwood track are guided by Prescribed Learning Outcomes (PLOs) that provide a clear learning path through to graduation. These learning targets and their assessment are regularly upgraded and fine-tuned to ensure they are connecting graduating youth with the contemporary culture and labour market. A quick review of what is happening in secondary programs for students labelled as having low incidence special needs in our province would reveal a strong commitment to an antiquated method of instruction referred to as functional and community-based. The premise of this teaching model is that students who are labelled as having low incidence special needs will have an educational goal of preparing for life after secondary school and transitioning to the next environment, usually a segregated day service. This 1 Low Incidence special needs though a cluster of very different disabilities (e.g. deafness; autism spectrum disorder; physical disability what is common about them is they occur relatively infrequently (low incidence), they are typically visible disabilities, the incidence of such disabilities may not be equal across school boards, and they generally require greater resources to serve. (Now in funding category Levels 1, 2, and 3.) A student with special needs means a student who has a disability of an intellectual, physical, sensory, emotional or behavioural nature, has a learning disability or has exceptional gifts or talents. (BC Ministry of Education, EduFacts,

4 3 curriculum in place today was originally developed in the 1970s, when educators looked to accommodate secondary students with disabilities who had previously only experienced institutional or segregated education. This curriculum introduced a package of learning objectives, which are loosely labelled life skills and independent living, and include significant hours of instructional time dedicated to both of these named objectives. At times, this means that students are asked to cook, clean, and even collect pop cans in their schools as part of this designated educational framework. There are few measurable standards or expectations applied for graduation. We know today that many students with the label of disability dream of a real job for real pay after school, or to perhaps attend college or university. The government agency, Community Living BC has also made a strong commitment to provide support to these young adults that will enable opportunities within the workforce and other inclusive postgraduation activities. It is now past time to move beyond this approach to education. Real data on the outcomes of secondary students who graduate with an Evergreen certificate would provide invaluable evidence as to the soundness of this educational approach. In addition, it would provide significant data about what the next environment really is for students, and whether the life skills and independent living structures in place actually support successful transitions. In order to re-evaluate the educational models of the past and present, the data to measure where students go and how they succeed after graduation is necessary. 3) The third important reason is to inform the guiding framework for transitions for students with disabilities, the Cross Ministry Transition Planning Protocol. The work done by the Student Transitions Project is evidence of the ongoing movement by various provincial ministries to collaborate and share information. This same acceptance of cooperative planning is increasingly being instituted by the various ministries who are responsible for citizens with disabilities and their families. This is particularly true in the area of transition planning for youth with disabilities who are exiting high school and who will enter the labour market and/or some kind of post-secondary education, perhaps with support from adult services. The cross ministry transition planning protocol, which has been in place since 2009, outlines the various responsibilities for the supporting ministries beginning when a student reaches the age of 14. The protocol includes 9 signatories including the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Advanced Education. This protocol is a large cross ministry endeavour and we at the moment have no real way of measuring its impact. We do not even have any baseline data with which to compare current outcomes. Furthermore, in order to guide decision-making by the ministries involved, relevant data is

5 4 highly necessary and often absent. In order to inform collaborative planning by students, their families, and the relevant government ministries, reliable data is of critical importance. Data that is obtained on an ongoing, rather than a one-off basis is a necessity if government is to create the transition protocols, policies and programs that will help to guide the educational paths of the students of tomorrow. Investing in the future of students with disabilities means having the necessary data in order to assess, adjust and improve government and educational interventions in students lives. Tracking students who leave with an Evergreen Certificate will require that the Student Transition Project use a different data collection process and different metrics. In some cases, these students do end up in segregated post-secondary programs, generally referred to as Adult Special Education (ASE) programs, while a few students are entering inclusive post-secondary programs at colleges and universities through the STEPS Forward Inclusive Post Secondary Initiative. Tracking these students would be easily accommodated within the existing framework of the Student Transition Project. The more complex assessments will be those secondary students who simply leave school without receiving services for adults from Community Living BC or otherwise maintaining a direct connection to government services; those students who are placed on request for service lists or other waitlists; and those who exit into job training or the workforce directly after graduating from high school. The post-secondary information about these students, however, is needed in order to inform and evaluate ongoing teaching and support protocols. This was the spirit of the investigations done for Aboriginal students, for international students, and for students who did not graduate. We expect that with creative collaboration and clarity of purpose, this can happen as well for this final remaining group of graduates. The Promise of the Graduation Program We believe in the ongoing philosophy and promise of the Graduation Program for graduating high school students in British Columbia. In its introduction, the Graduation Program states its purpose is to assist all students to prepare for further formal education, for the world of work, for a life of ongoing learning and for full participation in society. We believe this promise was meant as a promise to all students, with and without disabilities. Many students will head for post-secondary institutions but many, including students graduating with an Evergreen certificate will find themselves on different routes. All of these should be tracked in order to honour and inform the power of the Graduation Program promise.