The Center de services scolaire Marguerite-Bourgeoys (CSSMB) in Montreal has, for the second year in a row, won the prestigious Quebec Public Administration Excellence Award, education category.
What earned it this award are the absolutely remarkable successes of its students, as well as the high level of expertise of its staff. All this also explains the visits of school administrators from foreign countries wishing to understand how the CSSMB achieves such results.
I wanted to talk about it with its managing director, Dominic Bertrand.
A context
Figures (I was going to say: conclusive data…) in support, Mr. Bertrand first reminds me that “despite significant investments, student success tends to stagnate in Quebec”.
You should know that we have put in place an educational success policy that targets different groups of vulnerable students. Despite this, the graduation and qualification rate for the cohort before the pandemic and seven years after entering secondary school is stagnating, as is that of students in difficulty or from disadvantaged backgrounds. There is even a slight drop in graduation rates and qualifications among boys.
None of this at CSSMB, as we will see.
But do not believe that its successes are due to the fact that it serves a privileged population. At the CSSMB, 65% of students do not have French as their mother tongue; 35% attend a school in a disadvantaged area; finally, 40% of students go private in secondary school. And, like everywhere else, there is a terrible labor shortage.
Despite all this, here is what we observe.
Remarkable successes
The CSSMB undertook a major pedagogical shift a few years ago. Here’s what he achieved.
The graduation and qualification rate (TDQ) of students in difficulty and having an intervention plan is 72.6%, or 15.1 points above the Quebec average in the public sector. It’s huge and reaches very quickly!
The DDQ of students born outside Quebec is 90.3%, or 9 points above the Quebec average. The boys’ DDQ is 86%, or 12 points more than the Quebec average. As for students from disadvantaged backgrounds, it is 79%, or 4.4 points above the Quebec average.
which allows them
How do we achieve these results? Mr. Bertrand explains very clearly what we did at the CSSMB.
More than 2,000 teachers have been provided with solid training in teaching strategies validated by credible research. Here, no half-day on things that are not very credible or important, that we immediately forget and which translate into almost nothing concrete. Validated, applicable content, with the added bonus of knowing what is sometimes promoted and which does not work – in particular these legends or pedagogical myths that are still too widespread.
A Statistics and Accountability Office was also set up to monitor student success as required. We also reviewed the learning support structure using the intervention response model.
And to involve everyone and disseminate the knowledge deemed essential, we have drafted and disseminated CSSMB repositories and reference frameworks for managers, teachers and professionals (psychologists, speech therapists, etc.) in direct service to students.
I asked for a concrete example. Mr. Bertrand gives me that of the implementation of positive behavior support (PCS), a practice validated by research.
Everyone will agree that it is very difficult to continue your learning if you are often excluded from class.
Before the implementation of the SCP, there were, for example, in a secondary school, for a period going from September to February, 1509 class expulsions. The first year that the SCP is implanted, for the same period, this number drops to 514. The second year, still for the same period, it drops to 108.
What if the tide starts to turn?
Mr. Bertrand, it will be understood, is a follower of conclusive data. And, disappointed that they are so little known, sometimes despised and too little established, in 2017 he was part of a working group mandated by the Minister of Education at the time on the creation of an institute National Excellence in Education. The title of the submitted report is eloquent: Promote knowledge and practices validated by scientific results in education.
Although this proposal was favorably received by a majority of the groups consulted, it was sharply criticized and was, without much nuance, it must be said, rejected by many academics in education. But would the tide begin to turn? Mr. Bertrand thinks so, the example of the CSSMB helping.
I leave the final word to him: “For more than 20 years, research in education has provided effective teaching and management strategies that have a strong impact on student learning, well-being and success. These powerful levers, put in place by our teams, have enabled CSSMB students to experience such results. »