English-only schools 'perpetuating de facto streaming,' OCDSB human rights advisor says

“Maintaining some schools as a single track, English with a core French program, is perpetuating de facto streaming.”

Published Jan 18, 2024 • Last updated 1 hour ago • 5 minute read

The human rights-focused report was presented to Ottawa-Carleton District School Board trustees at a meeting on Tuesday night. Photo by Errol McGihon /POSTMEDIA

English-only schools are “reinforcing inequities” between schools in the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board, the board’s human rights and equity advisor says.

Carolyn Tanner released her first report this week, identifying 17 systemic issues her office had noted between March 2020, when she started the job, and the end of August 2023.

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One of these issues was how language “tracks” were affecting equity in the school system. Some schools at the OCDSB offer only French immersion, while some offer only English with core French. Others are “dual-track,” offering both programs.

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The issue Tanner raised involved the schools only offering English.

“Maintaining some schools as a single track, English with a core French program, is perpetuating de facto streaming and reinforcing inequities between schools and students,” Tanner said in the report.

She recommended standardizing programs offered at all schools.

Speaking to trustees Tuesday night, Tanner noted this was a human rights issue because there were differences in schools, even those located close together. On top of it, specialized programs are often brought into schools where there is space.

“It just creates dynamics and differences between schools that aren’t representative of the geographic area around it,” Tanner told trustees.

Streaming is the practice of requiring that students or families choose between two education options, with one option typically perceived as more aspirational. In high schools, for example, students must choose between the academic stream and the applied stream.

Educators have argued that streaming is discriminatory and it forces students to make potentially life-changing decisions at a young age. In 2021, the province directed school boards to start de-streaming Grade 9 math.

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Some argue that having to choose between two levels of French instruction is another former of streaming at an even younger age. At the OCDSB, French immersion starts in Grade 1. Middle French immersion begins in Grade 4.

“When we look at our program offering at the elementary level, we’ve got early streaming going on with a whole series of consequences,” OCDSB director of education Pino Buffone told trustees. “One of them is around the kind of human rights and equity issues that (Tanner’s) office is talking about.”

Senior staff and trustees will be engaging in a “visioning exercise” to better understand enrolment and program offerings on Feb. 24.

“This particular issue is at the heart of the visioning we need to do as an organization, and it’s complex work,” Buffone said. “It comes from many different angles, and (Tanner’s) office has identified one of them here.”

An OCDSB report released in 2019 found that elementary students in its English-program schools were more likely to be newcomers learning English and to come from low-income families.

At the time, 15 of 111 elementary schools at the OCDSB offered English-only programming, while 14 offered only French immersion and the remainder offered dual-track or alternative programs.

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The report noted that students from English programs entering high school were less likely to take the academic-level courses needed for university-bound students. In 2017-18, 98 per cent of students in Grade 8 French immersion took academic English in Grade 9 and 93 per cent took academic math. Of the English-program students, 64 per cent took academic English in Grade 9 and only 50 per cent took academic math.

According to 2016-17 data, 27 elementary schools were in neighbourhoods where at least half of students were from low-income families. Nine of those 27 schools were English-only schools.

“It’s a public education system. The very mission is to strive for equity,” says Rob Campbell, a former trustee at the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board. Photo by Wayne Cuddington /Postmedia

Rob Campbell, who was a third-term trustee at the time, requested the report. While he feels the board has made inroads in making access to French immersion more equitable, including efforts to ensure that students with special education needs understand the option, he’s glad Tanner put the issue back on the table.

“I think it’s interesting that she sees this as a human rights issue. We’re destreaming kids in high school, yet we’re streaming them in elementary school,” said Campbell, who is no longer a trustee.

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“It’s a public education system. The very mission is to strive for equity.”

Many parents see French immersion as the better and more challenging program for their children, without classmates with behavioural issues, he said. The English program becomes the default place for students who are self-diverted or diverted by the system. The system has created other problems as well, ranging from transportation costs to a higher number of split classes in English-only schools.

“There may be a problem here, and there may be a better way to do things,” Campbell said.

He believes that offering both French immersion and English programs at every school doesn’t tackle the big questions. One answer might be to move in the direction of giving all students the same amount of French instruction, he said.

The Ottawa Catholic School Board offers “extended French” — 25 per cent of instruction — for all students in Grades 1 through 3. The Catholic board argues that a child’s critical thinking skills are best developed in their home language and spending one-quarter of the day in French “allows students to continue their growth in the second language while ensuring they develop a strong foundation in the English language.”

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The Office of Human Rights and Equity Advisor provides technical support and help staff to do their jobs in ways that respect human rights, Tanner said. The report reflects concerns and complaints that were filed with her office and offers a snapshot of those issues, she told trustees.

“Essentially, we are talking about the right to be free of discrimination in education and the right to be free of discrimination in the workplace,” Tanner said.

Meanwhile, Tanner outlined other human rights and equity issues in the report. She found that separating children with disabilities or behaviour challenges into specialized program classes was “exclusionary and goes against human rights-based principles of full participation and inclusion.”

The board has a practice of congregating students into classes and schools outside their community schools, the report noted. That results in students being bused to schools outside their neighbourhoods and negatively impacts their ability to develop social networks in the area where they live.

On another matter, there is a lack of clarity about how to appropriately accommodate religious beliefs and practice including prayer, leading to students being denied the right to access prayer space at appropriate times and being asked invasive questions. It also leads to students and families requesting to be excused from participating in activities related to 2SLGBTQ+ identities, citing religious beliefs, the report said.

Tanner also raised questions about lack of clarity over search and seizure powers. When determining whether to search a student, their belongings, desk, locker, cell phone, or email account and files, an administrator must decide whether there are reasonable grounds, said the report, which urged that the power to search be used with restraint.

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