Proposed changes to public French programs address student retention, increased learning

The Waterloo Region District School Board (WRDSB) is wrapping up public feedback sessions regarding its review of French programming. 

The school board has been reviewing its French immersion, core French and extended French streams since 2017 after it says it recognized the need to improve programming. The board commissioned an external review and a final report was published in 2020.

A review committee made up of trustees, students, parents and administrators reviewed the external report and proposed changes to help reduce dropout rates and access to programming. The changes are reflected in a new vision statement, goals, principles and action items.

"One of the goals is to make sure that we're increasing student confidence and achievement, increasing the quality of French programming for our equity seeking groups and increasing our student, educator, caregiver and community engagement within French as a second language as well," said Della Lataille-Herdsman, who's part of the review committee and superintendent of student and wellbeing at the board.

Currently, families interested in French immersion enroll their children in the program in Grade 1; however, up 40 per cent of students end up dropping out by Grade 8.

The review committee considered several scenarios that came from the external review such as changing the entry point to Grade 2, Grade 4 or even Kindergarten. Ultimately, the review committee supported changing the entry point to Grade 2 and increasing core French learning in Grade 1 by 50 per cent.

In an online video about the review, school principal Erica Gillespie said the goal is to support families to make the best decision about their child's education and "ensure that students entering the program are able to continue with French immersion until graduation."

The committee suggested enhancing support in English reading and writing as well to allow teachers to determine a full picture of student needs early on before moving to French immersion. This will be especially important for students who need educational supports, Gillespie said. 

The committee also recommended increasing French learning over the years. For example, if a student enrolls in French immersion in 2024 to 2025, they'll experience 58 per cent of learning in French until Grade 6 versus the current 50 per cent mark.

The committee said there may be more changes in the future related to program boundaries and its registration lottery system.

The school board asked the public for feedback through consultations that launched last week. The last session is on Friday. 

During one feedback session, the board received questions about entry exceptions, out-of-boundary transportation services, reviewing the registration process, supporting low-income families and connecting students in French immersion to those in other streams. 

 Lataille-Herdsman said there have been several questions related to the entry point proposal.

"I would say that there's a balance of families who have shared interest in Grade 2. Others are still thinking about it to make those decisions for their child. So it's been a variety thus far," she said.