The International Observatory on Academic Achievement - Documentary search

File number :
CS-APE-03e

Bibliographic reference :
Deniger, M.A., & Roy, G. (2005). Les politiques d’intervention auprès des milieux scolaires défavorisés : enjeux historiques et perspectives contemporaines. Dans L. DeBlois (dir.), La réussite scolaire. Comprendre et mieux intervenir (pp.27-38). Québec : Presses de l’Université Laval.

Abstract :

In this literature review, the authors conduct a retrospective analysis of policies, programs and practices applied in underprivileged environments in Quebec (Canada) over the past forty years. The review was interpreted in light of five major questions designed to identify the key historical issues of each school policy reviewed. These questions are likely to fuel the debate on intervention policies aimed at underprivileged environments.

 

1. Which groups were targeted by the policies? How were they defined and by whom? How was the poverty "problem" and its consequences addressed in terms of equal opportunities in education?
The authors note that on the one hand, the ideology of deficiency advocates that students adapt to the standards and expectations of schools, whereas on the other hand, the fight against poverty advocates that schools adapt to their environments. Above all, they emphasize the fact that the first concept has dominated over time and that the second was barely operationalized beyond theory.

 

2. What were the general orientations, objectives and measures of action promoted and carried out as part of these policies? Has a hiatus been observed between the letter and spirit of these policies and their translation into tangible action?
The authors report that they encountered several problems with the definition of orientations, and also with the intervention approach, the internal and external coherence of policies, and contradiction between the orientations and the measures of action adopted.

 

3. Which management method was associated with the application of these objectives and measures?
The authors point out that there is a certain amount of tension between the two management methods, centralized and decentralized, applied to policy objectives and targeted measures. According to them, this tension has given rise to bureaucratization of the intervention field and confusion in how the roles of the different players are distributed.

 

4. What roles and powers were attributed to players concerned by the application of these measures?
Based on the answer above, the authors outline the obvious confusion in how the players' roles and powers are distributed. This confusion is reflected by the incoherence and lack of rationalization in policy implementation and by disorganized bureaucratization.

 

5. What evaluation was made of these policies and the measures of action on which they were based? Who conducted these evaluations and what main recommendations emerged as a result thereof?
The scant evaluations reviewed, often quite strict and not always objective, allow little importance to the opinions of underprivileged young people or their families. In concluding, the authors draw up a series of precepts conducive to creating a common education assessment culture.

Key Words :
Intervention Policies, Underprivileged Environment, Literature Review, Equal Opportunities, School Environment

Monitored Countries :
Quebec (Canada)