Browsing by Author "Aurini, Janice"

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    A tale of two policies: the case of school discipline in an Ontario school board
    (2017) Milne, Emily; Aurini, Janice
    This study examines how staff working for one Ontario school board perceive two distinct approaches to school discipline policy: the Safe Schools Act (Bill 81) and Progressive Discipline and School Safety (Bill 212). The more centrally controlled and rigid Safe Schools Act was criticized by interviewees and cited for human rights violations. However, the inherent flexibility and vagueness of the Progressive Discipline policy that replaced it was seen to lead to inconsistent policy implementation and unequal outcomes for students. This paper considers the broader implications of policies that are “tightly coupled” or “loosely coupled” in terms of teachers’ professional discretion, accountability, and student outcomes.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    “It’s not just helping your kid with homework anymore”: the challenges of aligning education policy with parents and teachers
    (2019) Hillier, Cathlene; Milne, Emily; Aurini, Janice
    Education policy is intended to be adopted by stakeholders, yet high-level policies may not reflect reality at home or school. This article draws on interviews with 127 teachers and parents of children in Grades 1–3 to examine the degree to which they align with Ontario’s Ministry of Education parent engagement policy. We demonstrate how perceptions of parent engagement differ by role (teacher and parent), priorities (universalistic vs. particularistic), and parents’ social class background (working and middle class). We consider the challenges of promoting policies targeted at supporting good parenting practices.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Les effets des programmes d’été de littératie : les théories d’opportunités d’apprentissage et les élèves 'non-traditionnels' dans les écoles Ontariennes Francophones. [The effects of summer literacy programs: learning opportunity theory and 'non-traditional' students in Ontario French language schools]
    (2015) Davies, Scott; Aurini, Janice; Milne, Emily; Jean-Pierre, Johanne
    According to studies from the United States and English Canada, student achievement gaps grow over the summer months when children are not attending school, but summer literacy interventions can reduce those gaps. This paper presents data from a quasi-experiment conducted in eight Ontario French language school boards in 2010, 2011 and 2012 for 682 children in grades 1-3. Growth in literacy test scores between June and September are compared for 361 attendees of summer literacy programs and 321 control students. Summer program recruits initially had lower prior literacy scores and grades, and tended to hail from relatively disadvantaged social backgrounds. Yet, summer programs narrowed those pre-existing gaps. Effect sizes from a variety of regression and propensity score matching models ranged from .32 to .58, which is quite sizeable by the standards of elementary school interventions and summer programs. Effects were stronger among students whose parents reported not speaking French exclusively at home. Our paper considers learning opportunity theory in light of the “non-traditional” student in Ontario French language schools.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Schools, cultural mobility and social reproduction: the case of progressive discipline
    (2015) Milne, Emily; Aurini, Janice
    Drawing on a case study of Progressive Discipline (PD), this paper asks: How does greater discretion, flexibility and parent involvement affect the application of school policy? What are the consequences of these conditions? PD is part of a suite of changes that caters to students’ individualized academic and social needs while formalizing increased parent involvement. Drawing on forty-four interviews with school staff members, we find that PD has the potential to enhance students’ social and behaviour literacy. And yet, educators are unable to fully tame higher-SES (Socio-Economic Status) parents. According to our interviewees, higher-SES parents are more likely to participate in disciplinary proceedings, confront and threaten school staff and negotiate more favourable disciplinary outcomes for their children. Our paper contributes to cultural capital theory by examining how higher-SES families exploit “discretionary spaces” (i.e., opportunities that allow parents to improve their child’s social, academic or disciplinary outcomes) in schooling organizations.