School perseverance
Refers to the idea of “keeping the number of people engaged in the education system or in a study program at a relatively high number, year over year” (Legendre, 2005, p. 1023; loose translation). This means that the concept is important for all students, regardless of their current school level. In a more operational manner, it simply means to keep going in a study program until receiving a confirmation of the skills acquired (diploma, certification, attestation, etc.).
Educational success
Refers to an individual’s global development, from early childhood, all the way until the adult age. It involves a large number of actors in the community.
School success
Focuses on the school’s mission and its ability to get students to succeed in their school path. It is usually measured using indicators such as a report card, or obtaining a diploma or certification.
Dropping out of school
Temporary or definitive interruption of studies before managing to obtain a confirmation of the skills acquired (diploma, certification, attestation, etc.) delivered by an education institution. The same term is used, whether it’s at the secondary level, at college or at university.
Several elements positively or negatively impact a student’s school progress. The 18 determinants of school perseverance and educational success are factors that all influence each other. They can be varied in nature, and they can influence the student’s development continuum in whole or in part.
The family exerts a pivotal influence on a child’s development. Parental attitudes and behaviours such as :
Maintaining positive social interactions with peers and adults, having good social skills (e.g., empathy, mutual help, an ability to listen) and controlling one’s impulses are linked to success at school.
Greater self-control, meaning the ability to control one’s behaviour and urges, is associated with higher reading, vocabulary, and mathematics performance, and is a recognized determinant of school perseverance.
Adolescence is a part of life during which individuals develop their personalities and refine their interests. Adolescents thus easily absorb influences, images, and models that they are exposed to. In this sense, spending time with friends who are motivated by school will shape young people’s attitudes toward school.
On the other hand, young people who are part of a group of friends that reject school are much more vulnerable.
Children’s lifestyle, including nutrition and physical activity, is fundamental to the development of their well-being, self-esteem, personal and social fulfillment, and health; all of these factors are thus closely connected to their success at school.
Children who take part in sports generally have a greater attention span at school and better cognitive performance.
On the other hand, poor nutrition and a sedentary lifestyle can hinder learning and academic performance.
Abuse of tobacco, alcohol and drugs can be symptomatic of youth being unhappy at school or in their personal or family lives.
Drug and alcohol use is also harmful to their overall physical and mental development at a time when neither the brain nor the body have completely matured. It is also a predictor of dropping out of school, and of society.
Finding a balance between school and work schedules is a reality for an increasing number of young people. On one hand, working while going to school can give students valuable experience in the job market, help them set their educational and professional goals, gain skills, and develop both autonomy and a sense of responsibility. For some young people, working is the only means for them to access post-secondary studies.
On the other hand, for more vulnerable students, having an overly full schedule can lead to other dropout risk factors.
Throughout their development, young people may encounter various troublesome events that can affect one aspect of their lives or another, such as repeated academic failures, romantic breakups, rejection by peers, difficult family circumstances (e.g., economic instability, divorce of parents, loss of a relative). Depending on a youth’s resilience and whether or not they are equipped to adapt and solve problems, such events can lead to episodes of depression of varying intensity.
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Self-esteem is one’s awareness of one’s own worth in various areas. It also implies recognition of both one’s strengths and one’s weaknesses and personal limitations. Youth gain awareness of their worth through interactions with their parents, friends, teachers, and other significant adults. Young people who are confident in their skills and abilities will not hesitate to engage and persevere in learning activities.
On the other hand, youth who have difficulties, encounter failure, and lose confidence in their abilities may avoid engaging in schoolwork in order to protect themselves and maintain a positive self-image.
Given that reading and writing are essential for learning all subjects, including mathematics, difficulty in reading and writing is not without consequence on young people’s performance in all subjects and on the continuation of their studies. In fact, passing language arts and mathematics is a condition of the Quebec high school curriculum for obtaining a diploma.
Students who are motivated by what they learn at school engage naturally in the classroom activities and tasks they are assigned.
Ils participent de façon active aux cours (prise de notes et de parole, participation aux travaux d’équipe, etc.), effectuent les travaux et les devoirs demandés par les enseignants, consacrent du temps à la réalisation des activités d’apprentissage et fournissent des efforts en quantité et de qualité suffisantes pour réussir.
They participate actively in class (e.g., taking notes, speaking, participating in group work), do the assignments and homework teachers give them, spend time on learning activities, and put enough effort into their work to succeed. This investment is necessary to learn, succeed, and graduate.
Students who have well-defined educational and career goals find the motivation they need to stick with their studies.
Setting such goals is often related to students’ self-perception of their cognitive abilities (ease of learning, satisfaction with grades, considering oneself as smart as anyone else, etc.), to the effort they put into their studies, to their prior school record (successes or failures), and to the education level of their parents.
Just like parents, teachers are significant adults in young people’s lives. The quality of a student-teacher relationship has a powerful influence on
students’ success at school, one that is sometimes underestimated by teachers.
Students must feel a certain level of safety and well-being in order to engage in the intellectual endeavour of learning, and teachers can contribute to this by way of warm and positive interactions.
Because getting a high school diploma involves acquiring knowledge and passing certain school subjects, how this knowledge is transferred also plays a role in school perseverance.
Teachers’ pedagogical and educational practices will affect students’ overall interest in the subject being taught and, more broadly, their enjoyment of the learning experience. In this respect, successful pedagogical strategies stem as much from classroom management as from the actual teaching techniques employed.
The importance placed on school perseverance and monitoring student success by administrators will be reflected in the organizational structures and educational practices put in place.
And the quality and relevance of such measures will influence graduation rates.
A school’s capacity to intervene with youth at risk of dropping out is an important factor in preventing dropout. When youth who are experiencing problems—whether academic, family, or social—are left to their own resources, they are at a higher risk of dropping out.
The earlier they receive help, the better their results will be.
Young people spend an average of over 30 hours per week inside the school walls. It is their primary living environment, where their friends are, where they experience successes and failures, and where they are confronted with different realities.
School is a microcosm of society whose characteristics include problems (violence, bullying, etc.) but also positive phenomena such as solidarity and working toward common goals.
According to the Montreal health and social services agency,1 children are influenced by their peers and tend to imitate and conform to characteristics they see around them. In other words, children living in the same community are inclined to adopt the behavioural models—whether positive or negative—of their immediate surroundings. Obviously, this determinant is closely aligned to sociocultural and socioeconomic contexts.
Schools are surrounded by various community resources to assist youth and families, such as social services, childcare centres, youth centres
(Centres jeunesse), youth employment centres (Carrefours jeunesse-emploi), healthcare services, libraries, sports facilities, and community
workers.
It may be difficult for youth and families to access such services because of, for example, geographical location, availability of services, or how
resources are distributed on the territory.
Coordination between services and defining their respective roles in preventing dropout are also major issues.
Determinants (of school perseverance and educational success) taken into account
Precise, relevant objectives, and logical links (well defined, in an intervention logic)
Early actions (as soon as the needs or problems are identified, throughout the student’s school path)
Continued services (developing relationships between partners of various backgrounds and in various sectors)
Outreach activities (which impact the student directly, without excluding the parents and counselors)
Regular and intensive actions (enough to produce the expected results)
Effective, evidence-based practices (that rely on recognized scientific foundations, with proven efficiency)
Connected living environments (contributions from the various fields, that complete each other)
Our colleagues in the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region (CRÉPAS), presenting the determinants of school perseverance and educational success in a detailed and structured manner, using ecological systems analysis to make each determinant easier to understand (inspired by Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model).
Why use this approach?
The ecological systems approach is helpful to target our interventions more effectively to support school perseverance, by acting at the same time on individual characteristics and outside elements that can either promote or block educational success.
Document about the determinants: How does it make comprehension easier?
Download the document about the determinants (2024) (French only)
