Streaming within the Education System

I started to see math as a challenge in grade 6. Up until then, I had always done fairly well and didn't have to work particularly hard to achieve a good grade. In grade 7 and 8 I still managed, but I had to work a lot harder. When I got to grade 9, I immediately found the content significantly more challenging. I struggled right away, and I failed the first unit test… badly. I was shocked, as I have never failed anything up until that point. Within a couple of days of receiving that result, my parents received a phone call informing them that there were only a few places left in grade 9 applied math and they were encouraging them to transfer me from academic to applied math. My parents are both educators and decided to go along with the school's suggestion to transfer me to applied, because they didn't want all my marks to drop because I was spending so much of my time working on math. 

Over the next few years, I achieved success in senior high school math credits and even university math credits. It wasn't easy, I didn't do fantastic, but I survived. I was able to use all learning skills to find success. In the last couple of years, the province and the TDSB seems to be moving away from the idea of grade 9 streamed subjects. My teacher labeled me right away as a weak math student. I think this idea of streamed subjects should be eliminated because categorizing students with labels such as applied can hinder one's success. 

If the child is in applied level classes and is subtly reminded that they are part of the lower stream, that is going to diminish their self-esteem and confidence. Additionally, there is an equity issue involved with streaming. When the school suggests that a child should go down to a lower level, some parents and communities are less able to push back and advocate for their child to help them be successful in the academic class. The parents may just listen to the school and then the kid moves to applied and shuts the door to university. Ultimately, I believe that moving away from streamed subjects will create a more inclusive school environment.

Here is an article that the Star posted in 2018, stating that the TDSB wants to move away from streaming.

 

https://www.thestar.com/yourtoronto/education/2018/01/28/tdsb-head-wants-to-phase-out-streaming-expand-access-to-specialty-schools.html

 

Kyra@NU