overcrowding in the brampton public high school system: whether overcrowding affects education...

Overcrowding in the Brampton Public High School System:

Whether Overcrowding affects Education Quality

Divyesh Mistry

209791898

SOSC 3700 Urban Analysis

April 8, 2014

Professor Linda Peake/Teresa Abbruzzese

Word Count: 3745

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Acknowledgements

First and foremost, I’d like to thank both Professors Linda Peake and

Teresa Abbruzzese for their help and guidance for refining this idea from a giant

mess to something simple. I’d also like to thank my three interview participants,

all of whom took time out of their busy schedules to accommodate my questions.

I’d also like to thank my sister for telling me to choose the difficult road, instead of

an easy one. Finally, I’d like to thank my friends and acquaintances, both online

and offline, for their insights on the education system and resources to look at

concerning the data I had at hand, as well as my classmates for bringing up other

points to explore.

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Table of Contents

Title Page………………………………………………………………………….Page 1

Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………Page 2

Table of Contents………………………………………………………………...

Section 1 List of Tables………………………………………………………….Page 4

Section 2 Abstract………………………………………………………………..Page 5

Section 3 Introduction……………………………………………………………Page 5

Section 4 Research Question………………………………………………..…Page 6

Section 5 Context………………………………………………………………...Page 6

Section 6 Literature Review…………………………………………………….Page 7

Section 7 Methodology…………………………………………………………Page 10

Section 8 Analysis………………………………………………………………Page 14

Section 9 Conclusions…………………………………………………………Page 22

Section 10 Bibliography………………………………………………………..Page 24

Appendix A Interview Transcripts………………………………………….…Page 26

Appendix B Informed Consent Form…………………………………………Page 37

Appendix C Interview Questions……………………………………………...Page 38

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1. List of Tables

Table One: Brampton public high schools with date built and specialization….

…………………………………………………………………………………..Page 14

Table Two: Schools compared to enrollment, capacity, and standardized test

passes in the 2011-2012 school year……………………………………….Page 16

Table Three: Schools compared to enrollment, capacity, and standardized test

passes in the 2012-2013 school year……………………………………….Page 17

Table Four: Comparing Average Scores of Standardized Tests to Capacity,

2011-2012……………………………………………………………………….Page 18

Table Five: Comparing Average Scores of Standardized Tests to Capacity, 2012-

2013…………………………………………………………………………….Page 18

Table Six: Summary of interviewees’ thoughts on education and

overcrowding………………………………………………………………….Page 19

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2. Abstract

The public school system, especially at the secondary school system, is

under constant pressure in high growth areas to be able to provide an

appropriate amount of classroom space as well as good educational

opportunities. In areas of high growth, especially in suburban municipalities like

Brampton, schools may not be able to cope and may experience periods of

overcrowding that could affect education quality. The goal of this report is to see

if school overcrowding has any correlation to education quality. In this report,

three stakeholders in the education system were interviewed on their thoughts

relating to this subject. These qualitative interviews were used to analyze

statistical results of each school’s enrolled capacity, and results on three

provincially administered standardized tests. The analysis could be used in the

future to guide policy within Peel, or other high growth areas.

3. Introduction

School overcrowding as a phenomenon has occurred as early as 1899,

and many concerns, such as improper infrastructure and not enough space, are

relevant in today’s problems (Marsden, 1899). School overcrowding is defined as

the number of students enrolled compared to the number of students the facilities

were designed to served, with the number of students enrolled as being much

larger (Ready et al. 2004). This definition does not factor in whether school

districts and boards consider temporary facilities, such as portables, as part of

the permanent school capacity number.

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Many factors contribute to why schools are overcrowded, whether the

population of the area is increasing to whether there are enough schools in an

area, or whether the school board planned enough schools to be built for a

population that is now bigger than what is projected. What is also understood is

that smaller class sizes lead to better educational outcomes. What isn’t as

understood if there is any correlation between a school’s enrollment over the built

capacity, and whether or not that has any outcomes on education.

4. Research Question

The research question I intend to explore in this project is whether school

overcrowding impacts education quality in Brampton high schools. This

question relates to the field of urban studies because the question is asking how

the planning of community infrastructure affects the social realm.

5. Context

Brampton is one of the fastest growing cities among Canada’s 20 largest

cities, growing by 20.2% between 2006 and 2011 (Brampton 2011). The demand

for community infrastructure, including schools, is high. This often leads to school

overcrowding, with a school being built and then instantly portables springing up

to deal with the demand for children to attend that school. It seems as if the Peel

District School Board, the regional board that is responsible for elementary and

secondary public schools in Mississauga, Brampton, and Caledon, is unable to

cope with the demand for schools in the suburbs.

In Ontario in particular, the ministry of education has favoured larger,

comprehensive high schools, as opposed to the smaller, specialized high schools

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that are the norm in the United States. This was because at the time, the 1990s,

Ontario was facing a high rate of immigration and urbanization, particularly in the

Greater Toronto Area (Giles 2007, 139), as well as the reforms of the school

system by the provincial government.

Within the Peel District School Board, data shows that there is more built

capacity in high schools than enrolment, and even narrowing down to Brampton

high schools in particular, the same is true as an overall pattern (APD 2012-

2013, 25).

On enrollment, the Ontario Ministry of Education has stated that they

expect school enrollment (irrespective of whether it is elementary or secondary

students) to decline province-wide. The government’s prediction was that

between 2008-2013, enrolment would decline by 56,000 students. Despite the

province-wide decline, Peel’s enrolment continues to grow. Between the 2011-

2012 and 2012-2013 school years, 1635 more high school students were

enrolled in Brampton secondary schools, as calculated from the APD data.

However, the context I am studying is the effects of when individual

schools exceed their built capacity, and whether that affects education quality,

and whether there is a trend to overcrowded schools performing worse on

standardized tests.

6. Literature Review

The most important academic on education topics in Ontario is Ranu

Basu, who works on relating geography, planning, education, and race issue

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together. While, she does not work directly on issue of school overcrowding,

many of her works do provide insight into the issue indirectly. The most relevant

work by Basu is her piece “The rationalization of neoliberalism in Ontario’s public

education system, 1995-2000.” The article, like the chapters by Peter Lipman

and Patricia McAdie in Passing the Test: The False Promises of Standardized

Testing, explains many how many of the variables used in this project have come

to be.

While Lipman primarily blames the Conservative party in power, Basu

explains that many of the reforms that led to larger class sizes and standardized

testing, were in fact brought on by a report commission by the New Democratic

Party in 1993 (Basu, 623). The passage of policies that would lead to creation of

the EQAO and their standardized tests was first seen as fair, then criticized later

on (Basu, 625). What may have exacerbated the first school overcrowding

situations of the 1990s was Bill 160, which allocated a certain amount of required

space and funding per pupils. School boards across the province were forced to

close schools as the provincial government would cut funding based on “excess”

school capacity. This excess was usually music rooms, and child care spaces,

amongst others (Basu, 630).

Ranu Basu, Peter Lipman, and Patricia McAdie and Corrie Giles are the

only a few of the Canadian academics who have written about the education

issues in Ontario. However, the majority of these articles are written for books or

for reports for the government, meaning that they may not be as critical on

education issues as they could be.

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Using standardized tests as a way to measure education quality, as used

during this project, has its issues. The current OSSLT was created in the 1998,

by the Conservative party (Lipman, 168). This was a time when the ruling party

had been cutting and slashing at the public education system, reducing the

annual expenditure by $2 billion (Lipman, 166). School boards regularly

congratulate themselves on the standardized test results if they have a higher

score than the previous year. The results generally tend to be worse amongst

students taking the applied stream as opposed to the academic stream, leading

to more dropouts (Lipman, 170).

Alternatively, some parents find standardized testing to be appealing as it

supposedly removes politics from education, as every child in the province takes

the exact same test and is scored exactly the same way (McAdie, 149). The link

between education quality and overcrowding comes from standardized testing,

policymakers like standardized testing because “they are relatively inexpensive,

compared with reforms such as reducing class size” (McAdie, 150). Tests, under

the Conservative government, shifted education from learning, to performance.

Parents could enroll their children in specialized tutoring, or buy special

preparation text books (McAdie, 152). This brings an uneven edge amongst

those who can and cannot afford better educational tools.

The literature available suggests that overcrowding has its own problems,

aside from the logistics of demographics. Some schools, which used to be able

to cope with attendance and behavioural issues, find themselves unable to

engage students as they did before (Giles, 152). Another article suggests that

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overcrowded schools leads to increased mental stress, and deteriorating

conditions of non-classroom facilities that end up being used for regular classes,

such as gyms (Ready et al, 1998). The everyday infrastructure of the building,

the floors, foundations, ventilation, etc., also experiences much more

deterioration. Students tend not to score as high on tests if they are at an

overcrowded school (Earthman, 10).

7. Methodology

7.1 Analytical Approach

This report will take on an analytical approach through combined social

constructivism and grounded theory. This approach works well with how data will

be collected and organized with the data in this report. The theories will be

developed out of the data collected out of this report, not just the quantitative

data, but also how the qualitative data will be used to interpret the numbers. The

social constructivism side as I am also interpreting rules that may not be set in

stone in education. As I will look at specific data and trying to pick up broader

trends, an inductive approach is appropriate.

7.2 Research Methods

A mixed-methods approach was used in this project. Quantitative research

would analyze the statistics available to see if a correlation could be found

between school enrollment, school capacity, and students’ test scores on a

variety of provincially-administered tests. Qualitative research, through

interviewing three participants on their thoughts on the school system and what

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they think of school overcrowding, would then be used to analyze the quantitative

results and examine trends.

7.3 Quantitative Research

All of the data used in analyzing any potential relationship or correlation

between school capacity, enrollment, and test scores is publicly available via the

Peel District School Board and the Education Quality and Accountability Office

(EQAO).

The PDSB produced an Annual Planning Document (APD) every

November, which includes a complete data set of schools’ capacity, enrolment

numbers, number of portables, and the projected number of students for the next

10 years.

The EQAO provides individual, year-by-year statistics of schools and their

school board. Statistics used in this project are the passing rate for the Grade 9

Academic Math test and Grade 9 Applied Math test. Also used and available

publicly online are the Grade 10 Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test’s

(OSSLT first time passing rate.

The school capacity and enrollment data for the 2011-2012 and 2012-

2013 school years are being used, as these can be match to equivalent EQAO

testing data. There is 2013/2014 enrolment data publicly available; however the

EQAO test scores are not yet available, especially the OSSLT test scores, as

that test was performed only two weeks before this work. APD documents from

before 2011-2012 are not available.

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7.4 Qualitative Research

The qualitative research was devised to include three semi-structured

interviews with key players and gatekeepers within the school system in

Brampton. Originally, the plan was to interview a school trustee, a school board

planner, and either a teacher or principal. All of these interviews were originally

going to be completed face-to-face.

However, due to difficulties in obtaining an interview with the three

categories, a wider range of people was sought. Instead of a school trustee, a

city councilor “Vince” was interviewed, to take the role of an elected official.

“Jessica”, an education consultant, replaced an interview with the school planner,

as she has done work with the board in the past. The teachers and principals

contacted were unresponsive. Instead, an interview with a parent, “Kyle”, was

conducted.

As a result of scheduling conflicts, all three interviews were completed

remotely. The interview with Councilor “Vince” was done through email, via his

assistant “Mary”. “Jessica” and “Kyle” were interviewed by phone, and their

conversations were recorded.

7.5 Bias and Ethics

There were no ethical concerns brought up by this project. As two of the

three participants interviewed do have a direct role in education, anonymity and

confidentiality are strictly enforced to avoid negative backlash to these individuals

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and to avoid professional harm. As such, none of the individuals who were

interviewed are identified by their real name, but by a pseudonym.

I had originally planned to obtain written consent from all three individuals.

However, all three interviews were done remotely, so I obtained verbal consent

from all three individuals, with recorded consent from “Kyle” and “Jessica”. On

the topic of politics in research, this report may be used, especially as this is

being written in a municipal election year.

In terms of positionality, it needs to be stated that personal biases that

may influence this work are: my status as a resident of Brampton, and my status

as a graduate of a Brampton high school that was previously overcrowded, as

well as elementary schools. My parents also were engaged with my school in

trying to move myself out of portables.

7.6 Limitations

There were several limitations to this project that may skew the results. A

major limitation is that the research interviews occurred in 2014, a municipal and

school trustee election year. Attempting to contact several school trustees and

city councilors during this period of time proved to be challenging.

Another limitation was that contacting the PDSB to obtain the Annual

Planning Document (APD) from 2011-2012 school year was difficult, as even

though it is public information, the office staff said they were not allowed to give it

out. I did manage to find a copy, by searching through their website. Because of

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this limitation by the PDSB, APDs from years before 2011-2012 were not studied.

The planning staff at the school board also did not wish to be interviewed.

8. Analysis

There are 14 public secondary schools in Brampton. The table below will

explain any special programs the school offers as of the 2013/2014 school year

(even though the 2013/2014 data is not being used for this project) and the year

built.

School Year Built Special Program Bramalea 1963 Truck and Coach Technology/

French Immersion Brampton Centennial

1852/1967 French Immersion

Castlebrooke 2012 None Central Peel 1960 Advanced Placement

Strings Chingacousy 1972 SciTech David Suzuki 2011 French Immersion Fletcher’s Meadow

2005 None

Harold M. Brathwaite

2003 None

Heart Lake 1988 None Judith Nyman 1978 Vocational Louise Arbour 2010 None North Park 1978 International Business and

Technology Sandalwood Heights

2007 None

Turner Fenton 1978 International Baccalaureate/Extended French

Table 1: Brampton public high schools with date built and specialization.

As seen in the table above, something that could influence the popularity

of certain schools and lead to higher enrolment at those schools as opposed to

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others is program specialization, which eight schools offer. The first school built

in Brampton was Brampton Centennial SS, in 1852. It was eventually replaced in

1967, the Canadian centennial year. Also of note is the rate at which Brampton

high schools were built. Three schools were built in the 1960s, four in the 1970s,

1 in the 1980s, and none in the 1990s.

Ranu Basu wrote in her explanation of the Ontario education system in the

second half of the 1990s that schools were actively being closed. The first school

built after the Common Sense Revolution was built in 2003, the year that the

Conservative Party fell to the Liberal Party, showing how much politics has an

influence over education. Since then, five schools have been built.

School 2011-2012 Capacity

2011-2012 Enrolment

Capacity Used 2011-2012

Grade 9 Academic Math Pass

Grade 9 Applied Math Pass

Grade 10 Literacy Test First Time Pass

Bramalea 1530 1601 104.6% 84% 49% 67% Brampton Centennial

1404 1474 105.0% 90% 58% 76%

Central Peel 1224 1084 88.6% 86% 31% 74% Chingacousy 984 1461 148.5% 69% 30% 74% David Suzuki

1500 695 46.3% 78% 38% 73%

Fletcher’s Meadow

1554 1742 112.1% 90% 48% 79%


1527 1123 73.6% 79% 30% 72%

Judith Nyman

903 708 78.4% N/A 23% 12%

Heart Lake 1269 1524 120.1% 78% 39% 81% Louise Arbour

1584 1298 81.9% 80% 22% 77%

North Park 1308 1442 110.2% 92% 43% 84% Sandalwood 1482 1702 114.8% 87% 44% 78%

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Heights Turner Fenton

2040 2067 101.3% 91% 53% 83%

Table 2: Schools compared to enrollment, capacity, and standardized test passes in the 2011-2012 school year.

Above, we have a table comparing every Brampton high school to how

much capacity the school holds, the enrolment, the actual capacity used, and the

pass rates on the two math tests, as well as the literacy test. Capacity used was

calculated by:

Enrollment — Capacity X 100 = Capacity used

Of another note is the outlier of Judith Nyman SS. The first table identified

this school as a vocational school. As such, the school does not offer any

courses in the academic stream. Judith Nyman is the destination of many

students going into the trades, college, or directly into the workplace after

graduation. Lipmen’s article in the literature review mentions that applied

students have worse scores than academic studens. There are also other

variables that probably affect why Judith Nyman scores so low, however that is

beyond the scope of this project. Judith Nyman will continue to be included in the

general charts; however, it will not be included in any other calculations.

It is important that the general trend of the PDSB’s schools being under

100% capacity is shown here. With all schools taken into account, the average

capacity used by Brampton high schools in 98%. Some schools, like

Chingacousy, take more of the enrolment than others, such as David Suzuki,

which only opened the year before. Castlebrooke is also not included, as the

school was built, but hadn’t opened for enrollment in this school year.

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School 2011-2012 Capacity

2011-2012 Enrolment

Capacity Used 2011-2012

Grade 9 Academic Math Pass

Grade 9 Applied Math Pass

Grade 10 Literacy Test First Time Pass

Bramalea 1572 1403 89.2% 79% 45% 77% Brampton Centennial

1404 1256 89.5% 92% 57% 85%

Castlebrooke 1479 841 56.9% 85% 32% 79% Central Peel 1224 967 79.0% 64% 34% 75% Chingacousy 984 1151 117.0% 84% 28% 74% David Suzuki 1500 1263 84.2% 78% 35% 82% Fletcher’s Meadow

1554 1650 106.2% 85% 49% 84%


1527 1060 69.4% 72% 32% 78%

Judith Nyman

903 782 86.6% N/A 14% 8%

Heart Lake 1269 1538 121.2% 72% 31% 80% Louise Arbour

1584 1515 95.6% 73% 39% 79%

North Park 1308 1479 113.1% 86% 37% 88% Sandalwood Heights

1482 1547 104.4% 91% 59% 79%

Turner Fenton

2040 2151 105.4% 93% 43% 83%

Table 3: Schools compared to enrollment, capacity, and standardized test passes in the 2012-2013 school year.

In this school year, Castlebrooke is added to the chart. Judith Nyman’s

Literacy Test scores actually lowers, further proving the point that some other

variable is causing a decline at that school. An important trend to note is that

even if a school is a “magnet”, where it offers specialized programs, this does not

affect school enrollment. Despite carrying two special programs, Advanced

Placement (for students who wish to enroll in American higher educational

institute) and Strings (music specialty), Central Peel’s enrollment declines

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between the two school periods chosen. As new schools are added into the pool

of data, the enrolment in schools also shifts.

Average of Schools…

Grade 9 Academic Math Test Pass Average

Grade 9 Applied Math Test Pass Average

Grade 10 Literacy Test First Time Pass Average

Over 100% Capacity

85.1% 45.5% 77.8%

Under 100% Capacity

80.8% 30.3% 74.0%

Table 4: Comparing Average Scores of Standardized Tests to Capacity, 2011-2012.

Average of Schools…

Grade 9 Academic Math Test Pass Average

Grade 9 Applied Math Test Pass Average

Grade 10 Literacy Test First Time Pass Average

Over 100% Capacity

85.2% 41.2% 81%

Under 100% Capacity

77.6% 39.1% 79%

Table 5: Comparing Average Scores of Standardized Tests to Capacity, 2012-2013.

For the above two tables, the averages were created by the following:

1. Grade 9 Academic and Over 100% = Sum of Grade 9 Academic Scores in Schools over 100%/Number of Schools over 100% X 100

2. Grade 9 Applied and Over 100% = Sum of Grade 9 Applied Scores in Schools over 100%/Number of Schools over 100% X 100

3. Grade 10 Literacy and Over 100% = Sum of Grade 10 Literacy Scores in Schools over 100%/Number of Schools over 100% X 100

4. Grade 9 Academic and Under 100% = Sum of Grade 9 Academic Scores in Schools under 100%/Number of Schools under 100% X 100

5. Grade 9 Applied and Under 100% = Sum of Grade 9 Applied Scores in Schools under 100%/Number of Schools under 100% X 100

6. Grade 10 Literacy and Under 100% = Sum of Grade 10 Literacy Scores in Schools under 100%/Number of Schools under 100% X 100

There is something amiss with the scores as suggested in the tables.

Schools over 100% built capacity have a higher average test score, and may be

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a higher standard of education than those below 100% capacity. This is a

strange trend.

When a Chi-Square test was performed on the data of Table 4, the result

was there was a probability that 0.394, which usually means there is a greater

chance of relationship between the variables. When a Chi-Square test was

performed on the data of Table 5 however, the result was there was a probability

that 0.946, which usually means that is no statistical significance between the

variables. A higher population in the overcrowded schools may provide more of a

sample for the average test passing rates, boosting those scores.

The interviews with “Kyle”, “Jessica”, and “Vince” all provided clarity on

some of the numbers been in the above tables.

“Kyle” “Jessica” “Vince”

Limited resources and

time

Shifts in enrolment,

demand

Bussing, too far to walk

for children, caregivers

High growth, new

developments

Magnet schools and

specialization

Special programs shifting

demand away

Bussing and

decentralization

Small class sizes needed Small class sizes needed

Instability, chaos NHS/Census #s not valid Overcrowding not an

issue

Table 6: Summary of interviewees’ thoughts on education and overcrowding.

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“Kyle” talked frequently about limited resources, as well as the instability of

student populations shifting around.

“I have two kids..umm..that I think are in the extended French program.

Extended French? Yeah. The instruction is something like 40% French and 60%

English. Anyhow, it seems that particular program has become popular over the

past two years…um…and has such had to use a lottery to determine admittance

into the program for September.”

This is “Kyle” talking about extended French program in elementary

schools, but the Brampton high schools with French Immersion/Extended French

also are all overcrowded, with exception of David Suzuki, which still doubles

school enrolment between the two school years (from 46.3% to 84.2%). “Jessica”

also relates on special programs, saying “the capacity tends to shift quite a bit

depending on how specialized programs are allocated.” “Vince” also relates to

this issue, as a middle school in his area acts as a feeder for secondary school

French immersion programs takes on demand for such programs, but removes

capacity for students to attend a local school.

Both “Vince” and “Jessica” relate on the same issues that affect Brampton

specifically. Both talk about extended families living in traditional nuclear

household and how planning from the education side hasn’t caught on to this

fact, though “Jessica” points out that this more due to the lack of hard statistics

after the current federal government ended the mandatory long form census and

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replaced it with the current optional National Housing Survey. In fact, “Jessica”

emphasizes this point several times throughout her interview.

Neither “Kyle” nor “Jessica” agree that portables are a good solution to

relieving overcrowding. “Jessica” comments that while they do increase

classroom space, they also increase the demand for facilities that can’t easily be

expanded, such as gym and libraries. “Vince” doesn’t comment directly on

portables, but he references this need for “access”, which is what “Jessica’s”

employment is focused on trying to bring. “Kyle” sees portables as a temporary

solution, “indicative of something needs to change.”

All three interviewees agree that smaller class sizes are needed. “Jessica”

points out it is proven that smaller class sizes do lead to better outcomes in

education, while “Vince” argues that smaller class sizes are easier for teachers to

control. “Kyle” uses smaller class sizes as a way to bring up an interesting a

solution, a public home school where qualified and trained parents can teach

small groups of kids. This emphasizes “Kyle’s” need for “decentralization” and for

“walkable” school distances.

“Jessica” also references how schools are ranked, according to external

agencies that were not analyzed in this report.

“It’s not as common as it used to be 10 years ago but… but the practice of

having students attend a high school outside of their local catchment area does

mean that you will find students who live closer to…a school that may have less

demand, try to attend another school for reasons that have less to do with

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attending a magnet school and more specifically want them to attend a school

that is treated better.”

“Jessica” is referencing the events of the 1990s that Basu, Lipman, and

McAdie write about. These are the events of the overhaul of the Ontario

education system, including increasing class sizes and the introduction of

standardized testing. “Jessica” is also referring to the numbers in the chart that

dramatically shift year-to-year. It may very well be that standardized tests and

perceived education quality is what leads to shifts in enrollment at different

schools. If all the high scoring students are moved to a perceived higher ranking

school by their parents and they overcrowd that school, those overcrowded

schools will rank higher than the schools they’ve been moved away from.

9. Conclusions

Looking through the data, it is telling that the relationship between school

overcrowding and whether or not that affects education quality through

standardized testing is not clear. Based on the interviews given and results of the

Chi-Square tests, it also become very apparent that while there may be statistical

significance. There’s also, however, the question of: of school capacity and test

results, which is the independent variable? Strong arguments have been given

that test results may in fact by the independent variable causing shifts in

populations. There have also been the arguments given by the literature,

specifically by Patricia McAdie, that test results may be skewed based on how

well prepared each student is external from the classroom.

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This report brings up more questions than it answers. It provides insight

into the various factors that affect the daily lives of students and their parents. It

also provides a launching point for future studies in the topic, including a larger

scale study that could include all secondary schools in Peel and/or also the

inclusion of the Dufferin-Peel Catholic School Board. The biggest limitation is the

lack of past annual planning documents, but finding out if the reverse trend (that

school testing schools influences which schools overcrowd) is true all the way to

the year 2000, when the OSSLT was first introduced, could explain many trends

and patterns noticed. Future directions of this report could influence policy on

school board planning, as well as on rules of how students are enrolled in

schools, not just locally, but in other school boards experiencing overcrowding.

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10. Bibliography

Basu, Ranu. 2004. “The rationalization of neoliberalism in Ontario’s public education system, 1995-2000.” Geoforum 35: 621-634.

California Department of Education. 2013. “The Williams Case — An Explanation.” Accessed December 4. http://www.cde.ca.gov/eo/ce/wc/wmslawsuit.asp

Duke, Daniel L, Thomas DeRoberto, and Sarah Trauvetter. 2009. “Reducing the Negative Effects of Large Schools.” National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities 1-16.

Earthman, Glen I. 2002. “School Facility Conditions and Academic Achievement.” Williams Watch Series: Investigating the Claims of Williams v. State of California, UCLA's Institute for Democracy, Education, and Access. Accessed December 2. http://escholarship.org/uc/item/5sw56439#

EQAO. 2013. Education Quality and Accountability Office Test Listings. Accessed December 2. https://eqaoweb.eqao.com/pbs/Listing.aspx

Giles, Corrie. 2008. “Capacity Building: Sustaining Urban Secondary Schools as Resilient Self-Renewing Organizations in the Face of Standardized Educational Reform.” The Urban Review 40:137-163

Graves, Jennifer. 2010. “The academic impact of multi-track year-round school calendars: A response to school overcrowding.” Journal of Urban Economics 67:378-391

Herman, Joan L. 1991. “Novel Approaches to Relieve Overcrowding: The Effect of Concept 6 Year-Round Schools.” Urban Education 26:195-213

Hsieh, Hsiu-Fang and Sarah E. Shannon. 2005. “Three Approaches to Qualitative Content Analysis.” Qualitative Health Research 15:1277-1288.

Lipman, Peter. “The Ontario Grade 10 literacy test and neo-conservative agenda.” In Passing the Test: The False Promises of Standardized Testing, edited by Marita Moll, 166-172. Toronto: Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, 2004.

McAdie, Patricia. “Testing the Limits.” In Passing the Test: The False Promises of Standardized Testing, edited by Marita Moll, 149-155. Toronto: Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, 2004.

Marsden, R. Syden. 1899. “Overcrowding in Secondary Schools.” The British Medical Journal 2:584.

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Ready, Douglas D., Valerie E. Lee, and Kevin G. Welner. 2004. “Educational Equity and School Structure: School Size, Overcrowding, and Schools-Within-Schools.” Teacher College Record 106:1989-2014

Peel District School Board. 2011. “Annual Planning Document: Planning and Accomodation 2011/2012.” Accessed December 2. http://www.peelschools.org/aboutus/apd/Documents/CompleteAnnualPlanningDocument2011_12.pdf

Peel District School Board. 2013. “Annual Planning Document: Planning and Accomodation 2012/2013.” Accessed February 10, 2014. http://www.peelschools.org/Documents/Supplementary%20PPB%20-%20APD%20-%20November%2019,%202012.pdf

Rivera-Batiz and Lillian Marti. 1995. “A School System at Risk: A Study of the Consequences of Overcrowding in New York City Public Schools.” Institute for Urban and Minority Education

26

Appendix A

Interview One

Interviewer: Divyesh Mistry

Subject: “Kyle”

Date:

Location: Not in person, over phone

Persons in conversation: Divyesh Mistry

Kyle

Kyle: I consent to be recorded for this interview.

Mistry: Awesome, umm, so my topic is on school overcrowding in Brampton. It was specifically on high schools, but I have a little bit of wiggle room around schools and education in general. So, do you have a role of education in Brampton? I mean, you have kids. So.

KYLE: Yes. Yes. I guess my role would be something of a parent…local school system. So I have a pretty good sense of some of the challenges that they face with umm overcrowding and having resources available to handle influxes of kids, especially in uh, new developments, new neighbourhoods.

Mistry: Okay, that’s cool. Um, I guess you already answered it, but do you think that Brampton’s schools are overcrowded? Why or why not?

KYLE: I think it really depends on. [Speakerphone has cut off at this point. Interview resumes when it comes back on].

Mistry: If you could repeat that question, I mean answer.

KYLE: I guess it depends on the neighbourhood and even the school programming considered. For example, I have two kids..umm..that I think are in the extended French program. Extended French? Yeah. The instruction is something like 40% French and 60% English. Anyhow, it seems that particular program has become popular over

Coding notes

-‐ parent

-‐ new developments

special program

popular

lottery

limited resources

moving

27

the past two years…um…and has such had to use a lottery to determine admittance into the program for September. That’s one example, I guess of a system that is definitely feeling the crunch of overcrowding and just a high demand of limited resources too to adapt it all. Previous to that, in the neighbourhood we lived..um..five years ago and as a result a contributing factor to why we moved. Umm, we had discovered that kids in our area were being bused to different schools year after year for the last 3 years of so at the time. And we had to ask ourselves, you know the serious question of, you know, do we want our kids to be subject to that kind of instability as well. As they go through their elementary school program, um it just kind of seemed that new schools being built not quickly enough and new subdivisions being built throughout Brampton, it was a very chaotic time to get these kids to school through busing and such.

Mistry: So my question is, do you think, like an overcrowded school has impact on the quality of education?

KYLE: Umm, I think it probably does. I think it really depends on how well it’s managed. Umm, I get the sense sometimes with limited resources and limited time, the quality of education might be affected. I think that as pressured demands are put on teachers, expectations keep getting higher, but no further time is really allocated I guess for, for, what one-on-one time for students who might be struggling. So, I guess the sense sometimes that it’s a lot of pressure to move everybody along and keep everything along and I think that puts pressure on parents as well. Not that I necessarily think that’s a bad thing that parents have to be involved with kids’ education but it feels sometimes that, that rather than sort of moral duty, it’s almost like an expectation that parents have to be involved. I’m not sure how comfortable I am with that in the sense that…umm…for example the nature of the work that I do, I’m not always around at home in the evening to help the kids with their homework, so as a parent it feels like I’ve failed too…for them not being able to complete their tasks. I think it is, yes, overcrowding does have an effect on education and perhaps cascades beyond.

Mistry: Umm, this question is more…this question was more geared to when my original plan was to talk to people like planners and the school board before they sort of gave me the run around. So have you talked to other parents, have they expressed this as an issue? Do you think it’s sort of an issue that’s talked around with all the parents in Brampton?

KYLE: That’s an excellent question. To be honest, I don’t really opportunities to talk to other parents and what they feel is going on

Shuffling

instability

slow building

high growth

chaos

limits

time

resources

pressure

high expecations

parents aren’t always around

cascading effect

where you live

28

with overcrowding. Would it be alright if I quickly asked my wife as she more often than not with other parents?

Mistry: Go ahead.

KYLE: [After talking to wife] It seems that, from her observation and from dialogue with the school, this is one of those situations where it depends on where you live. The school where we send our youngest for kindergarten is taking on students due to overcrowding in other areas. So…umm…the dialogue here is that the issue is not overcrowding is in this area, we’re actually a relief line for overcrowding in other areas.

Mistry: That’s cool. Uh, so, what do you think, you mentioned that your schools are currently sort of like a relief line for other schools, so what do you think leads to overcrowding in other areas?

KYLE: Umm, I guess it’s more school. I think, I was reading into this sort of phenomena I guess in a sort of “megaschools” as in a big school, takes lots of students, buses them all around. I’m not really sure that’s the best way to manage the school system. I think, I personally would prefer to see a more kind of decentralized feel, like in an older neighbourhood where we live here, there is something like three elementary schools within walking distance. Umm…I think that’s more appropriate I think for taking the pressure off, if that makes sense?

Mistry: So, I guess that leads to my other, my last question, what would you think is the best solution to overcrowded schools and what would be the worst solution? When I was reading my literature, I read some pretty okay solutions, and some complicated solutions.

KYLE: Ultimately I don’t know what’s the best and what’s the worst. I think…um…we need to be prepared to kind of step outside our comfort zones and preconceptions and things like that. One of the things I find interesting is that it seems to be slight uptick in home schooling, from what I see. I think maybe there are some opportunities there, if you can get appropriately trained and qualified people to teach from home, who can take on a smaller class of I dunno, say 8 kids or something like that. That kind of falls in with the idea of a more decentralized model of schooling where it’s almost like a comfortable daycare as with appropriate schooling integrated with it and that sort of thing. Ultimately, with the ultimate

relief line

mega schools

bussing

decentralization

walking distance

prepared

home schooling

qualified

decentratlization

burden and cost

more options

more time and resources

29

qualifications there could be something that qualifies for funding from the government, so that it doesn’t become a burden for and cost on parents to send their kids to these kinds of places. Uhh…I dunno, that would be kind of interesting. It’s like anything when something becomes too expensive, it’s usually indicative of more options are needed. And in this case, the cost is perhaps time or resources available in schools, that sort of thing. Umm, so provide more options for kids and perhaps teachers as well, and parents might be a way of relieving that pressure a little bit.

Mistry: What do you think of portables as a solution?

KYLE: Temporary at best. Well, do I mean that, I don’t know. I guess if I think of portables, I think of the problems associated with portables like mold growth and things like that, but then I wonder if that’s more a problem of inappropriate upkeep. Umm, I don’t, I don’t think they are the answer. To me, portables kind of ring of something that is temporary, indicative of something needs to change. I’m kind of in a temporary zone with that one.

Mistry: So, do you have any other comments you’d like to make?

KYLE: Umm…I guess…I kind have this feeling like you know the government’s response is inevitably to throw more money at it when I think really it’s a question of understanding better, just what is the problem exactly. Where are bottlenecks? Are there models around the world or in other societies where this is a problem, how have they addressed that, can we adopt the model similarly locally here to address it. I think more actual research needs to be done so how do we fix this problem. Especially I can understand perhaps the appeal of switching up routes and busing kids to different locations but that can be problematic for kids at a time, trying to make their own relationships and finding their own way and things like that. I feel like it’s important to offer them a sense of stability and not move them around. That’s all I have about that.

Mistry: Thanks for that.

temporary

upkeep

money

bottle necks

bussing

stability

30

Interview Two


Subject: “Jessica”

Date:

Location: Not in person, over phone


Jessica

JESSICA: I consent to be interviewed for this school project.

Mistry: Thank you, so…[Fiddles with program trying to stop background noise]. I guess do you or did you have a role in education in Brampton? It sort of like an intro question.

JESSICA: I’ve had a role in education in the GTA area. Umm, my focus has been less been on K to 12, but on entry to…ummm…post-secondary education, within Ontario and Canada. So more the intersection between PSE and K to 12. I do work with area issues in terms of…umm…access.

Mistry: Okay, cool. So here’s the kicker question: do you believe Brampton high schools are overcrowded? Why of why not? Brampton public high schools.

JESSICA: Okay. Well, my answer to that is going to be yes and no, which is going to sound a bit unhelpful, but part of the issue is that…the capacity in public school boards in Ontario is you see undercrowding and overcrowding shift from year to year due to when and how these schools have special magnets programs allocated to them. So, for example, you see the introduction of IB or IB, or [Muffled] might create sudden overcrowding in a specific school. Taking away programs such as [Muffled] might create undercrowding in another school. So, the capacity tends to shift quite a bit depending on how specialized programs are allocated. So…my answer is that yes, some schools will be overcrowded and yet other school may not yet be at capacity. [Muffled] the fact that Brampton’s student population is relatively high for a suburb. Umm…and especially now with the introduction of the National Household Survey they can’t count the census anymore. Because it’s no longer a mandatory census, we really need the accurate population counts to measure…umm…the youth population in Brampton is…that remains to be seen.

Coding notes

PSE

Intersections

Access

Shifts

Magnets

Taking away

Specialized

Suburbs

NHS is not accurate

Need census data again

31

Mistry: Okay, cool. So, do you think that overcrowding has an impact on the quality of education?

JESSICA: I would say that definitely there’s a whole body of research out there that smaller class sizes do lead to at least short and medium term outcomes. So…in general, you know, as education analysts, we’re ready to see class sizes be as small as reasonably possible given local funding and demand.

Mistry: Okay, this was more geared for when like I had school trustees and school principals on the docket. I dunno if you can answer this question. Has anybody in the community spoken to you about this issue, like your neighbours, or anyone, like is this a topic that people talk about?

JESSICA: You know what? It’s difficult for me to answer especially specifically to Brampton, but I can see a few neighbouring GTA municipalities that do have, you know, similar population…ummm…I want to say trends? In that sometimes, they’ve come up that people are somewhat concerned about provincial standards for class sizes and what they mean for the quality of their children’s education. If there’s any way they can know if those class sizes can get smaller.

Mistry: So what do you think leads to overcrowding? Like is there anything other than “magnets” schools do you think that leads to overcrowding?

JESSICA: I can see one thing that leads to overcrowding in…simply not being able to do a good job of accurately counting the number of students who need to be served by the public board. Which of course, is also how people answer the census, how often Brampton is looked at as a suburb, created full of communities that were meant to house nuclear families. The fact that they now house to some extent, they now house larger extended families and I think and also you know the whole introduction of now a whole lot of basement apartments and secondary suites that does create significantly more demand on the education system that might not really be able to accommodate as quickly as the standard. So having an unplanned influx of high school 14 to 18 year olds…ummm..creates a lot of this problem.

Mistry: So, what do you think are some good solutions, what do you think are some bad solutions to relieving overcrowding? Relieving overcrowded high schools.

JESSICA: The bad solution is to change the definition of what overcrowding looks like which is simply by having you know the Ministry of Education to revise the class size standards for each grade. That’s one thing. In which case, your class size are growing by leaps and

Small class sizes

Funding

Demand

Trends

Provincial standards

Class sizes

Smaller

Can’t count students

Extended families

Second units

Unplanned

Just change class size

Change definition

Boundaries

32

bounds but at least with the changed definition…you’re able to say from an administrative standpoint, it’s okay. The other bad way of relieving overcrowded high schools might have to do with ending things like [Muffled] boundary allowances. It’s not as common as it used to be 10 years ago but and I’m going to have to check in with you afterwards, but the practice of having students attend a high school outside of their local catchment area does mean that you will find students who live closer to…I don’t want to say a school that is poorly ranked, but a school that may have less demand, try to attend another school for reasons that have less to do with attending a magnet school and more specifically want them to attend a school that is treated better. If you have too much of that in a system, you start shifting demand away from schools. I know that at the Peel board and other boards in Ontario are trying to minimize the effect of that as much as possible. But when you start off having any kind of program that really shifts demands proportionally away from some schools than towards others, you will see pockets of overcrowding.

Mistry: Just a random kicker question, but what do you think of portables as a solution or what have you?

JESSICA: Portables are really really not…the appropriate long-term solution for overcrowding because…All that portables really do is, for the most part, they tend to increase classroom space. But when you have more kids at school, there’s a lot of other types of facilities that you need to be able to expand the capacity. You have great demand on libraries integrated technology services, you have great demand on event facilities, you might need an extra gym here or there, you have a greater demand on student study space, especially at the high school level. So portables are not really designed to meet the needs that come with an expanding population.

Mistry: So, do you have any other comments?

JESSICA: The only comment I have to make is that to look really closely into how…school boards manage their population projection and understanding whether the methodology there lines up well with kind of the numbers they get from the census and whether or not there might be systemic gaps in how they get school population.

Mistry: Well, thank you very much.

Catchement areas

School rankings

Shifting demand

Pockets of crowding

Increase classroom space

Need increase in other facilities

Not long-‐term solution

Methodology

Systemic gaps

33

Interview Three


Subject: “Vince”

Date: March 20, 2014 to April 1, 2014

Location: Not in person, via email.


MH

Vince

Email One, March 20, 2014:

MH: Hello Divyesh. Councillor “Vince” forwarded me your request for an interview to discuss his perspective on overcrowding in schools. He is pleased to participate. Can you please confirm your timeframe and also provide me with a list of questions so that I can gauge the amount of time required for the interview? He has a packed schedule for the next few weeks but I am certain we can find a time slot that will work for you both. Kind regards, “Mary” Email Two, March 20, 2014:

Mistry: I would prefer to have to done before next Wednesday, however, before next weekend is preferable. I am completely free on all day on Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and on Monday and Wednesday after 4:00 p.m. This shouldn't take more than an hour or so. Questions:

Do you have a role with education in Brampton? (Introduction question) Do you believe Brampton high schools are overcrowded; why or why not? Do you think that overcrowded high schools have an impact on the quality of education; why or why not? Has the community spoken to you about this issue? What are some of their thoughts you could share? What do you think leads to overcrowding in high schools in Brampton? What do you believe is the best and worst solution to relieving overcrowded high schools?

34

Thank you, Divyesh Mistry Email Three, March 28, 2014: MH: I wanted to let you know that Councillor “Vince” is working on completing your interview questions today. He received nearly a dozen similar requests in the last few weeks and has been responding as quickly as possible. Can you please confirm that we have not missed your deadline? Thank you, “Mary” Email Four, March 28, 2014:

Mistry: Thanks “Mary”, No, you haven't missed my deadline.

Email Five, March 31, 2014:

Mistry: I would like to add that I have a personal deadline of tomorrow evening. Also, it would be fine if the responses were sent typed up.

Email Six, March 31, 2014:

MH: Hi Divyesh. We can meet your deadline – I have conducted a brief telephone interview with the councillor and will type up his responses tomorrow. Have a great evening! Email Seven, April 1, 2014: MH: Hello Divyesh, Thank you for your understanding about the delay. We appreciate your interest in the school system in Brampton. Here are Councillor “Vince’s” responses to your interview questions: Do you have a role with education in Brampton? (Introduction question)

35

Members of Council liaise with the School Board Trustees on issues relevant to our constituents. Trustees are the conduit between the school boards and the community, much like councilors are with their constituents. We work together on issues but the responsibility lies primarily with the trustees. Do you believe Brampton high schools are overcrowded; why or why not? Overcrowding isn’t an issue that is raised very often because the Ministry of Education sets guidelines for class size in Ontario. In high schools, class sizes are capped at 22 students. The problems I hear about most often are a result of the rapid growth in Wards 9 and 10, many residents complain that their children are not able to attend schools in their neighbourhood and are being bussed to other neighbourhoods, adding significant commute times for the children. For a high school student, this could mean that they are traveling on a school bus when they could be doing homework or working an afterschool job. Shrinking catchment areas are also a concern as many residents choose where to purchase their home by the schools in the area. When their kids reach school age, they are being told no, your child will now go to this school 10 blocks away. Do you think that overcrowded high schools have an impact on the quality of education; why or why not? With the Ministry mandated cap, overcrowding does not seem to be an issue for the residents I speak with. Even with the cap, a large class size makes it a challenging learning environment. With so many people sharing a classroom, it is easy for students to be distracted by other students, taking away from their learning time as the teacher has to constantly take control of a noisy classroom. I do believe that the smaller the class size, the more attention each child will get and they will do better in school. Has the community spoken to you about this issue? What are some of their thoughts you could share? I heard a lot of resident concerns last year when Carberry Public School announced that they would be converting to a full time French school. This means that children living on the same street as the school will now be attending another school several blocks away. Parents were angry because they were told that they didn’t even qualify for bussing so they would need to get the kids to school on their own. Many families rely on elderly parents to pick up children and this new arrangement will lead to hardship for them. With the Carberry situation, I facilitated meetings between residents the school board trustee. While ultimately the school board’s decision, I will always advocate in the best interest of the residents living in my wards.

Coding Notes

rapid growth

bussing times

shrinking catchment areas

distance between house and school

over crowding not an issue

distra ctions

small class sizes are better

concerns over special programs

not qualify for bussing

hardship for grand parents

36

What do you think leads to overcrowding in high schools in Brampton? Overcrowding is a result of rapid population growth. Many of the executive homes across the GTA are being occupied by large, extended families. This needs to be taken into account when school boards plan new schools. They need to review the needs of the community now and anticipate the future needs to ensure that there are an adequate number of classrooms and access to libraries and a gym. Brampton is a young city and there are lots of families so the schools need to be ready, keeping pace with residential development. I co-chair the City’s Planning, Design & Development Committee. We work closely with representatives from the school boards to talk about development applications and the educational needs of the community. Right now there are several expansion projects planned by the Peel District School Board in Wards 9 and 10. They recognize the need to add classrooms. What do you believe is the best and worst solution to relieving overcrowded high schools? The best solution for overcrowding is to encourage the school boards to build the schools necessary so that all kids have a place to learn in their own neighbourhood. Like municipalities, they have many projects competing for funds so we, as councillors, need to keep the conversation going and work with the trustees to make sure that our residents are taken care of. Divyesh, please let me know if you need more information. Councillor “Vince” would enjoy seeing a copy of your completed assignment.

rapid population growth

extended families

these not taken into account

need gyms, libraries

more class rooms

build schools

keep conversation

37

Appendix B: Informed Consent Form

INFORMED-CONSENT FORM My name is Divyesh Mistry, and I am working on a project for a class at York University in which I am doing research about School overcrowding and impacts on quality of education. One way I am doing this research is by talking with people who are familiar with school overcrowding about their experiences and impressions of it, and I hope to secure your consent to speak with you. Your identity will remain anonymous; our conversation will remain confidential; and you may end this conversation or decline to answer my questions at any time you choose to do so. I am also happy to provide you with a summary of the results of my research when it is done if you request this. If you would like more information about my project, please contact my instructor, Professor Linda Peake, at [email protected] or 416-736-2100, extension 33795; or I may be found at [email protected] or 647-701-6180. Thank you for considering participation in my research. ______________________________________ Participant Signature ______________________________________ Researcher Signature ______________ Date

38

Appendix C: List of Interview Questions

What is your relation to the Peel District School Board?

Do you believe Brampton high schools are overcrowded? Why or why not?

Do you think that overcrowded high schools have an impact on the quality of education?

What are those impacts?

Have parents, teachers, students, or other community member spoken to you about this issue? What are some of their thoughts on this?

What do you think leads to overcrowding in high schools in Brampton?

What do you believe is the best solution to relieving overcrowded high schools?

What do you think is the worst solution?

What are your thoughts on portables being used in Peel schools?

Do you have any further comments?