About the study

This study highlighted the achievements of the Pathways to Education Program in the Regent Park community – one of Toronto’s low-income communities. Implemented in 2000, the Pathways to Education Program was specially designed to help at-risk youths in the community successfully complete high school and gain access to the post-secondary education. The study provided lessons learned from the development of the Pathways to Education Program.

What can be learned from this study?

• Pathways to Education program had a community focus and fully engaged the Regent Park community in the development of the program.

• Four components of the Pathways to Education Program contributed to their success: academic support (one-on-one and small group tutoring services), social support (group mentoring and career mentoring), financial support (financial incentives and scholarships), and advocacy support (meetings with student/parent support workers).

• Ongoing monitoring, focus groups and research such as surveys helped improve the Pathways to Education Program based on the data collected. Action research approach was critical to Pathways’ success.

• Pathways to Education Program lowered the high school dropout rate from 56 to 11 percent and increased post-secondary attendance from 20 to 80 percent for youths.

What method(s) did the study use?

Overview of the Pathways to Education Program development