Overview

Abstract (English)

Streaming or tracking of high school students through different sequences of core courses (e.g., English, science, mathematics) has been practised in Canada and other developed countries for decades. The practice has also been vigorously debated. This article examines the extent to which streaming of tenth-grade students was occurring in four provinces – Ontario, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and British Columbia – in 2000, using data obtained from Cycle 1 of Statistics Canada’s Youth in Transition (YITS) Survey. It also focuses on the impact of social background as measured by parents’ education levels and family income on the course-selection choices made by 15 year-old high school students. In four provinces — Ontario, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia — the distinctions between the levels of courses taken by 15 year-old students (open PSE options vs college-only options) were clearest. As a result, the analysis reported here is based on data from those four provinces which accounted for about two-thirds of Canadian 15 year-olds in 2000.

Abstract (French)

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