Early School Leaving Among Immigrants in Toronto Secondary Schools (Essay‪)‬

IMMIGRANTS ARE WILLING TO BEAR THE costs of moving to a new and unfamiliar country in order to pursue economic opportunities, a better standard of living and, what is especially important to most, a brighter future for their children. Surveys of immigrants consistently indicate that nearly all hold postsecondary educational aspirations for their children (Krahn and Taylor 2005). Given the need for skilled labor and an informed citizenry, it is equally important to Canada that the children of immigrants are well-educated. Completing high school is, of course, a prerequisite to gaining access to postsecondary studies and is consequently among the first, and most important, steps immigrant youth take toward making the most of the opportunities that served to motivate their family's move to Canada. Failing to complete high school jeopardizes the economic prospects of immigrant youth and imposes a social cost on Canadian society that it can ill afford. For these reasons it is important to better understand the factors underlying the academic performance of first- and second-generation immigrant youth. First-generation immigrants are the foreign-born children of immigrants and the second generation is the Canadian-born children of immigrants. The educational aspirations of both generations tend to be high, reflecting the optimism each feels toward attaining their social and economic goals by succeeding in the education system (Glick and White 2003; Krahn and Taylor 2005; OECD 2006). However, the ability of immigrant youth to realize their broader ambitions by educational means is not assured given the rapidly changing demographic composition of Canada's population coupled with the economic downturn experienced by recent immigrant cohorts. At issue is, first, the capacity of large metropolitan educational systems like the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) to accommodate the diverse backgrounds and needs of immigrant youth and, second, whether immigrant families have the resources to support their children's educational endeavors.