Readiness to Learn in Minority Francophone Communities: Reference Report

Authors:Louise Legault Geneviève Mák Matthieu Verstraete Annie Bérubé Louise Janisse Robyn Carson Marie-Anne Saucier Lorraine Lefebvre

This report aims to establish a profile of the children, families and communities participating in the Readiness to Learn in Minority Francophone Communities project (Readiness to Learn project), a demonstration project funded by Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC).

The project tests a preschool child care program1, whose objective is to develop a child’s language skills, knowledge and use of French, awareness of and identification with the francophone culture as well as favor his/her preparation for school and overall development. The program is evaluated using a quasi-experimental research design with non-equivalent comparison groups.

The research design comprises three experimental groups: a program group made up of children enrolled in a francophone daycare centre offering the new preschool program; a comparison group consisting of children enrolled at a francophone daycare centre that does not offer the new program; and a comparison group of children who are cared for at home or in an informal family daycare setting. The first comparison group aims to control for the influence of a formal daycare centre on child development, a treatment in itself. The second comparison group controls for the influence of an informal care setting on child development. The project includes two participant cohorts—the first enrolled in 2007 and the second enrolled in 2008.

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Project Details

Capability: Experimentation
Policy Area: P-12 Education - Preschool
Population: Children - Official Language Minorities - Communities and Families
Type: Report
Start Date: March 2006
Completion Date: May 2013
Sponsors: Employment and Social Development Canada | Applied Research Branch