A study conducted by the J-PAL laboratory at PSE – Paris School of Economics in around forty middle schools / lower secondary schools within the Versailles school authority, and funded by the Youth Experimentation Fund, analyses the impact of parent-headteacher meetings on the educational pathways and school drop-out rates of the most vulnerable pupils. In this summary, the three researchers demonstrate that these meetings have a very marked effect on pupils’ educational pathways and future plans.
When surveyed at the end of middle school / lower secondary school, the vast majority of parents of Year 9 pupils believe that their child will pass the baccalaureate, even when their academic results and chances of success at upper secondary school are in reality very low. In fact, amongst the pupils facing the greatest difficulties and most at risk of dropping out, very few consider the possibility of an apprenticeship or a short vocational training course at secondary school, which reflects the poor reputation of such courses in France.
As part of a pilot study carried out in Year 9 classes within the Versailles school district, the authors demonstrate that two specific meetings between the middle school / lower secondary school headteacher and the parents of the lowest-achieving pupils are sufficient to bring about a very significant shift in families’ plans and to broaden the range of educational pathways under consideration. This shift in aspirations is subsequently accompanied by a significant reduction in school drop-out rates, leading to students completing their studies without undergoing grade repetition at the academy’s apprenticeship centres or vocational sixth-form colleges. Two years after this very simple intervention, the dropout rate, which stands at 20 per cent among this group of pupils, has fallen to 15 per cent.
Using data on groups of friends within classes, the authors also show that the intervention is accompanied by an improvement in the social integration of the lowest-achieving pupils. They interact more with their higher-achieving classmates: this change in peer relationships within classrooms is undoubtedly one of the keys to the success of the pilot scheme.
