L'enseignant-ressource et le rendement scolaire des élèves de milieux défavorisés : une comparaison entre les francophones et les allophones

For several decades, many studies have maintained that special intervention in disadvantaged school environments had little if any positive impact on students' academic achievements. (Lapointe 'et al.', 2003; Montmarquette 'et al'., 1989; Moore, 1978). Other studies have shown on the contrary that educational interventions have a positive impact on school performance by students. Some of the factors affecting academic performance are the school's emphasis on success and the type of student supervision (Borman 'et al.', 2005; Crahay, 2000; Crespo & Minta, 1998). Over the past couple of years, these later studies have led to increased interest in special interventions, including those of resource-teachers. However, the controversy surrounding the merit of resource-teachers is still very much alive. Despite the growing interest in this category of teachers, there are some who consider this position as simply part of the teacher's role and still doubt its relevance. This is why resource-teachers do not generally receive special training. They are often selected on political grounds or simply because it is assumed that, since they were good teachers, they will likely make excellent resource-teachers for students from disadvantaged or multi-ethnic backgrounds. Beyond these general characteristics, an original study conducted for the Montreal Island School Council (MISC) revealed that resource-teachers are considered to have a positive effect on and to be indispensable for academic success by students (Crespo 'et al.', 1998). The present research is based on a secondary analysis of the data of the original study. It aims at verifying whether resource teaches have a differential effect on a sub-sample of students of the original study. The sub-sample is constituted by students who attended schools that had resource-teachers. The original research has shown that these students performed better on average than students who attended schools with no resource-teachers. This research intends to find whether francophone and allophone students who attended school benefiting from resource-teachers perform differently. More specifically, the purpose of this research is to establish whether there are statistically significant discrepancies between the results in the two ethnic categories and, if so, what factors influence these results. In other words, do resource-teachers produce comparable results in francophones and allophones? Our sample group consists of 808 students (415 in the 3 rd grade and 393 in the 6th grade) who were assisted by resource-teachers. In order to meet our objective, we compared the academic results of the two groups of students. Bivariate and multiple linear regression analyses were made in order to identify factors that can predict academic achievement, particularly the role of linguistic group. The main results are as follows. In the 3rd grade, linguistic group does not influence academic performance in French and Maths. On the contrary, age and gender are predictors as far as French is concerned. Students whose age is above the class average have lower grades in French. It was also found that girls achieve better results in French than boys. In the 6th grade, linguistic group does not significantly impact academic performance in French and Maths but does so in English. Allophone students earn higher grades in English than francophone students. There are other intervening variables capable of predicting results. For example, age and a single parent father-only structure seem decisive in French, Maths and English; sex is decisive in French and single parent mother-only structures seem to be predictors in Maths. Younger students (10 or 11), both allophones and francophones, perform better in French and English than older ones (12 and over). Both allophone and francophone girls obtain higher grades than boys. Students from single parent father-only households achieve lower grades in French, Maths and English than students from nuclear families. Students from single parent mother-only households obtain lower grades in Maths than those from nuclear families. Given that there are no significant differences in performance in French and Maths between francophone and allophone 3rd and 6th grade students, we could infer that the intervention of resource-teachers is beneficial to both linguistic groups. This research shows that there are effective methods for students from disadvantaged and multi-ethnic backgrounds. The collective and global approach where the resource-teacher works together as a team with the other school stakeholders seems to lead to success in a school environment. This is consonant with other studies that assess global educational approaches in disadvantaged schools such as the 'Success for All' programs (Borman 'et al.', 2005; Herman ' et al.', 1999; Slavin, 1999).