June, 2015
Context
After more than a decade of leading and convening a city-wide collaborative effort to
reduce poverty in Hamilton, and recognizing from this the impact that changes such as
higher rates of literacy, high school graduation and post-secondary access would have
on our community, Hamilton Community Foundation is focusing its efforts on education
as a pathway to our city’s prosperity.
Research
Over the last three years, the Foundation has researched strategies from across North
America that address the barriers preventing young people from graduating and
accessing post-secondary education. Our research has included mapping the Hamilton
landscape of services to children from birth to high school graduation and postsecondary options, gathering community-wide input from educators and other
stakeholders, identifying more vulnerable and lesser-served populations, common
elements of successful programs, and critical transition points from early years to
adulthood.
Analysis
Clearly, there are multiple points along the age spectrum that could benefit from the
investment of additional resources. As a result of this research, HCF has clarified its
goals around education, and the places along the education spectrum and options
where our resources would have the most impact.
Our goal is to:
Improve high school graduation rates and access to post-secondary education,
including trades and apprenticeship opportunities, by focusing on “the middle school
years” (grades 6, 7 and 8 and transition to grade 9)
The research tells us that this age group is the right one for us to focus on in Hamilton
because of the:
 looming transition to high school
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

developmental changes that take place at that time in a child’s life
need for preparation and planning in terms of the academic decisions that will
strongly shape one’s future
Local and broader research tells us that for students who face disadvantages, high
school interventions may not be early enough. We also know that these middle years
are among the least supported in terms of focused community programs and provincial
education strategies compared to other age groups (e.g., 0-6) where there are a range
of other comprehensive supports and programming.
Key tenets of our strategy
Based on our research and community consultation on needs and areas for biggest
impact, HCF established some key principles for its education initiative. It should be:

Based on the “four pillars” of successful early intervention programs:
o academic support
o counselling/mentoring
o providing information/building aspiration
o financial assistance1

Adapt to different sub-populations who face multiple barriers and are at higher
risk of not completing high school or post-secondary training

Build on existing community capacity

Provide specific focus to disengaged and harder-to-reach students and their
parents – not only students who could be motivated with fewer or less intensive
supports

Support systems change and mobilize the community, including strategies to
address system-wide issues, gaps, and barriers that would improve educational
outcomes for students
The result is an overall strategy to address equitable access and comprehensive
support to young people who, for a multitude of reasons, may not otherwise graduate
high school or continue on to further education.
1 Deller, F. & Tomas, S. (2013). Strategies for Supporting Youth Education: A snapshot of early intervention programs in Ontario. Higher
Education Quality Council of Ontario: Toronto.
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HCF’s education strategy: ABACUS
ABACUS: Advancing Post-secondary Access consists of three key elements to
enhance the possibilities for children currently in the “middle school years”:
1. Build Capacity to Enhance
Programming
A process will be developed to
expand available spaces and
improve quality of current
programs in Hamilton.
This is the focus of grants from
HCF’s Community
Fund/unrestricted funds which
will support:

Programs that serve children in
grades 6, 7, 8 and transition
into grade 9
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
Organizations delivering programs based on the four pillars of early intervention

Programs that utilize engagement strategies such as arts and recreation to target
specific populations

Collaboration among organizations by offering incentives to those who reflect the
four pillars through new partnerships and better use of system-wide planning and
data
Through our granting approach, HCF seeks buy-in to evaluation, evidence and
collaboration. In doing so, we hope to create a unifying vision that will generate new
partnerships, reallocate resources and reorganize programs and services to better
serve the needs of students in the middle school years.
2. Outreach and Engagement
This element of the strategy has two components:
Parental engagement
This is a critical factor in determining whether a
child goes on to post-secondary education. HCF
will grant to programs that show evidence of their
ability to be successful in engaging parents of
children in the middle school years, as well as
projects that explore promising practices.
Outreach to disengaged youth: GRAD TRACK
HCF will create a pilot, known as GRAD TRACK
to engage the sub-population of youth who face
multiple disadvantages and who are disengaged
from school and unlikely to enroll in a typical early
intervention program. These students may
require specific outreach before re-engaging in
education.
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The pilot will:
 Be based on the four pillars of successful early intervention
 Utilize broad range of engagement tools
 Utilize a “coach” who would work one-on-one with these students and their parents,
and link them to school and community-based support until they complete high
school
 Bursary support for those who continue on to post-secondary education
3. Community Collaboration
Given HCF’s history and success in
creating community collaborations on
the city’s critical issues, stakeholders
including local education leaders have
identified the need for the Foundation
to play a leadership role.
To create and promote longer-term
solutions, HCF will convene
Hamilton’s education stakeholders.
This collaborative table would examine
and seek to address issues including
emerging solutions to systemic gaps
identified as a result of our work.
Summary
HCF has a history of bringing
community together to generate
collaborative solutions to complex and
seemingly intractable problems. The community has told us that we are the right
organization to undertake helping more young Hamiltonians achieve their full potential
through high school graduation and post-secondary education.
Research points to the middle school years as the right place for HCF’s focus and
resources. With continuing community input, we believe our education strategy will not
only address Hamilton’s unique community context, but will also provide a framework
that may be helpful in any Canadian community that seeks to improve its education
outcomes.
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