Study of the impact of the Pacific Path program’s implementation in French schools in the Réseau d’Enseignement Prioritaire

The Pacific Path Institute, in collaboration with the town of Montreuil, Éducation nationale, the ministère des Relations internationales québécois et français as well as the Office Franco-Québecois pour la Jeunesse (OFQJ), has been implementing the Pacific Path program in five schools in Montreuil (a Parisian suburb) since x.

These schools are part of a REP (Réseau d’Enseignement Prioritaire). This means that many schools, usually underprivileged, in the same area of the city, team up to act coherently. Pacific Path is being implemented at Collège Paul Éluard (470 - 11 to 15 year-olds), at Voltaire elementary school (340 – 6 to 11 year-olds), and in three kindergartens – Voltaire, Marceau and Dolto- (230 – 4 and 5 year-olds).

This project is being evaluated by the Université Paris 13 (Groupe de Research sur les Ressources Éducatives et Culturelles) and by CADIS (Centre d’Analyses et d’Interventions Sociales). The main objective of this evaluation is to document the effects of the introduction and development of a new educational technology for the French socio-cultural environment. First, the effects on the students are observed at school. Next, all changes in the staff’s behavior and their relationship with the students will be under observation. This research program is being conducted from a sociological point of view and will help fill the gaps in the first Quebec study which did not document the " social " effects of the Pacific Path program.

A first interim report was filed in automn 2001 for the 2000-2001 school year. It mentions some weak points and several strong points. First and foremost, a great deal of resistance is observed at the secondary school level. The teachers and students are rather hesitant to adopt the program. They consider that it introduces practical changes that the staff is not yet ready to " accept ". However, changes at the kindergarten level have been absolutely positive. The researchers observed an acceleration in the childrens’ language and vocabulary acquisition. They also report that the teachers are very happy to teach the program because they see an immediate effect on the students.