CCDF reviewed 60 initiatives of which 44 were selected for the inventory. Those not chosen did not have enough information about their initiative, the contact for the project could not be reached or there was no evaluative data that spoke to its innovation, effectiveness or promise.
Appendix D is a summary table with all entries’ titles, regions, types, target audiences, schoolleaver groups and whether the entry was innovative, effective and promising. Appendix E has the data capture templates of detailed information for each entry.
Policies included in the inventory were found to co-ordinate and integrate learning and career planning. They seemed to have a strategic vision that encompassed the engagement of key stakeholders. These policies to smooth transitions for Canadian youth focussed on combining:
The two non-government policies are interesting in that they both focussed on supporting postsecondary youth transitions by supporting their initial work search: one by making the process of recruitment ethical and the other by helping students demonstrate to employers their technical and employability skills developed through their PSE learning.
Geographical distribution: 1 Alberta; 1 Nova Scotia and 1 Ontario; and 2 national.
Each program in the inventory had several elements of a successful school-to-work transition initiative. Some of those elements included: a planned sequence of learning experiences throughout students’ school years resulting in a strong foundation of career information and self-awareness; academic learning integrated with occupational learning; special efforts to involve employers in their partnerships; commitment and support from all partners; a variety of different sources for financial support.
Although all the programs were innovative in at least one way, 12 of the programs were classified as innovative because of the way they combined several elements of success with innovative twists – for example: use of mentors, peer mentors and advisors to give students individual attention; comprehensive programs that are developmental in nature and geared to a specific audience’s needs; geared to elementary school students; working partnerships that keep on growing, unique ways of involving parents, and especially the inclusion of preparatory phases or training in the implementation.
The programs labelled promising have elements of success but have not yet accumulated evidence-based data to prove success. The five effective programs are well-established with evidence-based data demonstrating their success. They were categorized as effective here because among career-oriented programs it is rare to have measured evidence of success and to be long-established. Proof of value and obtaining funding for sustainability are always issues for such programs so it is important to be able to highlight exemplary evidence-gathering process to others who wish to implement successful and sustainable school-to-work transition programs.