How to Fix a Broken High Schooler, in Four Easy Steps (Rebroadcast)

The episode examines the Pathways to Education program in Toronto's Regent Park, which reduced high school dropout rates from 56% to 10% through four pillars: counseling, academic tutoring, social activities, and financial incentives. It highlights how community-based support can substitute for missing family and social structures, with evidence from program data and participant feedback. An economist’s evaluation confirms the program’s outsized impact compared to typical education interventions.

You get a rare, data-backed example of a scalable intervention that achieved near-miraculous reductions in high school dropout rates by addressing structural gaps in student support.

1. 01Pathways to Education cut dropout rates by 46 percentage points in a high-poverty Toronto neighborhood through structured support.
2. 02The program’s four pillars—counseling, mandatory tutoring, social activities, and financial incentives—function as a surrogate for family and community support.
3. 03Student input led to making tutoring mandatory, showing that at-risk youth value structure and consistent adult engagement.