Rosalie Wyonch – Preparing People for a Technological Future
From: Rosalie Wyonch To: Education Policy Makers Across Canada Date: January 18, 2017 Re: Preparing People for a Technological Future In 2017, Canada needs to establish the foundations for navigating uncertain global tides, and ensure healthy economic growth over the long run. To do so, Canadians need to embrace technological innovations, and be ready for […] Does Extra School Fundraising Affect Student Results? Toronto Star Op-Ed
Does school fundraising worsen inequality in Toronto elementary schools in terms of academic outcomes? Many parents fear as much. Despite those fears, my research shows, there is no strong link between academic results in Toronto elementary schools and their private fundraising prowess.
Schools report the amount of external funds raised to the Toronto District School Board, and in some cases it is a large amount of money. In a recent study for the C.D. Howe Institute, Huijie Guo and I investigated the link between school academic results and the amount of funds raised.
The bottom line is that external funds raised by schools do not translate into…
Unfair Advantage? School Fundraising Capabilities and Student Results
There is little correlation between fundraising success at schools and student grades, finds a new report from the C.D. Howe Institute. In “Unfair Advantage? School Fundraising Capabilities and Student Results,” authors Huijie Guo and David R. Johnson measure the association of funds raised in Toronto District School Board (TDSB) elementary schools with educational outcomes, and […] Canada Should Strengthen the Safety Net for Precarious Jobs: Globe and Mail Op-Ed
The government of Ontario is currently looking at ways to address precarious work through a sweeping review of labour legislation and enforcement in the province – other provinces are planning to follow suit. Employment risks are also featured in federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau’s statements about “job churn” and the persistence of short-term employment. But how bad is the problem and what should be done about it?
In a recent C.D. Howe Institute publication, we looked at the common meanings of precarious work and assess the policy levers available to address it. We consider three types of precarious employment that we refer to as “non-standard” jobs – part-time, temporary and unincorporated self-employment.
We…
Rosalie Wyonch – PISA Results: Good News for Immigrants, Bad News for Education
From: Rosalie Wyonch To: The Hon. Ministers of Education Date: December 16, 2016 Re: PISA Results – Good news for Immigrants, Bad News for Education Last week, results from the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) were released, illustrating that Canada’s 15-year olds performed among the world’s best in science, reading and math. The results […] Precarious Positions: Policy Options to Mitigate Risks in Non-standard Employment
Canada should strengthen the safety net under workers in precarious jobs, according to a new report from the C.D. Howe Institute. In “Precarious Positions: Policy Options to Mitigate Risks in Non-standard Employment,” authors Colin Busby and Ramya Muthukumaran investigate trends in jobs with heightened employment risks and offer policy solutions to support insecure workers. Robson And Laurin – Auditor General’s Objections To Ontario’s Pension Accounting Are The Tip Of A Fiscal Iceberg
From: Bill Robson and Alexandre Laurin To: Concerned Ontarians Date: October 17, 2016 Re: Memo to Ontario Taxpayers – Auditor General’s Objections to Ontario’s Pension Accounting are the Tip of a Fiscal Iceberg The release of Ontario’s public accounts for the 2015/16 fiscal year in early October featured an unusual tussle between the government and […] Joseph Marchand – Alberta’s Minimum Wage Should Move With Increases In Labour Demand (i.E. Energy Prices)
From: Joseph Marchand To: Concerned Albertans Date: September 20, 2016 Re: Alberta’s Minimum Wage Should Move with Increases in Labour Demand (i.e. Energy Prices) In the Spring of 2015, the newly-elected Government of Alberta committed to a $15 minimum wage by 2018, from an initial rate of $10.20 in 2014. The first $1.00 hike in […] Taylor & Yeates – Building up and deploying our human capital
From: Kathleen Taylor and Neil Yeates To: Human Capital Council members, federal, provincial and local governments Date: September 19, 2016 Re: Building up and deploying our human capital How we develop the skills of Canadians and how we put them to best use are two central issues confronting a wide range of policymakers today. Getting the answers right will […] Ontario’s Math System Is Broken. So Why Isn’t The Government Fixing It?: Globe And Mail Op-ed
Ontario’s Education Quality and Accountability Office’s (EQAO) 2015/2016 results from mathematics assessments should give parents in the province reason to worry. There was some positive news in that reading and writing scores increased over five years, but mathematics scores plummeted. The percentage of Grade 3 students who met the provincial math standard fell to 63 per cent from 68 per cent over five years. The results were worse for Grade 6 students. Only 50 per cent met the provincial math standard, down from 58 per cent five years ago.
Early achievement in math has been shown to predict later academic achievement, financial success and future career options. The recent EQAO results should further increase government efforts…
Andrew Parkin – Leapfrogged
From: Andrew Parkin To: Provincial Ministries of Education and Advanced Education Date: July 21, 2016 Re: Leapfrogged Canadians are used to seeing themselves outclassed in international learning assessments such as PISA (the Programme for International Student Assessment) by East Asian countries and city-regions such as Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Taipei. That’s why, when […] John Richards – Gaming the MDGs
From: John Richards To: Hon. Marie-Claude Bibeau Date: July 18, 2016 Re: Gaming the MDGs In May, Marie-Claude Bibeau, Minister of International Development, announced a policy review of Canada’s international assistance policy. This is a worthwhile initiative, but it will bear fruit only if it prompts blunt discussion of governance. In the minister’s Backgrounder is mention of […]