Op-Eds
Published in the Vancouver Sun on June 11, 2010
By David Johnson
There are about 1,400 elementary schools in British Columbia, with about 600 of them in Metro Vancouver. How do parents, teachers, taxpayers and school administrators know if children are attending a school that does well by its students, that is, where the best schools are?
In a study published by the C.D. Howe Institute this week, I have created a measure of school performance that fairly compares schools where students come from similar social and economic backgrounds.
There is a big range in school performance, and some schools are better than others, but they cannot be meaningfully ranked by simply using the percentage of students who do…
October 26, 2009 - Celebrating Canada's performance on international tests overlooks the high dropout rates among francophone men in Quebec and aboriginals, according to John Richards, Roger Phillips Scholar in Social Policy at the C.D. Howe Institute. Writing on the Globe and Mail comment page, Professor Richards assesses the scope of the problem and recommends potential soutions.
To read the op-ed, click here.
EI System needs stable funding: think tank
In EI System needs stable funding: think tank, (Financial Post, June 17th 2009), Paul Vieira reports that as political leaders in Ottawa squabble to the edge of an election over Employment Insurance, a C.D. Howe Institute study highlights two critical issues being missed in the discourse: stable funding and insulation from political interference.
For the article click here.
Regional Equity in EI Access Long Overdue, according to C.D. Howe Institute Policy Analyst, Colin Busby
In Stop the Damage from Regionally Biased EI, (The Calgary Herald, March 23rd 2009), C.D. Howe Institute Policy Analyst, Colin Busby, finds that mounting job losses in previously booming areas, Ontario and Alberta, will cause many of the unemployed to fall into a less forgiving insurance net than those in Quebec and eastward. Busby maintains that policymakers ought to pursue an EI system that better supports economic stability, despite the inevitable expense, and recommends that Ottawa introduce uniform EI entrance requirements.
For the OpEd click here.
Natalie Alcoba of the National Post focused her August 28, 2008 column on a report released by the C.D. Howe Institute, entitled Heads of the Class: A Comparison of Ontario School Boards by Student Achievement,” written by Professor David Johnson, Professor of Economics at Wilfrid Laurier University and Education Policy Scholar at the C.D. Howe Institute. Alcoba states that Johnson’s results indicate that of the top 13 above-average boards 11 are Catholic, a phenomenon he links to competition, as Catholic parents can choose to send their children to either Catholic or public schools. National Post. Thursday, August 28, 2008. Page: A11. Section: Toronto. Byline: Natalie Alcoba. Source: National Post.