Education Policy

— Oct 24, 2024
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BC’s Descriptive Grading on Report Cards Has Parents Yearning for the ABCs

B.C.’s Descriptive Grading on Report Cards Has Parents Yearning for the ABCs finds that the vast majority of parents in Canada easily understand letter grades on report cards but are confused by the new “descriptive” grading recently adopted in British Columbia.

— Aug 29, 2024
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End of Accountability in BC High School Student Performance

The End of Accountability in British Columbia High School Student Performance finds that the B.C. government’s new student “assessments” in high schools are much less valuable and useful than the previous exams in measuring student and school performance.

— Aug 22, 2024
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Education Spending in Public Schools in Canada, 2024

Education Spending in Public Schools in Canada, 2024 Edition finds that despite common misperceptions, per-student spending on public schools increased in six of the 10 provinces over a 10-year period (after adjusting for inflation).

— Jun 11, 2024
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Strong Parental Support for Balance, Not Bias, and Parental Involvement in K-12 Classrooms

Strong Parental Support for Balance, not Bias, and Parental Involvement in K-12 Classrooms finds that, based on a new Leger poll, more than 4 in 5 parents (82% of) across Canada think K-12 teachers and schools should provide students with facts, not interpretations, and provide advance notice of controversial lessons while 76 % of parents agree that students should be presented both sides of controversial issues or avoided entirely, while 91 per cent of parents think classroom material and discussions should always be age-appropriate.

— May 22, 2024
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Funding for BC Independent Schools Saves Government Money

Funding for BC Independent Schools Saves Government Money finds that, despite misperceptions, government funding for independent schools in British Columbia saves the province (i.e. provincial taxpayers) millions of dollars every year. Looking specifically at the costs, even if just 10 per cent of independent school students migrated to government public schools because the B.C. government eliminated independent school funding, education spending would increase by $51.6 million per year.

— Apr 25, 2024
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Canadian History Untold: Assessing the K–12 Curriculum Guides in British Columbia and Ontario

Canadian History Untold: Assessing the K-12 Curriculum Guides in British Columbia and Ontario finds that the amount of Canadian history being taught to Ontario and BC students in K-12 is limited. In Ontario, what little Canadian history is taught doesn’t follow a logical, chronological order, and in BC’s case, it is overly-focussed on discriminatory events in Canada’s past.

— Mar 21, 2024
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School Spending and Performance in Canada and Other High-Income Countries

School Spending and Performance in Canada and Other High-Income Countries is a new study that finds higher per-student spending levels are not associated with stronger academic achievement. In fact, among the provinces, Saskatchewan was the highest per-student spender but ranked 8th out of the 10 provinces in scores on the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). Manitoba was the second highest per-student spender and recorded the lowest PISA scores nationwide. Conversely, British Columbia was the lowest spender per student in Canada and achieved the fourth-highest PISA scores.

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