Proper testing the key to improving poor educational results of Atlantic Canadians
Study affirms validity of student testing in measuring progress and holding schools accountable for results
Testing and Accountability
Accountability, not money, is the key to improved student performance say the authors of AIMS’ report “Testing & Accountability: The Keys to Educational Excellence in Atlantic Canada" It is clear that taxpayers, and the students they help support, are getting less for their investment in education than they deserve and certainly less than their counterparts in some other provinces.
ATLANTICA – A Cross-Border Partnership for the Future
It makes sense for us, their biggest trading partner and closest ally, to work with [the U.S.]… This was the theme in an address by AIMS President, Brian Lee Crowley, AIMS Senior Fellow, Michael J. MacDonald, and Perry Newman, former Director of International Trade to the state of Maine and current President of the Atlantica Group of Portland, Maine, to the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee studying North American Integration. The presentation introduced the Committee to AIMS’ “Atlantica Initiative” and explained the benefits of re-discovering and fostering the region’s historical north-south economic ties which North American free trade has begun to reinvigorate. In their comments to the Committee, Messrs. Crowley, MacDonald and Newman also underlined how the post-11 September climate opens up possibilities for closer collaboration on security issues. The Atlantica region could be the scene of numerous pilot projects, including at the Port of Halifax and the region’s airports, as we
Standardized exams: the test of a good school
New Brunswick recently released school-by-school test results for core curriculum areas. But parents and students in Nova Scotia, Newfoundland & Labrador, and Prince Edward Island get no such regular reporting of objective test-based information on the quality of their schools. In this column AIMS President, Brian Lee Crowley, says it is time to ask why not. Crowley demonstrates that the common criticisms about standardised tests do not stand up to critical evaluation. Where the responses of students are assessed in an objective manner and the items on the test are designed to measure the core objectives of a course in a way that is consistent and fair for all students in the province, then the information collected can provide a powerful tool for accountability and improved system management. That's good for parents, teachers, employers, post-secondary institutions and, above all, students. Isn't that what the schools are supposed to be about? Publication: CHH, February 27, 2002
AIMS talks about Atlantica with Commons Committee
Three key players in AIMS’ Atlantica project met with the House of Commons Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade to discuss the concept of Atlantica and its importance to this region and the country as a whole.
AIMS On-Line for the end of February 2002
Here is what's new at AIMS, Atlantic Canada's Public Policy Think Tank
St. Valentine’s Week Massacre
A widely used mineral index shows that most natural resource prices have fallen by 50% since 1950. Yet, in Newfoundland, the idea that natural resources increase in value the longer one waits has been used to justify policies that drove away investors, created regulatory bottlenecks and prolonged jurisdictional disputes. The results, according to Peter Fenwick, AIMS' voice on Newfoundland and Labrador and former Director of Communications at the Institute, is severe damage to the offshore oil sector, delays in the development of the Voisey’s Bay nickel project and a succession of governments that have let Churchill River power flow to the ocean without producing any wealth. In this piece, Fenwick considers whether the recent collapse of a significant portion of Newfoundland’s offshore oil industry will inject some semblance of reality into the collective consciousness, and lead to policies that promote wealth generation now before the resources decline another 50% in value.
FPI, the South Coast, and the future of Newfoundland
After FPI announced it was putting tens of millions of dollars into modernizing three south coast plants and would have to lay off almost half the work force, politicians responded with hearings on the FPI Act. The public anger at the hearings was real, and the language abusive. In this commentary, Peter Fenwick, AIMS’ voice on Newfoundland and Labrador issues, says that now that FPI has been hobbled by the Newfoundland legislature, the future of the south coast is even more problematic. If the haemorrhaging of population from the south coast reported in the latest Census is to be staunched, it will only be by companies like FPI. Modernization has to go forward if any fish processing jobs are to be saved, but how FPI will finance it under the new rules remains to be seen.
Ten Things Atlantic Canadians Believe About Natural Gas, But Shouldn’t
Emphasis on local consumption of gas misguided; focus should be on creating best value for Atlantic Canadians from the gas sector as a whole
The Mazankowski health care report: a personal view
Comments from AIMS President Brian Lee Crowley to the Conference Board of Canada's Leader's Roundtable on the future of healthcare in Canada.