AIMS’ 3rd Annual Report Card on Atlantic Canada’s High Schools
Tracking school performance pays off for Newfoundland & Labrador and Francophone New Brunswick as they move to the head of the class
Why some provinces do better on the AIMS’ high school report card
It is fitting that the third AIMS’ report card on Atlantic Canadian high schools is being released only a few months after the latest international data from the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA). In 2001, the Atlantic Provinces ranked seventh, eighth, ninth and 10th out of the ten Canadian provinces on the international assessments in reading, math and science. In 2003, only Newfoundland and Labrador has escaped the basement -sitting at either 5th or 6th out of ten depending on the measure – with the other three provinces busily rearranging the deck chairs.
Low tuition advocates need facts not fantasy
Are rising tuition fees the barrier to low income students that they are so often portrayed to be? Hardly, says AIMS President Brian Lee Crowley, and the facts back him up. In stark contrast to recent assertions by student advocates, Statistics Canada research demonstrates not only a quite manageable student debt load (47% of all students graduate with a first degree debt-free) and a narrowing gap in the percentage of high and low income students entering university. Of course we can do better in helping students pay for their own education, but lowering tuition fees is not the answer. Read this piece to find out more.
AIMS cited as model for community leadership
At a speech in Moncton, John Risley, a member of AIMS’ Advisory Council, called on the business community to step forward into a leadership role and push for innovation and accountability in public policy. In this excerpt published in the Chronicle Herald, Risley explains how measuring, reporting and adjusting results is the recipe for turning our economy around. He holds up AIMS’ High School report card as a prime example of how leadership in accountability does not have to come from the public sector in order to change the public sector. By setting and reporting standards AIMS is helping schools identify and respond to their weaknesses so that they can get better. It is this private leadership for the public good that Risley believes the business community must both endorse and aggressively pursue in order to achieve lasting change in this region.
Tuition hikes don’t add up
In this opinion piece in the Chronical Herald and the Times & Transcript, Dr. Michael Conlon responds to an earlier piece by AIMS' President Brian Crowley on the topic of rising tuition fees. Watch for Crowley's response in a later piece entitled - low tuition advocates need facts not fantasy.
Education: It’s how you spend, not how much you spend, that matters most
Statistics Canada has reported that Nova Scotia ranks last in per pupil funding, but that is not the whole story. AIMS author Charles Cirtwill says the province must balance "...what they have to spend, on what they need to do." Strategic investment is critical. Spending in specific areas - like literacy, numeracy and improved accountability and testing - deliver significantly better returns on a dollar for dollar basis than other expenditures. Nova Scotia has done this, and should see some long-term gains as a result. In fact, Statistics Canada said in this latest report that student to educator ratios had been improved and per pupil spending was not only up but that its growth has exceeded the rate of inflation (not only in Nova Scotia but in every province except Ontario - where they were already among the highest spenders on education, with little comparative success).
Tuition fees: Let those who benefit, pay (NS)
In his fortnightly column, AIMS President Brian Lee Crowley observes that the beginning of the academic year is marked, yet again, with both much self-congratulatory rhetoric about the inestimable value of university education to society, and much hand-wringing about rising tuition fees. Both attitudes are hugely overblown. Enrolments are up, not down, despite tuition fee rises. Moreover, low tuition fees are a socially regressive policy. The average taxpayer does not have a university degree, and certainly has a lower income than the average university grad. By getting a university degree, students capture for themselves a large private benefit – much larger than that generated for the taxpayer. There’s little evidence that higher fees restrict access, and lots of evidence that the value of the education more than compensates students for the cost. To find out the argument behind these conclusions, and see data from Nova Scotia, click on this link.
Tuition fees: Let those who benefit, pay (NB)
To find out the argument behind these conclusions, and see data from New Brunswick, click on this link.
Tuition fees: Let those who benefit, pay (PEI)
To find out the argument behind these conclusions, and see data from Prince Edward Island, click on this link.
AIMS Online March 25, 2004
Wendell Cox on HRM Development Freeze, Saint John as test case for urban reform, Charles Cirtwill asks: Are we getting results we should for our education dollar? and Where entrepreneurs rule-AIMS in Toronto Star.