BCTF Information Services—Research & Reports

OECD. Growing Unequal? Income Distribution and Poverty in OECD Countries. October 2008. (Summary)
Country Note: Canada (2 pages just on Canada)
Note: Full-text is 310 pages and is not freely available online

OECD states that the gap between rich and poor has grown in more than three-quarters of OECD countries over the past two decades. Low skill levels and lack of education are driving income inequality. While those around retirement age have seen an increase in income over the last 20 years, child poverty has increased to the point that children and young adults are now 25% more likely to be poor than the population as a whole.

Canada's level of inequality has been widening and is now above the OECD average. It was noted that Germany was the only other country showing such a widening inequality in household earnings. Furthermore, Canada spends less than other OECD countries on unemployment and family benefits resulting in less distribution of wealth.

UNESCO
EFA (Education for All) Global Monitoring Report: Education for All by 2015 - Will We Make It? Summary, 41 pages, October 2008.

This report examines the progress made towards the "education for all" goal. The six major areas comprising the framework of the report are early childhood education and care; universal primary education; the learning needs of young people and adults; adult literacy; gender equity; and the quality of education.

Joseph G. Kosciw, Elizabeth M. Diaz, and Emily A. Greytak
The 2007 National School Climate Survey: The Experiences of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Youth in our Nation's Schools.
GLSEN, October 8, 2008; 174 pages

In what GLSEN calls "the most comprehensive report ever" about LGBT students' experience in U.S. middle and high schools - a survey of more than 6200 students - researchers found that 86% reported being harassed at school during the past year. The majority of LGBT students reported feeling unsafe at school. Schools that employed policies and programs such as Gay Straight Alliance groups, observed less harassment of LGBT students.

Louis Volante, Lorenzo Cherubini, and Susan Drake
Examining Factors that Influence School Administrators' Responses to Large-Scale Assessment
Canadian Journal of Educational Administration and Policy #84, October 18, 2008

The authors set out to identify factors at the school, district, and provincial level, that influence school administrators' responses to large-scale assessment.

While the research focuses primarily on Ontario, it is useful to see how elementary and secondary administrators feel about large-scale assessment in general and how they are using the results.

Joshua Feinman
High Stakes, but Low Validity? A Case Study of Standardized Tests and Admissions into New York City Specialized High Schools.
Education Policy Research Unit and Education and the Public Interest Center (Arizona), October 2008; 37 pages.

One high-stakes test will determine who will gain admission into one of eight specialized public high schools in New York. Twenty-five thousand students will take the exam, but less than 20% will gain admission.

Economist Joshua Feinman and his wife are both graduates of one of these schools, yet as the author of this study, he finds evidence that the admissions process may not produce equitable or valid results. In addition to everything being based on one single criterion - the test - he notes that the scoring gives an advantage to students whose families can afford costly test preparation tutoring.

Sonia Ben Jaafar & Lorna Earl
Comparing Performance-based Accountability Models: A Canadian Example
Canadian Journal of Education 31:3 (2008); 30 pages

Researchers Jaafar and Earl use a new conceptual framework to describe the various performance-based accountability models across Canada. Using a Canada-wide comparison, the researchers were able to observe 3 different kinds of performance-based accountability models at work.

The broader implication of their work is to provide a framework for other researchers to discover and expose policy similarities and differences within various jurisdictions, including international.

Xiaoban Li
A Tale of Two Provinces: Who Makes Stronger Vertical Equity Efforts?
Canadian Journal of Educational Administration and Policy #83 (October 3, 2008)

In this study, Li compares elementary education funding in Ontario and Alberta, in terms of educational equity for disadvantaged students. He finds that "Ontario has made stronger vertical equity efforts" than Alberta.

Bernie Froese-Germain
Bullying Gets Digital Shot-in-the-Arm
Education Canada 48:4, Fall 2008

CTF researcher Bernie Froese-Germain discusses emerging research on cyberbullying in schools. He provides a good overview with numerous examples and also points out why cyberbullying is such a pernicious form of school violence.

Human Rights Watch
A Violent Education: Corporal Punishment of Children in US Public Schools: VIII. The Use of Corporal Punishment against Specific Groups
August 2008 (Approx. 20 pages)

Report by Human Rights Watch on corporal punishment of children in the U.S. Finds that boys are paddled far more than girls, and that African-American and Native American students were more than twice as likely to be paddled.

Should Younger Children Move from Class to Class?
American School Board Journal, October 2008

According to this article, most of the research in this area indicates that self-contained, rather than rotating classes are better for younger children; achievement is higher in the "self-contained" classes.

A concise yet useful list of organizing tips is provided towards the end of the article. The emphasis is on interdisciplinary, integrated curriculum.

Understanding the Academic Trajectories of ESL Students
Lessons in Learning (Canadian Council on Learning), October 2, 2008

Discusses the results of recent research on ESL students in B.C. with the aim of supporting struggling ESL students. Researchers point out that there is a need to disaggregate the data on ESL as the big picture does not explain the needs of ESL sub-groups.

Improving Literacy Levels among Aboriginal Canadians
Lessons in Learning (Canadian Council on Learning), Sept. 4, 2008

This report looks at the role of education in closing the literacy gap between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Canadians.

Abdurrahman Aydemir, Wen-Hao Chen and Miles Corak
Intergenerational Education Mobility Among the Children of Canadian Immigrants
Statistics Canada, October 2008, 38 pages or Executive Summary

Examines the education outcomes of children of Canadian immigrants, focusing specifically on intergenerational education mobility (how is it different among immigrants and their children); what factors are most closely related to education outcomes of second generation Canadians; and how has the relationship between education of immigrant parents and Canadian-born children changed over time.

Daniel Ansari
The Brain Goes to School: Strengthening the Education-Neuroscience Connection
Reprinted in Education Canada 48:4, October 2008

An interesting article about how technological advances such as functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) allows researchers to observe the brain while subjects are solving problems, reading, etc. This in turn, has given rise to studies that examine the complex interrelationship between brain processes and environmental factors in childhood development.

Hedy N. Chang and Mariajose Romero
Present, Engaged, and Accounted For: The Critical Importance of Addressing Chronic Absence in the Early Grades
National Center for Children in Poverty, September 2008

With support from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, this particular research project examines the prevalence of chronic absence in grades K-3; the consequences of such absence; the likely or potential contributing factors; and what steps may be taken to help resolve the issue.