While the United States (U.S.) and Canada share features in their secondary education systems (e.g. proportion of immigrants), these nations have differences (e.g. linguistic ). Given the primacy of Canada over the U.S. vis-à-vis science literacy [as measured by the Programme International for Student Assessment (PISA)], underlying differences in…

Although more is known about how general parenting practices predict social-emotional strengths in children, less research has looked at parent involvement in education and children's social-emotional strengths. This study examined the extent to which parent involvement, specifically home-based involvement, parent-teacher trust, and home-school…

Bullying is a peer relational problem that can inflict psychological harm onto both those who are victimized and those who witness it occur. Fostering a positive classroom environment is an important protective factor in preventing bullying. Authoritative classroom climates may protect victimized and bystander youth from negative mental health…

This study examined how student reports of bullying were related to different dimensions of school climate, at both the school and the student levels, using a contextual effects model in a two-level multilevel modeling framework. Participants included 48,874 secondary students (grades 8 to 12; 24,244 girls) from 76 schools in Western Canada.…

Migration flows are profoundly changing the composition of classrooms. Results from the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) reveal that in 2015, almost one in four 15-year-old students in OECD countries reported that they were either foreign-born or had at least one foreign-born parent. Between 2003 and 2015, the share of…

Purpose: This study is a quantitative exploration of a new construct the authors label as "academic culture (AC)." Treating it as generalized latent variable composed of academic press (AP), disciplinary climate (DC), and teachers' use of instructional time, the purpose of this paper is to explore the potential of this construct to be a…

There is a dearth of research that examines legal literacy among pre-service teachers in Canada. Pre-service teachers' legal literacy refers to the knowledge level that teacher candidates in teacher education programs have with respect to educational law and policy and how it affects their preparation for entering the teaching profession. This…

It's a challenge for schools in every country: How to provide the right kind of discipline and create a climate that nurtures learning. This challenge may look different in different countries. A school's disciplinary climate not only is the product of educators' beliefs and actions, students' beliefs and actions, and the interaction of these, but…

The "TIMSS 2011 International Results in Mathematics" summarizes fourth and eighth grade student achievement in each of the 63 countries and 14 benchmarking entities which participated in TIMSS 2011. The report includes trends in mathematics achievement over time for participants in the previous TIMSS 1995, 1999, 2003, and 2007…

Drawing on current research and best practices, this three-part resource, "Supporting Positive Behaviour in Alberta Schools," provides information, strategies, stories from schools and sample tools for systematically teaching, supporting and reinforcing positive behaviour. This integrated system of school-wide, classroom management, and…

For more than 50 years, the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) has been conducting comparative studies of educational achievement in a number of curriculum areas, including mathematics and science. TIMSS 2011 represents the fifth cycle of the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS),…

Drawing on current research and best practices, this third part of the three-part resource, "Supporting Positive Behaviour in Alberta Schools," provides information and strategies for providing intensive, individualized support and instruction for the small percentage of students requiring a high degree of intervention. This system of…

This publication presents the proceedings of the invitational forum on student conduct and violence in schools in Canada. Participants identified several key issues related to student conduct and violence in schools. Those internal to schools include school climate, student values and attitudes, consequences of behavior, and peer culture. Issues…

A British Columbia high school student filed a complaint claiming the school board failed to protect him from homophobic harassment by students. The tribunal found the school liable because it was responsible for providing an educational environment free from harassment. However, the tribunal did not show that the board's breach of duty caused the…

Drawing on current research and best practices, this second part of the three-part resource, "Supporting Positive Behaviour in Alberta Schools," provides information and strategies for systematically teaching, supporting and reinforcing positive behaviour in the classroom. A proactive approach to classroom management is designed to…