In order to fulfill their missions, research universities must maintain conditions and capacity for knowledge production and dissemination, while responding to the expectations of governments, other stakeholders, and/or markets. That universities succeed in this quest is vital, not only for their own future as organizations but also for the…

This study, jointly conducted by the University of Warwick Institute for Employment Research (IER) and SQW Ltd., discusses the UK Government's intention to accelerate the process of ceding more responsibility for delivering a range of services to the local level. The logic is that local actors are better placed to identify local priorities. This…

The COVID-19 pandemic has upended life for students, teachers and everyone connected to public schools. The crisis has also exposed the fragilities of the economy in meeting the basic needs of all and highlighted the importance of the public sector, of community, and of care work. Schools are key public spaces of community and care. They must be…

This study seeks to address the ways in which the federal government has influenced elementary and secondary education throughout Canada. By producing teaching and learning material that is neither provincially sanctioned nor provincially focused, are federal agencies crossing constitutional jurisdictions in ways that compete with provincially…

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) requires state accountability systems to include indicators of "school quality and student success" along with indicators of academic outcomes. The new law provides an important opportunity for states to broaden the definition of student success to include measures of students' social-emotional, as…

This article reviews the historical context in which Canadian legislation and policy for children with special needs has evolved. The potential for the rights of students with special needs in light of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is outlined. The role of the Federal and Provincial governments in legislation and policy vis-à-vis…

This case study describes the school turnaround programs underway as of summer 2009 in Ontario, Canada. In particular, it focuses on the policies and efforts of the Ontario Ministry of Education (MOE) and an MOE department, the Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat (LNS), to support low-performing schools across the province. The report begins with a…

In this article, the author discusses the problems facing Ontario's community colleges' faculty as educators whose "craft" is to teach. The author contends that the problems educators face haven't really been the focus of the three constituencies that have dominated the conversations about the colleges: (1) college management; (2) the…

Whether to adopt national standards and tests has long been a subject of lively debate in the United States. With 47 states now participating in the Common Core State Standards Initiative, and a commitment from Education Secretary Arne Duncan to allocate hundreds of millions in stimulus funds to the development of common tests, the country is…

This paper analyses changing approaches to system-level governance in Canadian post-secondary education from 1995-2006. A review of major policy initiatives reveals a shift in provincial and federal government roles in and approaches to the coordination of post-secondary education. The federal government has strategically invested in…

Centralization of education authority coupled with the growth of confederation of campus unions led in the early 1970s to an escalating "arms race" between the Canadian Ministry of Education and the syndicalistic unions. The effective exercise of union power was ultimately at the polls rather than the bargaining table. (Author/IRT)

The article summarizes the differences in the role of the federal government in education in Canada and the United States. It describes how the Canadian government participates indirectly in education and how the provinces react to federal participation, and calls for the establishment of a federal office of education. (SB)

Immigrants form an important and growing part of the Canadian population. Governments recognize the need to help new immigrants integrate into Canadian society by learning to speak either English or French, and therefore offer or support Language training programs. The federal Government, through the Department of Citizenship and Immigration, runs…

Provides an overview of eight articles in this special issue which deal with various aspects of governmental activities and information issues at the state, national, and international levels. (MES)

Describes and assesses some Australian federal initiatives in education and discusses their applicability to Canada. Presents more information relevant to the current discussion in Canada on educational developments. (Author/RK)