Student readiness continues to be an issue among the professoriate (Cramer, 2010; Greenberg, 2010; Kelley, 2010). Enrolment growth trends in Canadian universities suggest this concern may remain prevalent for some time (Overall, 2011). At the secondary level, government bodies have developed and implemented policies and standardized assessment…

Within the current standards-based framework of early primary education, teachers must negotiate the integration of assessment with traditional, developmental orientations to teaching and learning. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine teachers' approaches to early primary assessment within five different school contexts: public,…

The purpose of this paper is to explore how leaders influence knowledge creation and mobilization processes. As a basis for the theoretical framework, the researcher selected theories that informed the investigation of this influence: leadership theory, knowledge theory, learning theory, organizational learning theory, and organizational knowledge…

This paper presents a grade 10 mathematics teacher's in-depth description of the process she uses to determine the final grade for the report card within a standards-based context. Her case was part of a three-year comparative study of grading practices of teachers from two Canadian provinces that differ in their level of standardization of…

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…

Renewed calls for greater accountability within schools have led to a rapid expansion of standards-based reforms across the Western world. Establishing and raising standards, and measuring the attainment of those standards, are intended to encourage excellence in our schools. Yet concern is increasing about the fairness of external testing and the…

The author's work as a professor for special and inclusive education in the eastern part of Germany kindled a special interest for Canada for two reasons. First, the result of the international comparative study of students assessment showed Canada as one of the top countries and Germany as one of the countries far behind. Second, the author's…

Accountability has become synonymous with standardized testing in many Western countries such as Canada, the United States, Great Britain and New Zealand. Schools and districts are increasingly ranked based on their students' performance on standardized tests. Unfortunately, standardized testing measures possess a number of limitations that…

This Action Plan sets out a series of recommendations designed to support and deliver an extensive network of social, medical, and educational programs and services for children with special needs in Alberta, Canada. The plan focuses on three areas: funding for services, coordination and delivery of services, and assessing outcomes and developing…

This paper examines educational assessment systems in Canada and the United States, especially participation or nonparticipation of students with disabilities in provincial, state, or national assessments. Canada's lack of a national assessment system and U.S. lack of guidelines regarding participants and allowable accommodations for its national…

A series of studies carried out by the Advisory Committee on Academic Planning (ACAP) published by the Council of Ontario Universities (COU) dealt with a planning study of doctoral work in engineering that was conducted in several parts corresponding to the various disciplines within engineering. This document, which is one part of that study,…

Offers a critical discussion on the issue of educational standards by (1) clarifying issues surrounding educational standards, (2) critically examining the assumptions underlying popular discourse about standards, and (3) offering and arguing for an alternate perspective based on democratic ideals. Discusses the impact of this on classroom…

Describes the work of Curriculum Services Canada (CSC), a pan-Canadian standards agency that evaluates learning resources. Discusses the CSC process of evaluating conventional classroom resources, the extension of the evaluation process to new electronic learning resources, evaluation criteria used, and dissemination of results and training to…

In March 1991, the College Standards and Accreditation Council (CSAC) Establishment Board, created by Canada's Minister of Education, proposed wide-ranging reforms for college education and training. This paper reviews some of the ways in which Algonquin College (AC), in Ontario, is planning to interface and articulate with CSAC initiatives to…

This report documents a study of charter schools in Alberta, Canada. The purpose of the study was to examine the academic achievement of the 10 charter schools in the province. Data were collected from test scores in language arts, math, science, and social studies of third-, sixth-, and ninth-graders; reviews of various documents; and interviews…