Education

Evaluation of ESL Education in Alberta: Perceptions of ESL Students in Four Major School Boards - Coalition for Equal Access to Education, October 2009
The number of identified ESL students in Alberta has tripled from 14,673 in the 1988-1989 school year to 48,346 in the 2007-2008 school year. As ESL learners continue to be a fast growing student population, our K-12 public education system would benefit from a better understanding of the current state of ESL education in Alberta schools.

Cultural Competence in Alberta Schools: Perceptions of ESL Families in Four Major School Boards - Coalition for Equal Access to Education October 2009
Growing cultural diversity has transformed the student populations in the K-12 education system. Between 1988 and 2008, the number of identified ESL students in Alberta has tripled from 14,673 to 48,346. ESL learners are diverse in terms of racial, ethnic, religious and linguistic backgrounds. Their complex linguistic, acculturative and social needs have also challenged the K-12 education system to develop cultural competence in working with culturally diverse families

Alberta Government, (2009), Living Literacy: A Literacy Framework for Alberta’s Next Generation Economy
Although literacy is the great enabler, 40 percent of Albertans aged 16 and older struggle with their ability to understand and use information from texts including news stories and instruction manuals.
The “Living Literacy” framework responds to what we heard about the need for greater awareness and coordinated actions to enhance and go beyond our education and training systems to ensure that Albertans have foundational literacy skills, and to engage Albertans in developing and maintaining their literacy competencies throughout their lives on a daily basis at home and in communities and workplaces.

Government of Alberta - Setting the Direction Framework - June, 2009
Participants in Setting the Direction have been clear that minor improvements to the education system will not constitute the kind of far-reaching systemic change that is required. This new framework aims to respond to the clear advice of stakeholders and partners, which was: to recognize and respond to disability and diversity within our education system by ensuring that educators, schools, and school authorities have the support they need to develop and deliver an inclusive education system. - Setting the Direction Minister's Forum
Setting the Direction - Literature Review
Setting the Direction - Q&A

Ontario Ministry of Education’s Student Success / Learning to 18 (SS/L18) Strategy Report 1 - Report 2
CCL has completed the evaluation of the Ontario Ministry of Education’s Student Success / Learning to 18 (SS/L18) Strategy. The SS/L18 Strategy is a broad, province-wide strategy designed to ensure that every student is provided with the tools to successfully complete their secondary schooling and reach their post-secondary goals, whether these goals involve apprenticeships, college, university, or the workplace.

Intercultural Inquiry with Pre-Service Teachers: Executive Summary July 11, 2007
Educational institutions are a primary vehicle for transmitting attitudes and behaviours that either enhance or pose barriers for social inclusion. Codes of ethics for professionals who work in educational institutions provide standards of practice directed at respect, dignity, and rights for all persons.
Researchers: Dr. Nancy Arthur, Dr. Darren Lund, Dr. Yan Guo, University of Calgary

Final Report: Promoting the Pursuit of Intercultural Competence
Among Pre-service Teachers
This study investigates the experiences of a group of teacher educators working to promote the pursuit of intercultural awareness among pre-service teachers enrolled in their subject-area curriculum courses.
Principal Investigator, William E. Dunn, PhD

My Culture, Your Culture: What Pre-service Teachers Say aAout
Intercultural Competence
Teachers have roles and responsibilities as agents of the integration of children and youth of immigrant origin, particularly racialized minorities and other marginalized students.
Yan Guo, Darren E. Lund & Nancy Arthur University of Calgary

Alberta Government (2006), High School Completion Your Future Starts Here a Summary Report on Alberta’s Education
Your Future Starts Here started in the spring of 2006 with a series of youth roundtables across the province, an online survey open to all interested Albertans during the summer, and a High School Completion Symposium in September 2006. The input collected from these consultations will help develop a provincial strategy, inclusive of community-led actions, to increase high school completion rates in Alberta. Consultations affirmed that there isn’t one single reason students leave high school prior to completion. A closer look behind the reasons for non-completion of high school reveals that non-completion is neither a snap decision nor is it only about what’s happening at school. Leaving school is typically a process that may begin long before a student enters high school.

Alberta Commission on Learning, (2005, High School Completion Rate Task Force Report.
The Task Force, comprised of representatives of stakeholders, believes that finishing high school is an important step for all Albertans to create a positive future for themselves, their families and their communities. Alberta's education partners – including government, stakeholder organizations and school jurisdictions – are committed to increasing high school completion rates throughout the province. High school completion rates for Alberta jurisdictions are a key indicator of success for the basic learning system. Although there have been consistent improvements to the high school completion rates, currently only 75 % of Alberta students complete high school within five years. To ensure high school completion rates continue to increase, recommendation 11 of The Alberta Commission on Learning (ACOL) Report: Every Child Learns, Every Child Succeeds, released in October 2003, encouraged government to: Develop and implement a comprehensive province-wide strategy with the goal of ensuring that 90% of students complete Grade 12 within four years of starting high school. To achieve this recommendation, ACOL identified some strategies to attain this goal. This Task Force reaffirms the strategies outlined in the ACOL report

Alberta Education High School Completion Framework
Finishing high school is an important step for young people to create a positive future for themselves, their families and their communities. Alberta's future prosperity rests on our ability to generate a well-educated workforce that is responsive to change. Among the key priorities of our province's education system is to ensure all of our students are successful - both in school and in life.

Word Study for Students with Learning Disabilities and English Language Learners
2002 - Reading is likely the most vital skill for a child to acquire. However, for some students, acquisition of reading does not occur easily. This is particularly true for students with disabilities as well as for students who are English language learners. There are many elements of reading that we now know must be taught and mastered by students for them to become fluent, independent readers. Teachers need to have the tools to teach these elements effectively and efficiently.

Essential Reading Strategies for the Struggling Reader: Activities for an Accelerated Reading Program
2001 - The activities in this manual are drawn from converging research evidence on the effectiveness of critical components to early reading success (Snow, Burns, & Griffin, 998). These instructional elements include: phonological awareness; fluent reading in a variety of texts; comprehension strategies and vocabulary development; decoding strategies; and word analysis. To improve their reading proficiency, students who struggle with reading need intensive, systematic, and explicit instruction in these components in addition to their regular classroom reading instruction. The activities in this manual are intended to supplement the regular classroom reading program and to provide the additional practice struggling readers need to develop basic reading strategies.

New Light on Literacy: Early Reading Intervention for English Language Learners
2005 - Companion Lessons for the DVD Collection- providing English and Spanish lessons for grade one, focusing on vocabulary and comprehension.
DVD Collection