How Educated are Nova Scotians Education Indicators for the Nova Scotia Genuine Progress Index

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How Educated are Nova Scotians?Education
Indicators for the Nova Scotia Genuine Progress
Index

• Prepared by GPI Atlantic
• February 2008

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Most used measures tell us more about labour
market conditions than about educational
attainment send conflicting messages.

• E.g. Alberta has the lowest high school
  graduation rate and the second highest drop out
  rate among provinces (because lucrative jobs are
  available), but the highest standardized test
  results (partly because higher performers remain
  in school).
• At the same time, Atlantic Canada has the lowest
  drop out rates, the highest graduation rates, yet
  scores the lowest on standardized test results.

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Explaining the Difference

• 2003 CMEC data Alberta graduation rate 10
  below Nova Scotia. Difference between Nova Scotia
  and Alberta PISA scores just under 10.
• According to Dr. Michael Corbett (Acadia Educ.)
  By having a more exclusive high school system
  Alberta adjusts underperforming students out of
  the school door and into the workforce. As it
  happens Alberta has an economy that can absorb a
  considerable amount of educational
  underachievement. Here in Nova Scotia we don't
  have that luxury.

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Standardized tests -- what do they measure?

• Also reflect labour market conditions i.e. who
  remains in school to be tested
• Scores often reflect and reinforce socio-economic
  inequalities
• Tests focus on a few academic subject areas --
  math, science, reading/writing. Are these more
  important than art, history, or social studies?
• Standardized testing pressures teachers to teach
  to the test, at expense of other non-test
  subjects
• Standardized test results can be misused and
  manipulated to support calls for questionable
  reform

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Average scores in the PISA math assessment by
quartile of family socioeconomic status,
15-year-olds, Canada and provinces, 2003
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What these quantitative output measures dont
tell us esp. outcomes

• How educated the populace is, and whether we are
  getting wiser and more knowledgeable
• Whether were learning what we need to know to
  live well and sustainably, improve our
  wellbeing
• What and how we learn from non-school sources
  (media, family, community etc.)
• Anything about the quality of education, and the
  quality of information in the learning
  environment. Etc.

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So What is an Educated Populace?

• An Educated Populace has the knowledge and
  skills required to foster wellbeing in
  individuals and in the population as a whole
• that is to live full and healthy lives, have
  decent jobs, participate actively in their
  communities as citizens, and understand the
  interdependence of the world in which they live,
  without imperiling these prospects for future
  generations.

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Framework for indicators of an educated populace
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YETLiteracy flat, despite more schooling

• More analytical work is required to explore the
  factors around the lack of overall change in the
  literacy performance of Canadians. (Statistics
  Canada)
• We urgently need to understand why our current
  literacy and learning programs are not succeeding
  in order to develop more effective approaches.
  (Canadian Council on Learning)

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Average prose literacy scores across selected
regions and provinces, Canadian population aged
16 and over, 1994 and 2003
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Average document literacy scores across selected
regions and provinces, Canadian population aged
16 and over, 1994 and 2003
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Percentile scores of correct answers to general
political knowledge questions, by age group,
1984, 1993, 1997, and 2000
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Ecological Literacy? Footprint by Educational
Attainment, Canada, 2005 (1st time)
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Average debt from government student loans at
graduation, by province, classes of 1995 and 2000
(2000)
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Average amount borrowed (all sources) for the
2003 degree, post-2003 degree education or both,
by Maritime province of graduation, 2005 (2005)
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Average undergraduate university tuition fees,
Canada and provinces, 1990/1991, 2005/2006,
2007/2008 (in 2005 constant dollars)
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Employment rate of full-time students, 2024
years of age, Canada, 19762006
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Average work hours per week during the school
year for full-time students, aged 1824 years,
Canada, 19762006
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Average work hours per week during the school
year for full-time students, aged 1824 years,
provinces, 1976, 1986, 1996, 2006
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Incidence of advertising in Canadas public
elementary and secondary schools, by percentage,
2003/2004
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Public versus private share of sponsored research
at Canadian universities, 19722005
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Where to from Here? Whats Next?Key Messages

• We have not answered the question How educated
  are Nova Scotians?
• Conventional output indicators cant do so
• Development of new indicators, data sources,
  measurement methods is needed a paradigm
  shift (NS Education Dept.)
• See Report Appendix Comprehensive list of
  ideal indicators (yet this summary necessary
  for 2008 completion of NS GPI)

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The Good News

• 3 years GPI research uncovered good models,
  measures of science literacy, health literacy,
  media literacy, civic literacy, ecological
  literacy, wisdom scales, informal learning, ETC.
  Available in other places, not yet Canada
• -gt Canadian Knowledge Survey (11 literacies) (or
  Maritime KS? - MPHEC - available to NS Ed)
• Good education indicators glue, binding factor,
  connective tissue between all GPI components
  link learning outcomes to social outcomes e.g.
  health, civic, ecological literacy, etc.