The Changing Face of Canada s Public Education System Discussion Paper for the Pan-Canadian Consultation Process By Laura Eggertson Fall 2006 Produced by The Learning Partnership with funding from TD Bank Financial Group and the Canadian Council on Learning 1
The Changing Face of Canada s Public Education System Public education is one of the cornerstones of Canadian society. Education not only provides our children with basic knowledge through the curriculums we have designed for them, it provides some of their first lessons about living in a broader community. Our classrooms are microcosms of our country. From their teachers, their classmates, and their experiences, children learn values and life lessons, just as they do at home. Our public schools, colleges and universities also help to prepare our children to get jobs and enter the labour market. If it is to help bind us together as a nation and contribute to a strong, competitive economy, our public education system needs to reflect our country s goals and assets. At the Learning Partnership, we believe that major demographic shifts occurring in our society pose challenges and opportunities for the public education system. Those changes are occurring in the areas of immigration, aboriginal population growth, and rural/urban migration. The ethnic, cultural, linguistic and socio-economic characteristics of our students are changing, in many parts of the country. Other countries are also experiencing demographic changes, and the results have in some cases torn the fabric of those societies. This spring, we watched cars burn and disenfranchised young people riot in the streets of Paris, in part over proposals to cut back on the social contract France has with its citizens. In Germany and Japan, two developed countries with aging populations and less expansive immigration policies than Canada, there is growing concern that immigrants are marginalized and disenfranchised. Here in Canada, the crisis in the Middle East sparked an outcry over what it means to be a Canadian, as some voices questioned the costs and the responsibility of our government to rescue dual citizens from war-torn Lebanon. In Caledonia, Ontario a community is rupturing along racial lines as residents line up over the issue of land claims and property rights. In more remote communities, far from the headlines, aboriginal young people continue to face an epidemic of poverty with suicide and unemployment rates that dwarf the national average. And in the legacy of the residential schools issues, we reap the costs of an earlier education system that recognized neither the culture nor the community ties of aboriginal children. The flight of young people and families from small rural communities as well as the demise of family farms and the protests by farmers across the country illustrate the challenges and changes occurring in rural communities and small towns. If Canada is to avoid the path of social unrest that is occurring in other nations, we must wrestle with the implications of the changes we are experiencing as a population, and as a country. We need to do that now. As we engage in a national debate over our values and responsibilities as Canadians, to other countries and to each other, we must remember that our public education system is one of the primary venues through which our children learn about what it means to be a Canadian citizen. The Learning Partnership is a national, not-for-profit organization dedicated to strengthening public education in Canada. We bring together leaders and policymakers in 2
business, education, government, labour and the community to create, implement and sustain programs that improve the lives of students. One of our mandates is to promote research that stimulates dialogue and affects policies regarding public education. That s why we commissioned a report, called Demographic Change in Canada and its Impact on Public Education, written by Edward Harvey and Rene Houle. This report uses the latest census data and original analysis to document the demographic changes that we believe require input and discussion by educators, parents, students, policymakers, legislators, and all those concerned with promoting the excellence of public education. This summary of the findings in Demographics and Canadian Public Education is intended to stimulate public dialogue. We want to hear from you about your experiences with changes already taking place in classrooms, schools, and in the job market and business communities. We want your thoughts on how the public education system should adapt and reflect these changing circumstances. We want to know what emerging and promising practices you are already putting in place to address these changes. We d like to know how you think educational policies and classroom practices should evolve. We want you to be part of creative alternatives that will produce a stronger public education system and a positive outcome in your particular classroom, school, and community. The Learning Partnership is hosting a series of national consultations on these important issues, beginning in September 2006. We want to engage communities in discussing the impact of these major population changes on education. We hope you will think about what you read here, and join us in developing new policies and plans to meet the challenges of today and the future, in a co-ordinated, integrated way. We welcome all of your ideas, and look forward to hearing the perspectives and sharing the experiences you will bring to the table. We all have a stake in public education, so we are all responsible for keeping it relevant and vital. The Challenges In 2003, 13 percent of Canadians were 65 and older. By 2050, 25 percent of Canadians will be 65 or older. At the same time, our birth rate is falling. Combined, these two factors mean fewer people who are working and paying taxes will be responsible for more retired people who are drawing on social security. This is what economists call the dependency ratio. In the near future, there will be more pressure on those who are working to supply social security benefits for those who are retired. We need to make sure there are enough people earning and contributing to the economy so that we can continue to provide the social safety net that is one of the most cherished Canadian values. The dependency ratio is one of the chief economic reasons we can t afford, as a nation, to leave anyone behind, to underutilize or to marginalize the people who are our society s major resources. Immigrants, aboriginals, and rural residents are among the human resources we haven t been utilizing as well as we could to be competitive in the global, knowledge-based economy. 3
A 2002 study for Human Resources Development Canada concluded that women, visible minorities, Aboriginal people and individuals with disabilities make up more than 50 percent of Canada s skilled population. (Close to 80 percent of all immigrants to Canada are visible minorities). But many of these groups face barriers that keep them out of the labour market, or under-utilize their skills. The cost to Canada of those barriers is between $72 billion and $236 billion a year: the equivalent of six to 20 percent of our Gross Domestic Product. A recent University of Toronto Rotman School of Business study states that Canada would have an additional 75 billion dollars a year for important programs if the US/Canada productivity gap could be closed. Immigrants Immigrants make a significant cultural and economic contribution to our society. Their diversity enriches Canadian society and their ability to participate in the workforce is vital to our economic strength and to rebalancing the dependency ratio. The federal government has already recognized this; Canada s immigration policies encourage highly educated immigrants to make their homes here. Each year, we welcome about 250,000 immigrants to Canada, the vast majority (75 percent) settling in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. Most immigrants come from Asia, with growing proportions from Africa and the Middle East. In total about 18 percent of our population consists of immigrants. By 2017, we expect about 7.6 million immigrants to live in Canada, or 22 percent of our total population. Most of those immigrants are visible minorities. Unlike the past, fewer and fewer immigrants speak English or French as their mother tongue. The public education system is the major vehicle by which immigrants, both as children and adults learn English or French, internalize Canadian values and responsibilities, and attain the skills they need to become productive members of society and marketable participants in our workforce. In Toronto, Vancouver and other urban centres where growing numbers of school-age children are immigrants from visible minorities, there are clear implications for the public education system. More than half of the students in those two cities will soon be from visible minorities. What are the implications for the curriculum so that it adequately respects students origin, culture and religion, while ensuring they learn Canadian values as well? How should resources be allocated in the classroom, for example for English as a Second Language and are those resources adequate? What do teachers and communities need to deal with and attempt to ease the cultural dislocation of both immigrant and Aboriginal students? The pattern of immigration in Canada is also accentuating the urban/rural divide, and has the potential to increase the country s polarization along regional lines. The percentage of school-age children from immigrant and/or visible minorities is growing fast in Ontario, British Columbia and Quebec in the large urban centres (Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal and Ottawa). But growth is less rapid even flat in the Prairies and in Atlantic Canada. All provinces will continue to receive immigrants, even if not in great proportion. They will need to develop multicultural policies or enhance strategies and policies to address 4
their needs. As a society that prides itself on tolerance and equity, we don t want to leave any students behind, and we need their skills and the resources they bring to our economy. School Performance The National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth, (Statistics Canada 2001) looked at the academic performance of children of immigrants in Canada, comparing it to that of Canadian-born children. Both groups were aged 4-14. Despite the economic disadvantages that some immigrants and visible minority families in Canada face, children of immigrants perform just as well as Canadian-born children in our school system overall, although initially they are weaker in reading. Those immigrants who speak English or French as their first language in fact perform even better than Canadian-born children. But because fewer immigrants speak either English or French when they arrive in Canada, it may signal a problem for the performance and integration of school-age children. The data indicate that, in general immigrants and visible minorities also go on to attain more university education than Canadian-born youth. When these young people enter the labour market, however, we begin to see evidence of a problem. Members of visible minorities, either immigrants or Canadian-born, experience higher levels of unemployment than those who are not visible minorities. In 2001, for example, the unemployment rate among young people aged 18-24 who were visible minorities was 18-19 percent, compared with 13 percent for non-visible minority youth in the same age range. Once they are in the labour market, immigrants who are visible minorities, as well as Canadian-born visible minorities, also earn less than their peers who are not visible minorities. This experience raises a critical question. Why does the educational success of some immigrant (and visible minority) youth not translate into the labour market? What can we do in the public educational system to prepare all immigrant and visible minority youth to help them succeed in school and in the job market? Aboriginal populations Today, one-third of all Aboriginal people in Canada (33.2 percent) are less than 15 years of age, compared to 19.8 percent of non-aboriginals. The median age of the total Aboriginal population is 24.7 years, compared to 40 years for the Canadian population as a whole. The majority of Aboriginal children live outside of major cities, on reserves, in rural areas, and in small towns. Aboriginal people are concentrated in Ontario and Western Canada. But cities in Northern Ontario, Manitoba and Saskatchewan are home to growing numbers of Aboriginal people, meaning that public schools will continue to receive increasing numbers of Aboriginal children among their students. In Saskatchewan, for instance, Aboriginal children already constitute more than 20 percent of the school-age population. In Nunavut, 90 percent of the school-age population is Inuit. 5
In Canada as a whole, outside of urban areas, 9.2 percent of school-aged children are Aboriginal, compared to only 2.3 percent in urban areas. By 2017, Aboriginal people will constitute 20.7 percent of the total population of Saskatchewan, and 17.6 percent of the total population in Manitoba. This too has implications for the school-age population, which will constitute more than one-third of that population in Saskatchewan by 2017, and 28 percent of the school-age population of Manitoba in the same year. The major reason for the overall growth consists in the rise in the Aboriginal fertility rate, compared to the decline in the school-age population of non-aboriginals. In Manitoba and Saskatchewan particularly, educational policies will have to address the dynamics of the Aboriginal populations so no one is left behind. So too will school policies that are affected by students standard of living and family situations. For instance, 31 percent of status Indian families were single parent families, compared to 15.6 percent of families in the rest of Canada. And Aboriginal people experienced a 19 percent unemployment rate in 2001, compared to seven percent for the rest of working Canadians. Similarly, Aboriginals had lower household incomes; $30, 495 as the median household income for registered Indians, according to the 2001 census, compared to $46,752 for the total Canadian population. Clearly, many Aboriginal students are coming from disadvantaged communities. In terms of school performance, 20 percent of 15-year-old Aboriginals have repeated at least one grade, compared to 10 percent for non-aboriginal 15-year-olds. Drop-out rates are similarly higher; more than 30 percent of Aboriginal youth aged 18-20 have dropped out of school at some point, compared to 15 percent of non-aboriginals, according to Canada s Youth in Transition Survey. In British Columbia, 75 percent of non-aboriginal students completed Grade 8 from 1997-2001, compared to 37 percent for Aboriginal students. In Math and in English, based on the Grade 12 provincial exam results, Aboriginal youth did not do as well as non-aboriginal young people; 65 percent of non-aboriginal students wrote and passed the Grade 12 English exam in 2000-2001, compared to 31 percent for Aboriginal students. The Grade 12 Mathematics exam defeated most students, but 27 percent of non-aboriginals wrote and passed it in 2000-2001, compared with only 5 percent of Aboriginal students. Aboriginal children are also twice as likely to be in special education as other students. However, those Aboriginals who have completed post-secondary education have employment rates virtually equal to those of their non-aboriginal counterparts; approximately 80 percent. In general, Aboriginal people view education as vital for increasing their economic opportunities, as a tool of lifelong learning, and as an integral link to their land, language, culture and community. Integrating this worldview with the educational policies in rural and urban Canada will remain challenging, and critical. Answers may include providing more and better resources to urban and remote Aboriginal primary and secondary schools to benefit increasing numbers of students. That raises the issue of the need for more teachers to be trained to work in communities, with parents and elders. In Inuit and First Nations communities, the management, control and direction of schools increasingly rest with the communities. In urban centres and outside, how can learning environments be 6
built around traditional cultural and language skills and activities, while ensuring that education also teaches career-oriented skills with a stress on English and French, mathematics and science? Despite the disadvantages many Aboriginal students have to overcome, once Aboriginal students complete post-secondary education, they successfully compete with non- Aboriginals in the labour market. Education is clearly key to breaking down economic barriers for Aboriginal people. This makes it critical to focus on supports that help Aboriginal students to complete high school and access post-secondary education. The Rural Population Urban areas are growing faster than rural areas and small towns in Canada. In 1971, more than a third of the Canadian population lived in rural areas and small towns; by the 2001 census, that number had declined to 20 percent. The rural population is relatively young, however, an important factor when considering implications for the public education system. The percentage of young people aged 10-19 is slighter higher in rural and smalltown areas than in urban centres, and the share of the school-age population is larger in rural areas. In Canada as a whole, 22.2 percent of rural residents are aged 5-19, compared to 19 percent of the residents of metropolitan areas. Alberta has the largest school-age population living in rural areas (25 percent), while Quebec and the Atlantic Provinces have the lowest. Although migration to urban areas from rural areas and small towns is a continuing trend, some families are moving to rural areas near large urban centres because of their perceptions that they are good places to raise children, with less traffic, cheaper housing, and more green space. Those rural areas are also increasingly attracting people with high levels of education. Given that having parents with post-secondary education corresponds to better school performance in children, that brain gain is a plus when considering the implications for the public education system. One of the problems for young people living in small towns and remote rural areas is a lack of employment opportunities. That lack of opportunity often drives young people out of their communities to look for work in urban centres. Local economic development strategies that develop more jobs for young people, in part by expanding their access to broadband capabilities, as well as services available in urban areas, would help to build the so-called New Rural Economy. We lack data to evaluate fully the effect of the evolution of the rural population on the educational system in Canada. Findings from the Youth in Transition Survey 2000 indicate that rural students perform less well on educational tests than urban students. In Nova Scotia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and British Columbia, the reading skills of 15-year-olds in rural settings are lower than their urban counterparts (although they still perform better than the OECD average). According to one study (Cartwright and Allen, 2002), the average educational level adults in the community have attained, employment rates, and the 7
educational requirements and earning capacity of jobs in the community, matter more to the differences in the educational performance of rural and urban youths than the quality of the schools. We know that rural schools can provide only limited resources in schools compared with better-resourced urban schools. Rural schools often have difficulty offering a wide range of courses, and experienced and well-trained teachers. There are fewer advanced classes and classes for students with special needs. Rural schools are, however, usually better integrated into the community, with stronger ties among students, parents and teachers. That social asset can enhance students learning experience, generate innovative ideas and solutions, and prevent disruptive behaviour. Schools can also draw on networks of people through voluntary associations. Distance education and sharing of support services for students with special academic, physical and psychological needs can help to meet these challenges in rural communities. Improved information and communication infrastructures are vital to both of those initiatives. Overall, providing incentive through jobs that require higher education is one of the chief means by which we can improve the motivation of young people in rural communities. School to Work Transitions Overall, our data demonstrate that some groups have more difficulty entering the labour market than others. Aboriginals have the most difficulty; they have an unemployment rate of more than 20 percent. Black and south Asian visible minorities, long-term immigrants born in south Asia and Latin America, and recent immigrants all face barriers. Unemployment is particularly high for Latin American immigrants. Once members of these groups do get into the labour market, they tend to obtain an income comparable to the average income in the country. People with higher education have lower unemployment and higher income. Solutions in public education have to adapt to specific situations. The objective is to reduce differences among immigrants, Aboriginal students, visible minorities and rural students, by increasing educational performance in the schools these students attend. We need to establish links between the community and the school. Improving and integrating national language and local practices into the curriculum will help reduce isolation and cement those ties. At the same time, we need to ensure that the students are grounded in French or English, computer sciences, science, and other general knowledge necessary to the national and global labour market. 8
Policy Options Many of the issues presented in this paper have been the subject of policy development and discussion. Nevertheless, the issues remain current and of concern. We hope that during your discussions you will develop your own policy suggestions and recommendations. We would like to pose these questions for discussion, and encourage you to raise other issues as they occur to you and as your experience dictates. We would also encourage discussion that looks at effective ways to address the questions listed below. Immigrant Students Focus on Schools A few things to consider if we are to ease students cultural dislocation: How much emphasis should schools place on rapid integration to mainstream educational materials and language; How much emphasis should they place on maintaining a student s home language and culture? How do we blend both objectives in the classroom? How do we create valuing diversity programs and experiences in the classroom? How do we build bridges between students lives at home and classroom experiences? How do we create learning materials that link the knowledge students need to succeed in our society, with the emotional and intellectual foundations of their culture? How do we maximize the opportunities for students from different backgrounds to learn from one another? How do we help them understand that multiculturalism is a positive value, fundamental to Canadian society? How do we use mentors and role models from the community more effectively? Focus on Teachers Teachers may need special training to facilitate students need to learn the curriculum while respecting the language and culture of their homes. Is this important? If so, how do we: Help teachers to become perceptive about students cultural backgrounds, and link this understanding to their own teaching methods? Support teachers with curriculum materials that value diversity? Help teachers understand the students family and community dynamics, and forge connections between those experiences and what goes on in the classroom? 9
Prepare teachers to validate students cultural experiences, and make the connection between those experiences and their knowledge and what it means to be a Canadian? Make sure that teachers are part of a team that includes students, parents, role models and mentors, as well as all the other stakeholders in public education? Focus on the Community Newcomers to Canada need help if they are to integrate into their new communities and new country. All levels of governments are involved in the settlement process. We need to look at optimal models that reduce or eliminate barriers to successful settlement experiences. How can we: Develop neighbourhood programs to include newcomers, from sports clubs, to friendship programs and mentoring initiatives; Help newcomers get the information they need, in the language they require, at the grassroots level? Assess prior learning experience and credentials more quickly? Build ESL programs that focus on language skills related to the job market? Develop bridging programs to help newcomers enter the job market? Help educators deliver those ESL programs? Make better use of regional councils to bring employers, educators and government officials together to help solve labour market issues? Work with self-regulating professions and occupations to ensure they don t create unnecessary barriers for qualified newcomers? Discuss immigration-related issues in a way that recognizes successful settlement is based on education, housing and social services, as much as employment and earning? Develop funding models that best support a seamless approach to settlement? Aboriginal Students Aboriginal literacy rates are significantly lower than those of non-aboriginals. As stated earlier, those Aboriginals who have completed post-secondary education, however, have employment rates virtually equal to those of their non-aboriginal counterparts (approximately 80 percent). How do we: Help Aboriginal students stay in school? Make sure their educational experience is engaging and empowering? Connect the public education system to Aboriginal cultural and education processes? Target resources to schools with the explicit purpose of enhancing Aboriginal student performance, retention and completion? 10
British Columbia has established a specific education program to help Aboriginal students stay in school and improve their performance. (See below.) The program has been extremely successful. From 1997-2005, there has been an improvement of more than 20 percent in Aboriginal completion rates of Kindergarten to Grade 12. We believe that the B.C. model represents a positive approach that could provide a model for other jurisdictions. So far only Quebec is looking at similar initiatives. B.C. s Aboriginal Education Program British Columbia maintains a systemwide database, where each pupil has a unique identification number. Aboriginal status (status Indian, non-status Indian, on-reserve, offreserve) is linked to student number in the database. Student performance is also linked to student number, and includes skills assessment scores in mathematics, science and English. The province negotiates Enhancement Agreements with public schools, with the full involvement of Aboriginal leaders. These agreements channel resources to schools to enhance Aboriginal student performance. The agreements are evaluated on an on-going basis. The B.C. model includes the following elements: 1. The Aboriginal communities must be represented by a unified body whose authority to speak for the Aboriginal communities is accepted by those communities. 2. The Aboriginal communities and the school district must share decision-making, as an established practice. 3. The Aboriginal communities and the school district must support participation in the Enhancement Agreement. 4. Joint consultation and collaboration among Aboriginal communities and the school districts will facilitate vision and goal setting in all areas of education for all Aboriginal learners. 5. The Aboriginal communities and the school district track key performance indicators at the student level. 6. The Aboriginal communities and the school district must be committed to regular reporting of results. This would include an evaluation and reporting process on the outcomes of the Enhancement Agreements. 7. The scope of the Aboriginal Education program must include a focus on continuous improvement in the academic performance of all Aboriginal students. 8. Meeting the cultural needs of Aboriginal students in all aspects of learning. This includes resources, strategies and assessment. 9. Focus on increasing knowledge of and respect for Aboriginal culture, language and history, which enables a greater understanding for everyone about Aboriginal people. 11
Rural Students If we are to revitalize rural areas, we need to develop more viable rural economies that can support critical social infrastructure, including education. Some potential options: Governments can develop forums that facilitate communication and cooperation among rural businesses, rural educators, other rural stakeholders and their urban counterparts; Governments can support the acquisition of broadband technologies that can reduce rural isolation and expand education opportunities, such as for distance learning; Enhancement Agreements, like those BC has created for Aboriginal students, could be adapted to increase resources to rural schools. There is no single solution or policy option that will solve the critical issues we have raised with regard to the way demographics are changing the face of Canadian society, and thus of our public education system. We have offered a range of policy and practice options to begin the debate. We hope you will expand upon and change our suggestions, building and enriching them with your own thoughts and experiences. Please share your stories and describe emerging and promises practices so we can all learn together. 12