In Canada, in-depth evaluations of federal programs are intended to occur every 5 years. As such, evaluation is a periodic retrospective (lag) indicator examining results achieved versus program objectives. In a Canadian context, stand-alone evaluations have proved challenging to implement, time consuming, and not well adapted to annual management…

This paper presents some of the major issues raised in Education International's preliminary analysis of the overall PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) 2009 study. Some of these issues are: (1) PISA has serious limitations. The study does not cover the full curriculum, focusing on a narrow set of subject areas, neglecting such…

Teacher education programmes within Canada are markedly different in structure and duration across the provinces, which affects programme delivery for teacher candidates and their opportunities for clinical practice. This paper provides a brief overview of Canadian pre-service teacher education, a summary of new teacher induction and mentoring…

The intent of this article is to generate thought and discussion about Alberta Education's Daily Physical Activity (DPA) initiative. Compelling reasons as to why the implementation process may be considered problematic are presented as the role and influence of institutional discourse in the implementation of new programming is explored. Through a…

This appendix contains materials on the development and validation of instruments and scales used to assess the nursing program of Ryerson Polytechnical Institute in Toronto, Canada. Some of the instruments included the following: (1) Introductory Information Questionnaire, which investigates students' socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds,…

The first segment of a long-term educational assessment plan, for which this three-part report was compiled, called for a study that would survey the status of English language arts programs in the province of British Columbia and serve as a pilot for future assessment programs. This portion of the study presents results from the third phase of…

This study developed a classification scheme to critically compare performance assessment projects at higher education universities in North America and Europe. Performance indicators and assessment initiatives were compared using nine basic dimensions: (1) locus of control, (2) degree of governmental involvement, (3) focus of performance…

This 5-year study evaluates the first diploma nursing program in Canada within an educational institution, that of Ryerson Polytechnical Institute in Toronto. Various factors affecting student and Ryerson graduates performance are studied to answer two questions: (1) What type of nurse is being prepared through the Ryerson nursing program, and (2)…

This document contains 13 papers on targeting employment services. The following papers are included: "Targeting Employment Services under the Workforce Investment Act" (Stephen A. Wandner); "Predicting the Exhaustion of Unemployment Compensation" (Robert B. Olsen, Marisa Kelso, Paul T. Decker, Daniel H. Klepinger);…