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While international alliances among research universities are relatively well established, the challenges for the small liberal arts college to execute a meaningful global collaboration can be much more difficult, due both to the much smaller size of the institution, its more limited resources, and its smaller and more intimate culture centered on undergraduate teaching and learning. A new alliance of liberal arts colleges known as the Pacific Alliance of Liberal Arts Colleges (PALAC) was established in 2021 with the purpose to better articulate the global components of liberal arts education, and to collaborate on key projects that will build collective capacity for student-centered liberal arts education that engages with the world's most pressing problems. PALAC contains nine of the best liberal arts institutions from across the Pacific Region, including institutions in China, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Canada, and the United States. This essay describes the origins, motivations, and context of the creation of PALAC, its member institutions, and some of the initial projects planned by the new organization, and goals for global impact for PALAC.

This paper examines how international education (IE) as a tool of government foreign policy is challenged in an era of new geopolitics, where China's growing ambitions have increased rivalry with the West. It compares U.S. and Canada as cases first, by examining rationales and approaches to IE in both countries, second, IE relations with China before conflict and third, current controversies and government policy responses to IE relations with China. The paper concludes identifying contextual factors that shape each country's engagement with IE, but suggests that moving forward, the future of IE in a world of new geopolitics is likely to be far more complex and conflictual.

When the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) came into fruition in the early 1990s, there were high hopes and expectations on what this emerging economic block could achieve. Although the agreement involved extensive conversations that led to regulations that facilitated trade across the region--the main intent of NAFTA--the same was not true for the higher education environment. Critics have argued that NAFTA's heavy focus on trade left little room for similar harmonization on issues like higher education. From this perspective, it is evident that if efforts to improve higher education are to gain traction in the trilateral relationship, they must be linked with regional trade and competitiveness. Yet even though NAFTA was not the vehicle for further cooperation on higher education, colleges and universities across Canada, Mexico, and the United States did embrace the opportunity and enthusiastically engaged in conversations that prompted trilateral collaboration. This article follows the key agreements that influenced and guided the early stages of NAFTA collaboration among higher education institutions, as well as developments that kept engagement across the three countries active. It also provides an initial list of areas in which future collaboration might focus. [The report was published in partnership with the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. This working paper will be published as a chapter in the forthcoming book, "North America 2.0: Forging a Continental Future."]

Principals (policy makers) have debated the progress in U.S. student performance for a half century or more. Informing these conversations, survey agents have administered seven million psychometrically linked tests in math and reading in 160 waves to national probability samples of selected cohorts born between 1954 and 2007. This study is the first to assess consistency of results by agency. We find results vary by agent, but consistent with Flynn effects, gains are larger in math than reading, except for the most recent period. Non-whites progress at a faster pace. Socio-economically disadvantaged white, black, and Hispanic students make greater progress when tested in elementary school, but that advantage attenuates and reverses itself as students age. We discuss potential moderators.

In both Canada and the United States, immigrants constitute a disproportionately large share of the supply of university-educated labour trained in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. This article examines the Canada-U.S. differences in the occupational skill utilization and earnings of STEM-educated immigrant workers. Using data from the 2016 Census for Canada and the combined 2015 to 2017 American Community Survey, this analysis focuses on immigrants with a university degree in a STEM field who were aged 25 to 64 and arrived as adults. Over one-half of STEM-educated immigrant workers in both countries held non-STEM jobs. In Canada, only about 20% of these immigrants with non-STEM jobs worked in occupations that required a university education, compared with 48% in the United States. There was a large earnings gap between STEM-educated immigrants and native-born workers in Canada, even after adjusting for sociodemographic differences, while no corresponding earnings gap existed in the United States. The earnings gap in Canada was particularly large for STEM-educated immigrants holding non-STEM jobs. Possible explanations for these results are discussed.

This study compares the differences in the mismatch between the education and occupations of immigrants in Canada and the United States, operationalized by over-education. It further explores how the cross-country differences may be related to the supply of and demand for university-educated immigrants and the way they are selected. Using comparable data and three measures of over-education, this study found that university-educated recent immigrants in Canada were much more likely to be overeducated than their U.S. peers. The over-education rate gap between recent immigrants and the native-born was much more pronounced in Canada than in the United States. In addition, while labour market demand was associated with a lower level of over-education in both countries, a greater supply of university-educated recent immigrants was positively associated with a likelihood of over-education among recent immigrants in Canada, but not in the United States. Furthermore, in Canada, the over-education rate was significantly lower among immigrants who were admitted through some form of employer selection (e.g., immigrants who worked in skilled jobs in Canada before immigration) than those who were admitted directly from abroad. Overall, this study provides insight into how the immigration system interacts with broader aspects of the labour market to shape the labour market outcomes of immigrants.

This paper looks at the popularity of after-school mathematics by focusing on the Kumon and Russian School of Mathematics models. In 1954, Toru Kumon, a high school math teacher in Japan, designed a series of math worksheets to help improve the test scores of his son Takeshi, a second grader. Toru's goal was to teach Takeshi how to learn independently through the worksheets and improve his calculation skills prior to reaching high school. By working every day on the problems, Takeshi was able to reach the level of differential and integral calculus when he was just a few months into the sixth grade. The Kumon model is based on four elements: (1) Individualized instruction; (2) Self-learning; (3) Small-step worksheets; and (4) Kumon instructors. Parents who want to give their children a head start in math before elementary school can enroll them in Kumon as young as age 3. From that age they can stay with the program through high school or until they complete the program. In the U.S. alone, Kumon has grown from more than 182,000 students and nearly 1,300 centers in 2008 to more than 279,000 students and more than 1500 centers in 2018. While the Kumon method involves repeating mathematical processes until students over-learn them to automaticity, the Russian School of Mathematics (RSM) promotes itself as believing in just the opposite. The RSM model was founded by Inessa Rifkin in 1997 with Irina Khavinson, a friend, educator, and fellow Russian immigrant, after concluding that her son Ilya was not receiving the same mathematics education that she received as a student in the Soviet Union. Their goal was to translate their own experiences with specialized Russian math programs into a school that offered the same opportunity to American children. Two decades later about 25,000 students are enrolled with RSM today, in 40 locations in 11 states and Canada. Russian School of Mathematics students attend a classroom once per week for varying lengths of time, depending on grade: 90 minutes for kindergarten through third grade; two hours for grades four through six; and two-and-a-half hours for grades seven and above. Algebra and geometry are on separate tracks starting in the sixth grade, though students may enroll in both. This paper reviews each model's methods, highlights their best practices, and shows how they complement or run parallel with mathematics taught in traditional classrooms.

In the past decade, American and Canadian pediatric societies have recommended that pediatric care clinicians follow a schedule of routine surveillance and screening for young children to detect conditions such as developmental delay, speech and language delays and disorders, and autism spectrum disorder. The goal of these recommendations is to ensure that children with these developmental issues receive appropriate referrals for evaluation and intervention. However, in 2015 and 2016, the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) and the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care issued recommendations that did not support universal screening for these conditions. This occasional paper is designed to help make sense of the discrepancy between Task Force recommendations and those of the pediatric community in light of research and practice. To clarify the issues, in this paper I review the distinction between screening and surveillance; the benefits of screening and early identification; how the USPSTF makes its recommendations; and what the implications of not supporting screening are for research, clinical practice, and families.

The digital revolution and automation are accelerating changes in the labour market and in workplace skills, changes that are further affected by fluctuations in international and regional economic cycles and employment opportunity. These factors pose a universal policy challenge for all advanced economies and governments. In the workplace, people seek to acquire contemporary and relevant skills to gain employment and retain transferable skills to maintain employment. The central purpose of this paper is to investigate how other nations or regions are dealing with these issues. What approaches are they taking to understanding the mix and dynamics of the skills attained by individuals and, more broadly, the totality of skills that in aggregate constitute a highly capable and adaptable labour force, one that supports firm viability and greater national productivity. This research has examined a range of initiatives and approaches being developed or in use in selected countries, including the United States, Singapore and New Zealand, and agencies/organisations; for example, the European Commission and the Skills for the Information Age Foundation. In doing so, it showcases the good practices used to ensure that occupational-level skills information remains current and widely accessible. [For "Identifying Work Skills: International Case Summaries. Support Document," see ED579875.]

Through a historical and comparative analysis of international education policy development in Canada and the U.S., this paper will map the similarities and differences in the two countries. It will highlight the contributions and challenges of the government's involvement in international education (IE) in the two federal states and in particular, explore the implications of the changing contexts, rationales and approaches for international education to the federal role in higher education. It will conclude with observations on the differential impact of the federal government's role in international/higher education on the higher education systems of the two countries and thus contribute to our understanding of how national specificities and characteristics outweigh the commonly stated policy rationales, approaches and outcomes for international education. [A bibliography is included.]

In 2011, the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) founded the Center for Community College Advancement to provide training and resources to help community colleges build and sustain effective fundraising, alumni relations, and communications and marketing programs. A goal for the center is to collect data on best practices at community colleges. This white paper summarizes the results of a survey on foundation operations at community colleges across the United States and Canada. The purpose of the survey was to help community college staff benchmark their foundation experiences and programs with their peers. Participation in the survey was strong, with representatives from 122 foundations in the United States and Canada having contributed data (approximately 10 percent of the universe of institutions). Their responses revealed that foundations have evolved into significant contributors at community colleges through consistent positive results, service to a variety of stakeholders and leveraging of political capital--all while maintaining a low staff count and limited expenditures. Two appendices provide data tables and the survey questions.

Research suggests which study strategies are effective but little descriptive research focuses on how undergraduate students study in real-world settings. Thus, the mechanisms of students' actual learning remain a black box for the field of higher education, with far more attention paid to inputs and outputs of the learning process. Using a situative theory of cognition and learning, we analyzed data from 22 focus groups (N = 60 students). Results indicate studying is a multi-faceted process that is initiated by instructor or self-generated cues, followed by marshaling resources and managing distractions (or not), and then study behaviors that include selecting time, setting, and specific strategies. Underlying these behaviors are contextual factors including course material and students' personal lives. The results highlight the importance of self-regulation skills, particularly managing digital distractions, and we suggest that the development of these skills should be more frequently incorporated into instructional design and student support services.

A defining characteristic of current U.S. educational policy is the use of data to inform decisions about resource allocation, teacher hiring, and curriculum and instruction. Perhaps the biggest challenge to data-driven decision making (DDDM) is that data use alone does not automatically result in improved teaching and learning. Research indicates that translating raw data into useable information and actionable knowledge for teachers requires not only adequate technical and social supports, but also an awareness of how educators in real-world settings actually use information to make decisions. Yet, little is known about DDDM in higher education, in general, and how postsecondary faculty make sense of and use data in their instructional decision-making processes, in particular. In this paper, we use naturalistic decision-making theory to generate practice-based descriptions of how 59 STEM faculty at three large public research universities used data as part of their course planning. Interview transcripts and notes taken while observing planning meetings were analyzed using an inductive approach to content analysis. In practice, respondents used different types of data and other information obtained from, for example, student assessments, end-of-semester evaluations, and conversations with colleagues. Results indicate that faculty generally collect and analyze data in informal, ad hoc scenarios ungoverned by institutional policy. Exceptions include disciplines with accreditation pressures and team-taught courses where structured (and supported) opportunities exist for faculty to collect, analyze, and reflect upon data about student learning. Thus, while numeric data are clearly viewed by this population of faculty as the most rigorous, in practice, even those that use quantitative data also use other sources of information. These results suggest an opportunity for educational leaders to design policies and professional development initiatives that facilitate a more formal collection of and reflection on data by faculty. In pursuing such technical solutions, however, policymakers and educational leaders must carefully negotiate the tension between rigor and relevance, and learn from the challenges experienced in the K-12 sector regarding DDDM.

In 2011, CASE founded the Center for Community College Advancement to provide training and resources to help community colleges build and sustain effective fundraising, alumni relations and communications and marketing programs. This white paper summarizes the results of a groundbreaking survey on alumni relations programs at community colleges across the United States and Canada. The purpose of the survey was to help community college staff members benchmark their experiences and programs in alumni relations with their peers. The survey was conducted by the CASE research office in conjunction with CASE's Center for Community College Advancement. Survey questions are appended. [For the follow up White Paper, "Benchmarking Alumni Relations in Community Colleges: Findings from a 2015 CASE Survey. CASE White Paper," see ED571307.]

Differences in teacher quality are commonly cited as a key determinant of the huge international student performance gaps. However, convincing evidence on this relationship is still lacking, in part because it is unclear how to measure teacher quality consistently across countries. We use unique international assessment data to investigate the role of teacher cognitive skills as one main dimension of teacher quality in explaining student outcomes. Our main identification strategy exploits exogenous variation in teacher cognitive skills attributable to international differences in relative wages of nonteacher public sector employees. Using student-level test score data, we find that teacher cognitive skills are an important determinant of international differences in student performance. Results are supported by fixed-effects estimation that uses within-country between-subject variation in teacher skills.

The purpose of this research paper is to look at the definition of academic freedom and how it has evolved over time. Canada's definition of academic freedom grew out of the influences of Britain, Germany, and the United States. The paper begins with a historic look at these three sources. It then focuses on the Canadian definition of academic freedom in relation to Canadian history. Important academic freedom cases are described, and their influences on the definition of academic freedom are discussed. An overview of current trends, including tenure, unions, political correctness, private funding, and accountability mandates, threatening academic freedom are discussed. History has revealed that the concept of academic freedom has been modified and refined as it journeyed through each generation. Each generation has fought for different pieces of the academic freedom puzzle, from religious freedom, to political freedom, to cultural freedom, and it is only by looking back over history one can finally understand what academic freedom truly defends. The fight for academic freedom has been waged so that all academics could enjoy freedom to pursue their research and teaching free from public sanctions. (Contains 34 references.) (Author/SLD)

This project on national standards and accreditation of career practitioners is set against a background of unprecedented interest by governments nationally and internationally in the provision of career guidance services. Currently more is known about the policy and delivery of career guidance than at any other time in history. There is growing interest in the relationship between career guidance and public policy because the benefits of career guidance to individuals, society and the economy have been recognised. In this regard, strategic alliances are being formed between career guidance practitioners and policy makers in order that policy commitments relating to the provision of quality career services are enhanced. Such an alliance is evidenced in the collaboration between the Department of Education, Science and Training and the Career Industry Council of Australia on this project. This project constitutes a very necessary step in a move towards a quality industry. The purpose of this scoping paper is to: (1) identify current standards guiding career practitioners in Australia; (2) review international work on standards including examples of best practice and advise on how this work might be relevant to the development of national standards and accreditation in the Australian context; (3) be informed by outcomes of national workshops, forums, and conferences 2000-2004; (4) identify the current membership requirements of professional career associations and bodies both nationally and internationally; (5) assess how prior learning or qualifications might be recognised and developed to fit within and meet the requirements of the quality standards; and (6) identify the issues that need to be addressed in the development of national standards. To achieve this purpose, this paper is structured around four main sections--international quality standards, national quality standards, standards guiding Australian professions, and the Australian career industry. Following this a number of themes related to the development and implementation of quality standards will be elaborated. A number of issues relating to the development and implementation of quality standards and accreditation in the Australian career industry will then be raised. Appended are: (1) Glossary of terms; (2) Table of Comparative Competencies; (3) Entry-level Qualifications of Australian Career Practitioner Associations; (4) Standards of Australian Career Practitioner Associations; and (5) Comparison of Quality Standards Across Career Case Studies.

Growth in mixed-sector institutions offering both vocational and higher education qualifications is expected to increase given recent and predicted policy changes. This issues paper focuses on the provision and management of higher education in technical and further education (TAFE) institutes. Issues raised for discussion include the governance of mixed-sector institutions as well as ensuring access and maintaining progression to higher education without sectoral division in the institution. Implications arising from the Bradley review of higher education are canvassed and the authors are inviting discussion on a range of questions related to the nature of policies and practices influencing the provision of higher education in TAFE. A section listing the TAFE institutes that have been registered to offer higher education qualifications and their accredited higher education qualifications, at February 2009 is appended. (Contains 5 tables and 3 footnotes.) [Funding for this document was provided through the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations.]

With the North American Free Trade Agreement and today's knowledge-based economy, there is a premium placed on post-secondary education and the need to retain graduates in Canada. The share of graduates in the Canadian and the United States labour pools are key to competitiveness. This paper examines Canada's performance relative to the U.S. in terms of post-secondary education (PSE) attainment in the population in the latter half of the 1990s. In particular, it responds to two questions: (1) Does Canada have a higher rate of overall PSE attainment compared to the United States? and (2) Does the United States have a higher rate of university attainment compared to Canada? Findings show that as of 1999, Canada did have a higher rate of PSE attainment compared to the United States. Yet, the gap in attainment between the two countries was not as large as it appeared to be prior to 1997 when a different system of classifying international educational program data was used. Additionally, findings show that by the end of the decade the U.S. had a higher rate of university attainment in the population compared to Canada. However, the difference between the two countries in university attainment is smaller for younger individuals than older. Thus, while a larger percentage of the U.S. population had obtained a university degree, the gap between the two countries may be narrowing. (Contains 1 footnote, 2 tables, and 3 figures.) [This paper is available in French under the title: "Niveau d'etudes postsecondaires au Canada et aux Etats-Unis dans les annees 90."]

There is growing evidence that students throughout the world no longer see the US as the primary place to study; that in some form this correlates with a rise in perceived quality and prestige in the EU and elsewhere; and further, that this may mean a continued decline in the US's market share of international students. There clearly are a complex set of variables that will influence international education and global labor markets, including the current global economic recession. Ultimately, however, we think these factors will not alter the fundamental dynamics of the new global market, which include these facts: the international flow of talent, scientific or otherwise, is being fundamentally altered as nations invest more in educational attainment and human capital; the US will continue to lose some of its market share over time--the only question is how quickly and by how much; and without a proactive strategy, nations such as the US that are highly dependent on global in-migration of talented students and professionals are most vulnerable to downward access to global talent, with a potentially significant impact on future economic growth. This study provides data on past and recent global trends in international enrollment, and offers a set of policy recommendations for the US at the federal, state, and institutional level. This includes our recommendation of a national goal to double the number of international students in the US over the next decade to match numbers in a group of competitor nations, and requires recognition that the US will need to strategically expand its enrollment capacity and graduation rates to accommodate needed increases in the educational attainment rate of US citizens, and to welcome more international students. Attracting talent in a global market and increasing degree attainment rates of the domestic population are not mutually exclusive goals. Indeed, they will be the hallmarks of the most competitive economies. (Contains 6 figures and 41 endnotes.)

Using the qualitative research method known as folknography, the authors led a research team to the heart of Illinois farm country to ask the question "What are the perceptions of the people of the Midwest concerning math and math education?" A review of the literature includes Canadian and Australian references on the topic, as well as information from the United States, and the targeted geography and population is described. Research followed the pattern of a similar study conducted in Appalachia in 2004. A preliminary survey was planned to gather benchmarking statistical data and to open respondents up to the possibilities of a folknographic interview. Folknographers entered the field in May 2006 to perform focused and intensive field research. Findings include: (1) belief that young people can not perform simple math; (2) perception that too much technology has a significant and negative impact on developing minds of students; (3) connection between acquiring math knowledge and achieving a dynamic career; (4) recollections of tyrannical or cruel math teachers; (5) desire for a school or school system that makes learning math an exciting and motivating experience. Folknographic narratives are included to illustrate each finding. Bibliography is included. Four appendixes conclude the document: (1) Perceptions of Math in the Mid-West Interview Questions: Adults (18-55); (2) Perceptions of Math in the Mid-West Interview Questions: Seniors (55-Over); (3) Perceptions of Math in the Mid-West Interview Questions: Youth (Ages 10-17); and (4) Perceptions of Math Survey Mid-West. (Contains 4 charts.)

This document contains four reports on technology and further education (FE) that Lynton Gray and Ann-Marie Warrender prepared for the Further Education Funding Council's Learning and Technology Committee. The first report, "Main Themes from Learning & Technology Committee Press Surveys," examines three themes that were identified during a review of British press coverage of the role of information/learning technologies in FE: technological developments, organizational changes and learning applications. "Learning and Technology in American Community Colleges," which is based on materials presented at an American Association of Community Colleges convention, discusses the following topics: technology and teaching, distance learning, technologies and the Internet, and industry and student-centered learning. "Multimedia and Education," which is based on materials presented at an Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education conference, examines the following topics: technology for teachers, breaching the technological barriers, the impact of national initiatives, publishing and multimedia, and Canada's Open Learning Agency. "Learning Technologies in Industrial Training" explains the uses of information and learning technologies by a small sample of British companies in their own training programs. The implications of the four papers for reform of FE are summarized in a final section titled "Evidence for Action." (MN)

This paper investigates the real living standards and poverty status of U.S. children in the 1990s compared to the children in 17 other nations, including Europe, Scandinavia, Canada, and Australia. The analysis is based on the Luxembourg Income Study database. It was found that American children have lower real spendable income than do comparable children in almost every other nation studied. In contrast, high income U.S. children are far better off than their counterparts in other nations. Persistently high child poverty rates were also found in the United States when compared with other nations. Demographic factors and the effectiveness of tax and transfer policies in reducing child poverty are also explored, and the paper concludes with a discussion of results and their policy implications. An appendix presents two tables of countries studied and poverty figures. (Contains 3 text tables, 8 figures, and 28 references.) (Author/SLD)

This study examined the role of faculty participation on strategic change within higher education. An open-ended questionnaire was completed by seven individuals from Singapore and the United States who had had experience with higher education strategic planning and change as both faculty and administrators in Australia, Canada, Singapore, and the United States. It was found that all of the respondents agreed on the necessity of involving stakeholders, particularly the faculty, in strategic change. Many also pointed to the difficulty of getting quality participation from faculty, due to the fact that faculty often have a narrow perspective, that faculty participation involves a large commitment of time, and that faculty are often reluctant to address complex issues or problems. Respondents emphasized the negative impact of overly hierarchical and bureaucratic organizational structures, which were more typical in Singapore than elsewhere. The comments also emphasized the impact that organizational culture, planning processes, reward structures, and institutional mission can have on faculty participation in strategic change. Suggestions for encouraging and improving faculty participation were also offered. (Contains 32 references.) (MDM)

This report describes the University Library Alumni Outreach Research Project. The goals of the project were twofold: to describe and analyze alumni outreach initiatives currently offered by university libraries belonging to the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) as well as the alumni programs and services offered by the universities themselves through traditional organizations such as university alumni associations; and to identify possible future initiatives that might be meaningful to university alumni along with noteworthy examples of technological or programmatic innovation. Phase One comprised a comprehensive survey of the World Wide Web sites of the 112 ARL academic library members to identify pertinent links for alumni outreach and to canvass library development efforts. This phase also included an examination of parent university home pages to identify alumni outreach initiatives stemming from university development organizations such as alumni associations. Results were used to identify issues regarding the actual importance, value, and context of alumni outreach initiatives within each university and to construct an interview instrument to address these issues. The goal of Phase Two was to identify and describe, through phone interviews with university librarians, deans, and directors, the general state of library-sponsored alumni outreach within each of the universities, any planned alumni programs and services, areas of potential future innovation, and general perceptions regarding the current and future role of alumni in the life and vigor of the university library. (Contains 18 references.) (MES)

In 1992 the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) surveyed administrators in member libraries regarding resource strategies of the previous three years. This paper summarizes revenue activities, adaptive tactics, and budgetary practices reported by 87 Canadian, U.S. private, and U.S. public university libraries and establishes a baseline for comparing these factors. The period from 1990 to 1992 has been a difficult one for ARL members, with the largest reductions in public support experienced by public university libraries. All respondents sought outside revenues to supplement their campus allocations. Virtually every responding library had experienced some form of internal restructuring, and three of every five had eliminated positions over the three-year survey period. Administrators valued flexibility in fund reallocation very highly, but few had much control over carrying unspent funds to the next year. While 88% of respondents expected the demand for services to grow, only 32% anticipated budget increases. Greater selectivity in activities and greater library sharing are likely to result from the economic realities. Three appendixes contain the survey summary results, the cover letter, and the questionnaire. (Contains 33 references.) (SLD)

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 indicators, (4) sources of quality variation, (5) data selection, (6) intended audiences, (7) emphasis of use, (8) impact on student learning, and (9) relationship to institutional mission. A sample of six systems of generation performance indicators was examined using the nine criteria; the six systems are: National Education Goals (United States National System); Critical Choices (United States State System); Key Success Indices (United States Institutional System); The Committee for Vice Chancellors and Principals listing of performance indicators (British National System); Queen's University (Canadian Model); and MONEY magazine (United States Media System). Analysis found that performance indicators are mostly variations of input/output mechanistic thinking, that remarkable similarities exist between North American and European initiatives, that most models are unprepared to address conversion or process variables, that most are built on an assumption that outcomes can be attributed to something in the system or institution, and that the absence of linkages back to the learning environment leaves internal decisionmakers without information to correct causes that explain variations in quality. (Contains 92 references.) (JB)

This report examines access to lifelong learning opportunities on Canada's information highway. The report begins with a glossary and a learner-centered model in which the information highway links learners with learning opportunities provided through educational institutions, community organizations, government, and business and industry. Presented next is an overview of the economic, technological, social, and education and training-related factors that have led to recognition in Canada and worldwide of the leading role that lifelong learning must play in preparing individuals for the competitive, information-based global economy of the 21st century. The following three challenges facing Canada as it develops a lifelong learning system are discussed: (1) economic and social restructuring; (2) situational, dispositional, and institutional barriers to lifelong learning; and (3) learning models in response to new learning technologies. Trends and best practices in lifelong learning, the formal education sector, and nonformal education sector are reviewed. Next is a "made in Canada" response to the challenges. Included in the response are a conceptual framework and goals for lifelong learning in Canada. Appended are the following: barriers to learning identified in a 1982 survey; goal summary of a lifelong learning framework; overview of lifelong learning in the formal and nonformal sectors; and selected bibliography. Contains 39 references. (MN)

Selected papers from the 1980 World Congress of Rehabilitation International Meeting on the participation of disabled people are presented. The papers address the rights of the disabled, the organization and functions of consumer groups, the impact of consumer involvement on rehabilitation and related services, social implications of the consumer participation movement, and the coming together of the disabled throughout the world. Titles and authors include the following: "Self-Determination of Handicapped People" (M. Fritsch); "The Right to All Types of Information" (K. Karlsson); "The Right to Work: A Political Issue" (B. Lindqvist); "Consumer Groups: Their Organization and Function" (A. Simpson); "Organizing an Action Group" (J. Simkins); "Trade Union Participation" (L. Maguire); "Handicap Councils: A Swedish Experiment" (L. Gardestrom); "Participation of Handicapped People in the Planning, Implementation and Management of Rehabilitation Services" (P. Blommestijn); "Policy Issues in Independent Living Rehabilitation" (D. Galvin); "Higher Education Opportunities" (K. Konkkola); "The Disabled Consumer Movement: Policy Implications for Rehabilitation Service Provision" (J. Derksen); "Towards Full Political Participation" (B. Carlsson); and "Disability Rights Issues: The Role of Advocacy in Government (E. Fiorito). (SW)

Homelessness has emerged on the public agenda of economically advanced nations but not all such issues become recognized as "legitimate" social problems. National politicians and policymakers have an interest in defining the problem narrowly in order to avoid response and implied criticism of existing policies and institutions. Local officials and social agencies prefer a broader definition in order to obtain resources for policy and program implementation. This paper examines the progress of homelessness as a social issue in Canada. Chapter 1, "The Politics of Defining a 'New' Social Problem," discusses how politics, not the "objective reality" of homelessness, determines its status on the public agenda. Chapter 2, "Two National Governments: The U.S. and Canada," compares the debate over the definition of homelessness in the two countries, and demonstrates the extent to which the governments are attempting to narrow that definition. Chapter 3, "Local Initiatives: Three Examples from Toronto," reviews the following recent studies by local government and social agencies in Toronto (Ontario): (1) Metro Toronto's Study of the Homeless; (2) The Social Planning Council of Metro Toronto; and (3) The Single Displaced Persons Project. Chapter 4, "The Future of Homelessness as a Social Problem," discusses the following common themes in the definition of homelessness: (1) national scope; (2) long-term duration; (3) complex, multidimensional nature; and (4) the need for political commitment. A list of 43 references is included. (FMW)

This report outlines alternative directions for urban social planning in Canada, taking into account the growth of the welfare state, alternative economic developments, and urban demographic trends. Based on a theory of increasing social convergence/diversity between the United States and Canada, a proactive model of planning is recommended. Urban demographic and household trends that are considered in planning include the following: (1) growth of the proportion of elderly people within a relatively stable population base; (2) increase in the multicultural composition of neighborhoods; and (3) deinstitutionalization and return to community life of many physically, mentally, and emotionally impaired people. Planning must also include the loss of an urban labor pool as the mobile unemployed move to new locations in search of jobs; and the immobile chronically unemployed, who require social services. Alternative models discussed include the following: (1) proactive; (2) reactive; and (3) conversational. A list of 29 references is included. (FMW)

This fact book, compiled to fill the need of practicing librarians and researchers for recent data on public libraries, contains statistics concerning or relevant to the U.S. public library system. Data on all aspects of American public libraries are summarized from such sources as annual reports, journal articles, surveys, books, doctoral theses, government studies, and other unpublished reports and documents. Most of the data included were published or gathered between 1973 and 1978, and none predate 1970. Information on public libraries in countries other than the U.S. has been included whenever the public library systems in those countries were comparable with the American model. Entries in the factbook are arranged alphabetically by topical subject heading, and bibliographic citations to the sources of the statistics given in each entry are included. (JL)

Designed to synthesize information of interest about current doctoral-level library and information education in North America, this study examines the doctoral programs in library and information studies at 17 universities in the United States and Canada. Each program is investigated from the following perspectives: (1) a survey of faculty publications over the 5-year period 1978-1982; (2) a brief summary of the program curriculum drawn from catalogs and related materials disseminated by the program to prospective students; (3) a survey of dissertations completed during the 5-year period; and (4) an opinion questionnaire that drew responses from students at 13 of the 17 programs. An orientational survey, this study is intended only to be considered within a wider context in determining relevant problem areas related to library and information doctoral education, and the programs are not evaluated. Results of the faculty publication survey for each institution and summary results for all institutions surveyed are presented in tabular form, and the faculty publication survey subject classification scheme and a copy of the student questionnaire are provided. (KM)

Canada has explored the use of satellites as a means to provide information and communications services to geographically isolated populations since 1962. Between 1972 and 1984, five series of satellites known as Anik A, B, C, and D and Hermes were launched. Each satellite provided expanded communications services, and each led to research and experiments in educational applications, some of which included joint ventures with other countries. For example, more than 20 Canadian organizations carried out technical and social experiments with the Hermes satellite, including direct-to-home television and radio broadcasting, tele-education, telemedicine, community interaction, administrative services, and native communications services. Research indicates that communications satellites far surpass their initial purpose of reaching remote populations. Current and future developments include two-way satellite technology, integration of satellites and computer assisted and managed instruction in distance education, and local and regional computer networking via satellite. Among the most important issues regarding the use of satellites for educational purposes are: (1) determining ownership and copyright of satellite programs; (2) integrating satellite educational services with existing terrestrial distribution systems; (3) determining cost-effectiveness of satellite delivered educational service; (4) evaluating student satisfaction and performance for educational services delivered by satellite; (5) establishing educational satellite consortia on a regional basis; and (6) deciding whether a satellite educational service should have one-way or two-way capabilities. (10 references) (DB)

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is an intergovernmental economic organisation with 35 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate economic progress and world trade. The Organisation for works with countries to develop skills strategies tailored to specific needs and contexts. The Organisation prepared a global skills strategy outline over the period 2011 to 2013. Each national skills strategy country project offers a tailored approach to focus on the unique skills challenges, context and objectives of each country. Each project leverages OECD comparative data and policy analysis, fosters collaboration across ministerial portfolios and levels of government while engaging all relevant stakeholders--employers, trade unions, and civil society organisations. In its paper "Towards an OECD Skills Strategy" (OECD 2013), the OECD sets out the main issues which must be addressed by efficient and effective policies for skills formation and skills use. The majority of material in each of the 13 case summaries presented here has been lifted mostly verbatim from original sources. These sources are stated at the beginning of each case summary. [This document is an added resource for the report "Identifying Work Skills: International Approaches. Discussion Paper" which can be accessed in ERIC at ED579874.]