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Using a longitudinal dataset created through the linkage of the 2006 Indigenous Peoples Survey (IPS; formerly called the Aboriginal Peoples Survey) and the 2016 long-form Census, this study examines childhood factors that are associated with the completion of a high school diploma or equivalency certificate or higher among off-reserve First Nations, Métis and Inuit children. The report presents childhood characteristics correlated with high school completion or higher by Indigenous group. Further, using a pooled sample, it examines the association between childhood factors and the outcome using multivariate analysis to account for confounding factors. Indigenous children living in some regions were more likely to complete high school or higher than those in other regions. First Nations (55.0%) and Métis children (66.3%) living in the Prairies region, were less likely to have completed high school or higher by 2016 compared with those in Ontario (68.9% and 77.5%, respectively). Inuit children who were living in Inuit Nunangat (38.1%) were less likely to complete high school or higher education than those living outside Inuit Nunangat (66.5%). Among First Nations and Métis boys and girls, those who were older were almost twice as likely to have completed high school or greater education compared with younger ones. Among Inuit, older boys (56.5%) were more likely to complete high school or higher than younger ones (29.7%E), but this relationship was not seen among girls. In all three groups, children living in suitable housing (i.e., not in crowded housing), were more likely to complete high school or higher education than those in unsuitable housing. This was evident among both Métis and Inuit boys and girls, but only among First Nations boys. The suitability of the housing did not play a significant role in First Nations girls completing high school or higher education. First Nations and Métis children who lived in two-parent households were more likely to complete high school or greater education than those in lone-parent households, but this relationship was not seen among Inuit children. Results of the logistic regression model show that age, household crowding, household income, and academic performance as children are associated with having completed high school or higher education. Older children had nearly three times higher odds (Odds ratio1 or OR=2.75) than those who were younger to have completed high school or higher education. Indigenous boys who lived in unsuitable housing during childhood had nearly half the odds (OR=0.52) of completing high school or higher education than those who lived in suitable housing. While a trend towards increasing odds of high school completion or higher was seen with increasing household income, it was only among Indigenous girls that a significant result was observed. Those living in the third (OR=2.67) and fourth (OR=4.23) quartile of household income had about three and four times, respectively, higher odds of completing high school or higher education compared with those in first quartile of household income. Finally, perceived academic performance in childhood was predictive of high school completion or greater education. In fact, odds of completion increased with increasing academic performance. Boys whose performance was very good during childhood had twice the odds (OR=2.17) of completing high school or higher education than those whose performance was average. In contrast, girls whose performance was very poor or poor had 73% lower odds of completing this level of education than girls whose performance was average. After adjusting for other childhood factors, region of residence, household type, familial residential school experience, prior attendance in an early childhood development program and ability to speak and/or understand an Indigenous language were not significantly associated with completion of high school or greater education. The findings of the study are in line with previous research and offer potential policy levers for developing programs and policies to increase the rates of high school completion or higher education among First Nations children living off reserve, Métis and Inuit children. [Funding for this study was provided by Indigenous Services Canada.]

Humans are born with the natural ability to gain skills through play. Children learn about social norms, roles and responsibilities, and language through curiosity-driven, playful interactions and activities. Learning through play harnesses the power of children's imagination and inspires active engagement with the material. The Center for Universal Education at Brookings, is studying innovations that strive to improve education. If the education sector stays on its current trajectory, half of all youth around the world entering the workforce in 2030 will lack basic secondary-level skills they need to thrive--from literacy and numeracy to critical thinking and problem solving. It is believed that leapfrogging, or rapid nonlinear progress, is needed to change this trajectory. Education that allows students to leap forward in learning should incorporate experimentation and iteration, helping students make meaning of what they are learning, and engage with others in doing so. These types of student-centered, playful learning experiences are an essential component to leapfrogging in education because without them young people will not be able to develop the full breadth of competencies and skills they need to thrive in a fast-changing world. This paper is the first in in a series of Leapfrogging in Education snapshots that provide analyses of a global catalog of education innovations. Of the nearly 3,000 innovations captured in the catalog, two-thirds involve playful learning, which represents the largest category of innovations that were recorded. [Support also provided by the BHP Foundation.]

Part 1 of the Report Card presents a league table of child well-being in 29 of the world's advanced economies. Part 2 looks at what children say about their own well-being (including a league table of children's life satisfaction). Part 3 examines changes in child well-being in advanced economies over the first decade of the 2000s, looking at each country's progress in educational achievement, teenage birth rates, childhood obesity levels, the prevalence of bullying, and the use of tobacco, alcohol and drugs.

This cross-cultural study tests a model of motivation on children's learning. Participating in the study are 805 Chinese students and 740 Canadian students. Students answered survey questions related to their perceptions of parents and teachers as well as their motivation orientations and the perceived level of control in learning; their homeroom teachers also provided a rating on their diligence and performance in school. The results showed that of the four types of motivation orientation tested, the identified type of motivation orientation is the important predictor for student's effort expenditure both in Taiwan and Canada. The results of the model testing showed a strong similarity between the Canadian and the Chinese in how children's motivation affects their academic outcome. Perceived Control is shown to have an all positive influence on student's academic outcome. However, autonomy as defined by student's motivation orientation appears to be a double-edged sword; although the total effect of autonomy on children's academic achievement is positive, the model shows that without the mediation of perceived control, a high level of autonomy can actually have a significant negative impact on student's achievement. (Author/GCP)

Studies of nearly a dozen welfare programs were reviewed to determine the effects of welfare policies on children and youth and to identify issues requiring consideration during reauthorization of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program. The following were among the key findings: (1) the school achievement of elementary school-age children are improved by welfare programs that increase both parental employment and income by providing earnings supplements to welfare recipients when they go to work; (2) programs that mandate participation in employment-related services typically increase parental employment but not income and have few short- or long-term effects on elementary school-age children; (3) although time-limited welfare programs can be implemented in ways that avoid widespread harm for elementary school-age children, the combination of earnings supplements with short time limits on welfare may reduce the positive effects that such supplements bring to children; (4) adolescents' school achievement and progress have been negatively affected by their parents' participation in both voluntary and mandatory programs promoting work and programs with and without time limits on benefit receipt; and (5) some evidence suggests that the observed negative effects on adolescents result from "child care problems" associated with maternal employment. (Contains 11 endnotes and 6 references.) (MN)