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This paper describes a study that examined the demand for tutoring within a context of heightened credential competition and a growing private-education sector consisting of private schools, charter schools, homeschoolers, and a burgeoning entrepreneurial education industry. The number of private-tutoring businesses is rapidly growing in Canada, even though the Canadian educational system lacks the characteristics that normally fuel the demand for such businesses. Which kinds of parents hire and desire private tutors, and how is the demand linked to other educational preferences? Using data from a national survey, the study found that parents who desire affordable tutoring do not differ greatly from other parents in their demographic or political ideology. However, tutoring parents are less satisfied with public education, are more involved in their children's schools, and are greatly more desiring of private schooling and other educational alternatives. The paper concludes that for many parents, private tutoring represents a school choice by default, and is an affordable educational option in lieu of the ability to pay for private schools. (Contains 16 references.) (Author)

This working paper is intended to enrich an initial description of alternative businesses and A-Way Express Couriers, in particular. (A-Way, a 12-year-old community organization, is a psychiatric survivor-run alternative business.) The paper begins with a brief commentary on the psychiatric survivor movement and research on it. The paper traces the emergence and entrenchment of learning as a key feature of psychiatric survivor-run or alternative businesses. The methodology used is to re-read previous research projects and results through the lens of informal learning. Early research on psychiatric survivor-run businesses is reviewed in view of a definition of social learning with these three dimensions: solidarity learning, reshaping the definition of self, and organizational learning. A more detailed examination of informal learning processes at A-Way builds on a previously generated profile and is organized according to the three dimensions of social learning. Comments are based on face-to-face interviews with five employees from each of these three groupings within A-Way: couriers on commission, part-time office staff on salaries, and full-time management on salaries. The final section constructs a narrative account of one woman's learning at A-Way--how over nine years she moved from courier to executive director of the business on a journey that evokes the richness and complexity of informal learning in this context. (YLB)

The concept of social innovation has recently emerged as an influential approach to address intractable social problems. Increasingly discussed in academia and policy circles, the concept draws on multifaceted practices and ideas from many disciplines. Yet despite widespread discussion and promotion, there is still limited understanding of precisely what the concept means in practice. This paper serves as a primer on social innovation. It explores the different forms, drivers, and actors involved. It distinguishes among forms such as social entrepreneurship, social intrapreneurship, social enterprise, and various types of social finance such as social impact bonds, with examples. Finally, this paper challenges the Literacy and Essential Skills (LES) field to ready itself to engage in social innovation by posing some key questions about if and how social innovation could be used to improve LES service delivery and programming. The paper refers briefly to, but does not focus on, critiques that have been developed about specific forms of social finance. A glossary is included.

Based on interviews with private-tutoring-business entrepreneurs, this paper provides a qualitative analysis of some organizational and ideological transformations in the teacher profession with the advent of market professionals within the private-education sector. No longer simply a means to generate additional income, the private-tutoring industry today promises full-time business opportunities and careers for well-educated investors from a variety of educational and occupational backgrounds. Initial research suggests that the enormous popularity of these businesses rests on the organizational and environmental fit between their services and increased consumer demands for individualized education. The goals of the paper are twofold. First, the paper examines the effects of market professionalism on the education sector based on a 2-year pilot study of private-tutoring businesses in Ontario, Canada. Second, the paper examines how market professionals reconcile shifting social purposes (social betterment vs. profit) with broader culture ideals. The increased popularity of these businesses signals not only the diffusion of market professional services but also parents' increased reliance upon professionals located outside the public-education sector. (Contains 68 references.) (Author)

Ontario's Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology have been governed by the Ministry of Training, Colleges, and Universities Act (MTCU) and related regulations and policies since their inception in 1965. In June 2002, the Ontario Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology Act, 2002 (OCAATA) was passed by the Ontario legislature; proclamation is anticipated in 2003. There has been a great deal of attention paid by a variety of government and private organizations to the issue of accountability, and to the measures that can be taken to improve accountability. This paper offers examples of some Canadian public and private corporations' accountability reports. In addition, the paper examines accountability as applied to community colleges in California and New Jersey, and to Ontario's Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology, as well as to colleges in British Columbia and Alberta. There are three basic accountability models that the states use to determine performance: performance funding, performance budgeting, and performance reporting. Performance is measured by institutional improvement over time, comparisons with peer institutions, and comparison against preset targets. In British Columbia, Ontario, and Alberta, performance indicators are tied to funding in significantly different ways. The report recommends steps that can be taken to strengthen performance and accountability in Canada's public college and university governance. (NB)

This paper reports on the Canadian college system's collaboration with industry and community services in the development and delivery of non-credit e-commerce courses offered through continuing education departments at community colleges and institutes of technology. The paper argues that, in today's changing economy, the accelerated need for skills training and retraining may be most widely felt among students. The paper details the offerings at Canadian colleges by region: British Columbia and Yukon Region; Alberta and Northwest Territories Region; Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Nunavut Region; Ontario Region; Quebec Region; and Atlantic Region. Highlights of these offerings are as follows: New Brunswick Community College's Saint John Campus offers a two-year diploma degree in Business Technology, while other programs, such as Marketing and Office Technology, are being permeated with courses related to e-commerce. The Cegep regional de Lanaudiere offers five college programs in the field of electronic commerce. There is a computer science diploma, and four certificates in other areas. The Assiniboine Community College in Manitoba is seeking funding approval for a two-year diploma program in Business Computing. The program will be offered jointly by the Business and Tourism Division and the Information Technologies Division. In addition, colleges are involved in conferences connected to e-commerce, either as hosts, presenters, or participants. (AUTH/NB)

The 25 colleges of Ontario's Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology have strategic directions built upon new programs services, accessible diverse learning options, state-of-the-art learning technology, innovative alliances with business and education, and inter-institutional resource sharing. Yet the implementation of these strategic directions must vary according to the students, regional communities, and markets being served. The colleges, which were founded in 1965, have always been connected directly to the world of work, but that world has changed dramatically in the intervening years. Only 44% of the colleges' students came directly from high school, and their average age is 26. Per student grants have decreased from over $5,000 per student to under $3,000, while tuition has increased 109%. As a result, there is a call for a new charter for the 21st century. The paper estimates that there will be a 21% enrollment increase (30,000 students). It asks: What will be the role of colleges in the new knowledge economy by 2010? What will students require to thrive in the knowledge economy? What changes are required? And What prevents/constrains the Colleges from reaching the goal? The paper suggests that these prompts be used to encourage discussion and written submissions. (NB)

In this document, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) reports on the state of technical education in Europe, the United States, and Canada. It states that technical colleges are emerging as key institutions in technology-based education to fill industry requirement for more highly skilled and technically proficient workers. In France, the number of students entering programs to train higher technicians increased 150% between 1980 and 1992. Enrollments in higher technical education in the Netherlands increased by 40% between 1980 and 1990. The structure of educational systems varies dramatically across OECD member nations, and the missions and objectives of the institutions are not always the same. Nonetheless, they are all educating students to a level of technical education that succeeds compulsory education and precedes the baccalaureate degree. Nearly every technical college system was formulated or has been reformulated to serve both the student bodies and regional economies. In a 1995 survey of 100 United States colleges, 90% of respondents referenced economic development or modernization services in their mission statement. Colleges in OECD member nations are forming alliances with industry, economic development agencies, and with other colleges as well. The author concludes that the trend seems to be toward a more expansive role for colleges. (NB)

This report discusses the differences between universities and business institutions and why they are different in handling their affairs. The premise of the report is that public universities must become more transparent if they are to receive adequate support from interested parties. Five main areas are discussed in a comparative assessment between these types of organizations. The first asks why universities rarely set specific goals toward which progress can be measured. The second concerns the problems and limited progress universities have made in measuring output and enhancing efficiency in teaching and research. Third is the role of competition in improving research and graduate teaching compared with the relatively weak competitive forces leading to improved undergraduate programs. The fourth area examines the reasons for complex committee structures, widely dispersed authority, and requirements for effective leadership. Finally, the paper examines some of the much-criticized features of academic appointments such as tenure, sabbaticals, irregular hours, and perceived high level of freedom. Contains 12 references. (GLR)