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In October 2022, New Brunswick Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development Dominic Cardy publicly resigned and widely disclosed his disappointment with Premier Blaine Higgs' leadership. Using Cardy's unprecedented public resignation letter as a primary source, this paper explores the inner workings of neoliberal governance and privatization in public education and critically analyzes data manipulation, governance shifts, and problematic conservative "hands-offism." Applying a rhizomatic methodological framing and theoretically drawing from Bourdieu and Passeron's (1977) conceptualization of symbolic violence and Gilmore's (2008) notion of "organized abandonment," we argue that neoliberal governance and privatization disproportionately affect vulnerable communities and weaken democratic processes. To understand these complexities, we utilize a rhizomatic analysis, simultaneously considering historical and geographical contexts, governance structures, and political narratives. We conclude that neoliberal governance and privatization are inherently symbolically violent, as they are used in tandem to perpetually defund and dismantle public institutions.

Although trajectories of youth volunteering were disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, nevertheless some youth persisted in volunteering, and others emerged as volunteers. To understand volunteering trajectories, the present mixed method study proposed a model adapted from prior literature and examined volunteer trajectories during the pandemic. Youths' volunteer trajectories were categorized (as persistent, emergent, or former volunteer, or persistent non-volunteer), and their justifications for their volunteer decisions were classified using social domain theory (personal, social, moral, and prudential). A sample of 461 youth (M[subscript age] = 19.26; 68.8% female; 41.6% European or North American) from a large Canadian university completed a retrospective survey on pandemic volunteering and volunteer decisions. Volunteer decisions were coded using conventional and directed qualitative content analysis. Although the pandemic disrupted the volunteering trajectories of former volunteers, overall, more youth persisted or emerged as volunteers during the pandemic, a finding framed in both the trajectory and emergency and disaster literature. Volunteers were more likely to use "moral" justifications, whereas "prudential" justifications were more frequent among non-volunteers. The present study offers insight into the impact of the pandemic on youth volunteering and is one of the first studies to find a substantive role for prudential reasoning in youth decision making.

Currently there is a severe lack of research on autism and Indigenous people in Canada. This scoping review explores this literature gap and assesses the same literature from an Indigenous perspective. Scoping reviews are an effective means to explore the literature in a specific area, in this case, autism and Indigenous people in Canada. We explored existing literature as it pertains to Indigenous populations and autism in Canada. To support this review, the Indigenous Quality Assessment Tool (QAT) was adapted to appraise the quality of literature. In total, there were a total of 212 articles identified of which 24 met the inclusion criteria: (1) some focus on autism, (2) a component specific to Indigenous people, and (3) specific to Canada. Of the 24 articles and reports, 15 were peer-reviewed and the rest considered grey literature. Most articles focused on program delivery with some literature using primary data (quantitative and/or qualitative). Overall, the quality of the research was appraised as poor, as determined by the QAT. Findings reaffirm the critical need for research that addresses autism in Indigenous communities within Canada and show the importance of having research done in full partnership with, or led by, Indigenous people.

Qualities of effective teachers matter because teachers are the number one school-related factor that impacts on student achievement. Although researchers in the United States have studied frameworks for evaluating teacher effectiveness, these frameworks are not focused on teachers working in international schools. Thus, they may not reflect the importance of understanding both the context of working in intercultural settings and the skills that allow teachers to flourish in international schools. Using a systematic configurative synthesis review of 23 studies, this study identifies qualities of effective teachers working in international schools through a synthesis of the study findings. We identified four key attributes that are emphasized, if not unique, in international school effective teacher research: a focus on teacher collaboration and teacher leadership; cultural awareness and responsiveness from multi-national perspectives; and host country language acquisition. Overall, we find that a focus on what makes an effective international school teacher is lacking in the extant research, particularly given the predicted enormous growth of international schools.

Textbooks used in MSW Direct Practice courses in Canada were analyzed using Critical Discourse Analysis, with a particular focus on content related to social work relationships. Positive aspects of relationships were discussed in more depth than negative aspects, little information about boundaries and confidentiality was found, and there was a decided lack of depth in content. The study highlighted the need for more depth in teaching about relationships in social work practice. Recommendations for adding more depth are included.

With their increasing popularity, there is a need for more research clarifying the potential strengths and weaknesses of the comic format for education. The panelled comic format may be particularly effective for educating adults on the scientific aspects of processes (sequences of events, occurring over time, in a series of discrete steps). We tested change in performance in adults (n = 879) in correctly ordering the stages in four processes before and after being exposed to educational material about these processes. The material was presented in a random selection of one of seven experimentally manipulated formats based on characteristics of comic books. Overall, participant performance improved after seeing the educational material. There were significant differences in learning between the processes, suggesting that the benefits, or detriments, of the comic format may be subject-specific. Performance was significantly better when images were subdivided into panels, and worse when an explanatory agent (character) was included, though these differences in performance did not survive adjustment for multiple comparisons. This study presents some evidence that the panelled nature of the comic format supports learning about scientific processes in adults. Given results differed notably between the specific topics to be learned, there is substantial scope for further investigation.

In response to calls to revisit the engagement of students in academic development, the authors -- an educational development consultant and a graduate student -- share the findings of a nation-wide study which explored how Canadian teaching and learning centres (TLCs) partner with graduate students in academic development (AD). This paper highlights the benefits and challenges identified by the participants and draws on students-as-partners (SaP) literature to frame the recommendations and lessons learned about how to engage graduate students meaningfully and ethically in AD activities. We share pragmatic strategies while emphasizing the importance of aligning partnerships with the SaP principles of respect, reciprocity, and responsibility.

Based on the concept of Communities of Practice (CoP), this study describes the design and implementation of an online academic conference, Pedagogy and Practice in Technology Enhanced Language Learning (PPTELL) 2021, as a backdrop for exploring how to effectively promote the development of academic citizenship within the PPTELL CoP. To address this, we propose a framework focusing on four interrelated and interdependent dimensions: ubiquitous technologies, social practice, knowledge building, and academic citizenship. The conference utilized Zoom, Second Life, Slido, and several social media apps for various sessions and activities. A triangulation design was employed to analyze data from a post-conference online survey and observation notes. Our findings highlighted the effectiveness of the design in fostering academic citizenship, supported by multiuser virtual worlds like Second Life that enabled social engagement and knowledge building. We also discuss potential solutions to the challenges encountered, taking into account the nature of academic and higher education environments today.

In response to a growing need for graduate students and postdoctoral scholars to strengthen their teaching and learning skills, our university recently established innovative certificate programs that purposively incorporate experiential learning opportunities for deeper growth and development. Drawing on prior research and local needs assessments, we developed programs aimed to meet the identified needs of graduate students and postdoctoral scholars. In this paper we describe how we planned, developed, and implemented these new certificate programs to engage graduate students and postdoctoral scholars from across our institution. Further, we discuss how these programs provide experiential learning opportunities for all participants. [Articles in this journal were presented at the University of Calgary Conference on Postsecondary Learning and Teaching.]

Career development learning has a demonstrable positive impact on the graduate employability of higher education learners. This is particularly the case if it is integrated into the curriculum rather than experienced as an add-on or included in finite curriculum elements. However, integration of career development learning into curriculum is a significant and challenging undertaking in course design, and also in facilitation of learning experiences. Academics manage crowded curricula in their disciplinary areas, and many also have external course accreditation requirements to deal with that may not include career development elements. In many institutions there is mixed understanding of what career development learning entails, no clear top-level strategic support, and unprecedented numbers of enrolled students across digital and on-campus provision. This article explores challenges and opportunities in integrating career development learning into curriculum in higher education, and identifies effective strategies for doing so at institutional, school, and program levels. It draws upon case studies comprising more than 30 interviews across nine universities in Australia and internationally, exploring how cross-disciplinary collaboration between career development practitioners, learning and curriculum designers, and academic units can be effective in enacting curricular career development learning at scale. The article suggests strategies for institutional leaders, academics, and careers practitioners in higher education insitutions at different stages in the curricular career development learning journey.

We are four racialized diasporic Muslim women living on Turtle Island, with roots spanning India, Palestine, Panama, Trinidad, Malaysia, and beyond. We have been involved in activism and organizing, including with and for Muslim communities, for more than five decades combined. Our conversations and correspondence about Muslim pedagogies of solidarity provoked individual and collective reflection about what it means to create and sustain community. We were made in community and have made communities intentionally with others, Muslim or otherwise, who allow us to be more fully human. We are guided by Islamic teachings, as well teachings of justice and liberation rooted in different knowledge traditions. We are shaped too by the knowledge and ways of knowing offered by radical Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour engaged in the collective struggle for freedom on Turtle Island and in the wider world. As Muslims, we are called "to come to know one another" (Qur'an, 49:13, as cited in Nasr et al., 2015). We suggest that to do so requires us to confront patterns of internalized domination and internalized subordination that prevent us from being with and for one another. Such confrontation enables us to work collectively to dismantle interlocking systems of oppression that prevent us from being more fully human. In this multivocal reflective essay, we explore the relationship between community and solidarity by delving into our memories of ummah, Muslim community, our evolving understandings of ummah, and the relational solidarity that is necessary to establish ummah. A thread that weaves together our memories and visions of ummah is the ancient and futuristic practice of mothering.

School leadership teams are struggling with student disengagement and how to support educators in their efforts to increase student engagement. As the Assistant Superintendent of Turtle Mountain School Division (TMSD), I want educators to self-evaluate their educational practice and make changes to ensure that their teaching is supported by current research. A group of ten teachers who have engaging classroom practices completed a questionnaire about their thoughts on student engagement: what it is, what they do to engage students, how they know that students are engaged, and what they describe as the key ingredients for encouraging student engagement. The teachers created a definition of student engagement, and five themes of how to nurture student engagement emerged: building relationships, creating a safe classroom culture, providing opportunity for student choice, differentiating instruction, and having high expectations of their students. The findings of the questionnaire will be used as a part of a divisional mentorship program for new teachers.

Most language experiences take place at the level of multiple sentences. However, previous studies of second language (L2) comprehension have typically focused on lexical- and sentence-level processing. Our study addresses this gap by examining auditory discourse comprehension in 32 English/French bilinguals. We tested the prediction of the noisy channel model (Futrell & Gibson, 2017) that bilinguals will rely more on top-down, discourse-level cues in L2 because these are common across languages, as opposed to the language-specific associations of an often weaker L2. We further hypothesized that these effects could be influenced by individual differences, such that participants with lower L2 proficiency or working memory would have more difficulty building and maintaining discourse context. Specifically, we measured the N400 response, an index of automatic semantic processing. Participants heard three-sentence stories with prime and target words in the final sentence whose lexical association was manipulated, as was the congruence of the target with the preceding discourse. Overall, our results support the noisy channel model of language comprehension in a sample of highly proficient bilinguals. We observed larger N400 effects of discourse congruence than lexical association, and the difference between these 2 conditions was greater in the L2 than in the L1. Additionally, the effects of lexical association were limited to the L1 and predicted by individual differences in language dominance but not working memory. These findings suggest that bilinguals do indeed make greater use of top-down, supralinguistic information in their L2 compared with their L1.

Each year, World Vision and AusAID devote substantial resources to their educational programs. These initiatives include the production and dissemination of Global Education related instructional materials and the provision of professional learning for teachers. Given the substantial funds involved, it is important that we evaluate the effectiveness of such initiatives. Are they for example enhancing students' knowledge and understanding of global issues? Do they have a positive impact on attitudes and values of students? Do they enhance students' sense of self or personal identity? Do they make students more predisposed to support programs that seek to alleviate poverty in developing countries? And, do they promote active and informed global citizenship? The purpose of this study is to investigate how the study of Global Education impacts student knowledge, understanding, attitudes and values. The research reported here explores student attitudes and values using quantitative data extracted from a total of 521 pre- and post- questionnaires. The authors will discuss that, despite the anticipated positive effect of the Global Education program, the results revealed an element of intolerance in the students' responses.

Postdoctoral scholars are important members of the research community who make substantial contributions to research productivity. Three postdoctoral scholars at a Teaching and Learning Institute in Canada engaged in collaborative self-study to explore our initial experiences as postdoctoral scholars in the emerging fields of academic development and SoTL. This self-study reveals some of the challenges of integrating into the academic development world within the liminal space in which postdoctoral scholars generally exist. While postdoctoral scholars offer significant opportunities to increase research in teaching and learning, their roles in academic development and SoTL require further conceptualizing to ensure their success.

This paper focuses on the gendered nature of elite academic careers. Of interest is how similar or different the experiences are of women and men who have been appointed to Canada Research Chairs (CRCs). In particular, we examine the impacts of holding a CRC position and consider the factors that shape that experience for women and men. Based on interviews with 60 CRCs, we find that when women and men are given similar opportunities, their experiences are more alike than different. Where differences arise, these are often related to the experience of status/prestige associated with the CRC, and to family care responsibilities. Using expectation states theory, we demonstrate that when women are equal to men, the significance of gender as a determinant of the academic experience is diminished. (Contains 2 tables and 1 note.)

This paper examines the role of influencers in Canadian high school student decisions to pursue Information and Communications Technology (ICT) careers and education. With growing rates of retirements of ICT workers expected over the next 10-15 years, industry representatives are concerned that the shortfall in replacement workers will have a significant detrimental impact on business. Various authors and panels have cited the need to attract more high school students to enroll in ICT post secondary programs. However, what is not clear is how or why students make decisions to pursue ICT in university and as a career. This paper examines the various influencers that affect students' decisions to choose an ICT education and career. As part of an ongoing program this paper presents the results of three surveys--with responses from 111 Canadian guidance counsellors, 141 ICT university students and 1335 first year business and IT management students. The survey findings suggest that parents are the strongest influencers and guidance counsellors are the weakest influencers. To achieve any significant improvement in the numbers of students choosing ICT careers, it is recommended that ICT industry representatives must speak directly with students and their parents. The survey results do suggest that students are attracted by the relatively high income potential of ICT careers and the entry to a business environment that ICT skills provide. Further, guidance counsellors see math and science subjects as much more important for success in an ICT career than do students.

In 2007 the Cancer Care Ontario Hepatobiliary-Pancreatic (HPB) Community of Practice was formed during the wake of provincial regionalization of HPB services in Ontario, Canada. Despite being conceptualized within the literature as an educational intervention, communities of practice (CoP) are increasingly being adopted in healthcare as quality improvement initiatives. A qualitative case study approach using in-depth interviews and document analysis was employed to gain insight into the perceptions and attitudes of the HPB surgeons in the CoP. This study demonstrates how an engineered formal or idealized structure of a CoP was created in tension with the natural CoPs that HPB surgeons identified with during and after their training. This tension contributed to the inactive and/or marginal participation by some of the surgeons in the CoP. The findings of this study represent a cautionary tale for such future engineering attempts in two distinct ways: (1) a CoP in surgery cannot simply be created by regulatory agencies, rather they need to be supported in a way to evolve naturally, and (2) when the concept of CoPs is co-opted by governing bodies, it does not necessarily capture the power and potential of situated learning. To ensure CoP sustainability and effectiveness, we suggest that both core and peripheral members need to be more directly involved at the inception of the COP in terms of design, organization, implementation and ongoing management.

The relationship between mindfulness, attention, and well-being is well established. In the field of education, mindfulness programs often focus on teaching children ways of coping with attentional and emotional difficulties. Mindfulness practices are also valued for teachers, and being a mindful teacher impacts the classroom environment. The nature of mindfulness and teaching is complex, involving individuals and relationships, and highly subjective. This article shares the voices of two teachers with established mindfulness practices. Through their mindfulness practice, they showed high levels of social and emotional competence and responsive, dialectical, non-judgmental, and self-regulating qualities.

We report on three approaches taken to incorporate collaborative activities into undergraduate mathematics classes. There is strong evidence from research in K-12 classrooms that these, and similar, approaches support a range of positive learning outcomes for students. Despite the potential benefits the cited studies have shown, research into the use of such methods at the tertiary level is limited. We describe the ways in which we have implemented research projects, collaborative tutorials, and team-based learning in a range of undergraduate mathematics classes in two countries. We present quantitative and qualitative evidence from these teaching experiences to support our claim that there is a definite mandate for significant opportunities within our courses for students to work cooperatively, talk together, and argue about mathematics.

The effect of critical incidents on school principals has been marginally investigated. Principal leadership has many pleasures, but it is often replete with problematic circumstances. The skilled school-based leader requires rationality and diplomacy to manage conflict successfully. This study examined the perceived effects of a critical incident, the closure of their school, on the professional and personal lives of principals. The investigation employed a narrative analysis approach in the Province of British Columbia, Canada. Narratives from two superintendents and six principals generated the evidence used to study the professional and personal complications associated with a principal living through a school closure. The investigation generated understandings of the impact of this critical event. Principals were aware of their precarious position of having dual allegiances to both district and school community. The emotionally-charged environment manifested professional and personal concerns, anxieties and resultant health concerns in the life of the school leader. The study provides publics affected by a school closure with understandings and knowledge regarding communication issues and approaches in closure considerations. Principals benefit from both enhanced discourse and administrative practices. School districts profit from in-depth perspectives and improved preparedness for critical events.

Pandemic-related pressures and responsibilities increase the likelihood of burnout for all health care professionals. The consequences of burnout are significant, as it has been linked to high anxiety, increased turnover, decreased employee morale, higher absenteeism, and lower quality of service. To date, most research explores burnout's relationship with these variables in isolation. This study explores the anxiety, burnout, and employee engagement relationships among community pharmacists during the global pandemic. Pharmacists in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan completed an online questionnaire that asked questions related to their levels of anxiety, burnout, and work engagement among other control variables. The relationships among the variables were explored via SPSS and the moderation and mediation PROCESS macro. The findings suggest that burnout fully mediates the anxiety and employee engagement relationship, suggesting that anxiety alone is not enough to reduce employee engagement. The results confirm burnout's relationship with anxiety and lack of engagement and provide a more specific understanding of burnout's antecedents and consequences, offering important insight for academics and practitioners. Due to the positive implications of eliminating burnout and the importance of employee engagement to organisational performance, managers should seek to reduce workplace stress to avoid burnout and disengagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The Indian residential school system in Canada was established to assimilate Aboriginal children into mainstream society by removing the "Indian within them." In the past 20 years survivors of the schools have come forward with stories of physical and sexual abuse perpetrated against them by staff. However, what is significantly less spoken of is the abuse which occurred between students. The Aboriginal Healing Foundation recently held a small gathering of survivors, Elders, advocates, and researchers to discuss ways to bring this issue into the open. This article comes out of the discussions held at the gathering. Within the article we offer a conceptualization of the dynamics and processes of student to student abuse within the Indian residential schools in Canada with the hope that it will encourage a deeper discussion of this issue.

An important part of training the next generation of physicians is ensuring that they are exposed to the integral role that research plays in improving medical treatment. However, medical students often do not have sufficient time to be trained to carry out any projects in biomedical and clinical research. Many medical students also fail to understand and grasp translational research as an important concept today. In addition, since medical training is often an international affair whereby a medical student/resident/fellow will likely train in many different countries during his/her early training years, it is important to provide a learning environment whereby a young medical student experiences the unique challenges and value of an international educational experience. This article describes a program that bridges the gap between the basic and clinical research concepts in a unique international educational experience. After completing two semester curricula at Alfaisal University in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, six medical students undertook a summer program at St. Boniface Hospital Research Centre, in Winnipeg, MB, Canada. The program lasted for 2 mo and addressed advanced training in basic science research topics in medicine such as cell isolation, functional assessment, and molecular techniques of analysis and manipulation as well as sessions on the conduct of clinical research trials, ethics, and intellectual property management. Programs such as these are essential to provide a base from which medical students can decide if research is an attractive career choice for them during their clinical practice in subsequent years. An innovative international summer research course for medical students is necessary to cater to the needs of the medical students in the 21st century. (Contains 4 tables.)

This article examines the experiences of seven teacher educators who met monthly over one academic year to engage in a collaborative self-study focused on exploring the text, "Developing a Pedagogy of Teacher Education: Understanding Teaching and Learning about Teaching." Through reflective discussion focused on relating the text to our practices, we enhanced understandings of ourselves, one another, our students, and our teacher education program. Description and analysis are provided through two frameworks. First, we detail our engagement in authentic conversations about our tensions, documenting how we negotiated the same six tensions as teacher educators and in learning about teaching teachers through collaborative self-study. Next, we illustrate how exemplifying the key characteristics of effective professional learning community groups supported our collaborative exploration. We also detail how we moved increasingly beyond book-study to focus on our context-specific needs and co-construct possibilities for the future. Implications of considerations in forming a collaborative self-study group are identified.

This study examined factors related to reading comprehension in adolescents who spoke English as a first language (L1) and English as a second language (L2). Measures of decoding, vocabulary knowledge, and reading comprehension were administered to 31 L1 and 44 L2 speakers. English L2 adolescents scored significantly lower than their L1 peers on all measures. Factor analyses produced different configurations of variables for each group. For L1 learners, measures of decoding and vocabulary were separate factors but were one factor for English L2 learners. For the L1 learners, it was only the measure of vocabulary that was a significant predictor of reading comprehension. For L2 learners, decoding, vocabulary, and the interaction of decoding and vocabulary were all significant predictors of reading comprehension. Relations among these variables in adolescents who are beginning to learn English as an L2 are explored. (Contains 6 tables.)

There continues to be resistance amongst the various healthcare professions regarding implementing an interprofessional agenda in practice and education settings. This partly is due to the protection of professional turf. This article describes the experiences of Canadian social work students participating in an interprofessional field education program with other healthcare students. The authors report what the social work students gained from the experience and what they were able to contribute to other healthcare students. The authors conclude that interprofessional education and practice enhances rather than threatens the role of social work in healthcare settings.

This paper focuses on one teacher team and the university facilitators who supported their collaborative action research within a province-wide professional development initiative designed by the provincial elementary teacher union to bring together teachers and university faculty in teacher-directed action research. The paper is collaboratively written by three teachers, their principal, two university facilitators, and the teacher union's director of the project. We identify the principal's and university facilitators' involvement as important contributors to the success of the initiative, but underline the significance of the research as being teacher-led and collaborative with funding for release days as features that follow the democratic principles of teacher autonomy and equality to support teachers' professional learning for change. The success of the initiative, "Teachers Learning Together", is exemplified by a report of one team's research methods and findings. (Contains 1 table.)

Drawing on 60 qualitative interviews with Canada research chairs (CRCs), we explore their careers in context. We develop a model to understand the intersection of individual and institutional factors that shape the everyday experiences of the CRCs. The model shows the dialectical relationship between faculty identity, research, relations with colleagues and students, and institutional practices and structures. We classify individuals' experiences as "good," "bad," or "ugly." The interviews show that while a majority of CRCs have a positive experience, others have a negative experience that is prone to becoming ugly when institutional practices and systemic factors impede the work of the CRC. We discuss the perceived problems with the CRC program from the standpoint of Chairholders, and the implications of our findings for the CRC program and universities. As well, we propose that additional research on the professoriate is needed to determine whether or not the model from our study is generalizable beyond our sample.

In this paper, we examine the factors that influence the reputation or prestige of universities. We first develop a model of university behaviour which indicates how the decisions made by university officials would be chosen in order to maximize their respective reputations. In doing so, we assume that reputation is enhanced by the quality of students produced, the caliber of research and the service provided to the community in terms of the provision of publicly funded education services. We argue that the relative weights placed on these intermediate outputs may vary by university type as well as the means of producing them. Using the results of the reputational survey--a ranking of the institution in terms of reputation--conducted as part of the Canadian magazine "Maclean's" overall ranking exercise, we then estimate an Error Correction-Ordered Probit Model of the rankings of Canadian universities to determine the factors that influence the change in reputation or "prestige" of the university as viewed by the external community. We find evidence that the change in reputation of a university is based on what might be considered the appropriate "signals" that one might use in estimating the respective quality of the institution given the respective differences in mission. (Contains 5 tables.)

Prediction effect sizes such as ROC area are important for demonstrating a risk assessment's generalizability and utility. How a study defines recidivism might affect predictive accuracy. Nonrecidivism is problematic when predicting specialized violence (e.g., domestic violence). The present study cross-validates the ability of the Ontario Domestic Assault Risk Assessment (ODARA) to distinguish subsequent recidivists and nonrecidivists among 391 new cases with less extensive criminal records than previous cross-validation samples, base rate = 27%, ROC area = 0.67. Excluding ambiguous nonrecidivists increases the base rate to 33%, ROC area = 0.74. Random samples of 50 recidivists and 50 unambiguous nonrecidivists yield ROC areas from 0.71 to 0.80. Published norms significantly underestimate official recidivism. Ambiguous nonrecidivism is prevalent and leads to underestimating base rates and predictive accuracy. (Contains 1 table, 1 figure, and 2 notes.)

The climate of domestic drug policy in the United States as it pertains to both women and men at the beginning of the 21st century is the criminalization mode of regulation--a mode that is based on the model of addiction as a crime and one that is used to prohibit the use of illegal drugs. In Canada, drug policy is based mainly on the harm reduction model, a policy or program directed towards decreasing the adverse health, social, and economic consequences of drug abuse without requiring abstinence from such use. Using a comparative perspective, several issues are examined in this article: the prevalence of substance abuse between the two countries, the significance of gender and substance abuse, drug costs relative to both countries, the prevalence of crime and substance abuse, and domestic drug control policies.

This study reports the results of a five-year follow-up survey of private-pay outdoor behavioral healthcare (OBH) programs operating in the United States and Canada. A total of 65 of 102 programs identified as meeting certain characteristics responded to the survey and identified themselves as an OBH program that utilizes a clinical treatment model that primarily uses wilderness expeditions. The goal of the study was to determine industry trends by comparing the results of this study to results generated in a 2001 survey of OBH programs. An additional goal of the study was to discuss the findings in the context of recent reports on OBH and related programs concerning program management and practice. Key findings indicate that the number of OBH programs operating appears to have increased since 2001, and that the clear majority of these programs are state-licensed and half are accredited. Family involvement in programming has decreased, as has the number of families receiving co-pay to help alleviate the costs of treatment. Field instructor training and qualifications, supervision, and oversight of daily treatment and program operation, and drug detoxification practices at admission are all issues that warrant further investigation. A conclusion is made that care should be taken by policy makers and others when making broad generalizations that implicate all OBH treatment programs, when it appears that most programs are licensed, have licensed clinicians on staff, and adhere to best practices in treatment as identified by a variety of agency and association standards.

Despite the unique adjustment challenges facing international students' spouses, little research has focused on their adjustment experiences or their programming needs. Understanding the adjustment of these individuals is important both in itself and because spouses play a key role in the adjustment and academic success of international students. Because women make up the vast majority of accompanying spouses, two needs assessments were conducted to explore their particular adjustment experiences and gather information relevant to program development. Hypotheses regarding the impact of conational group size on adjustment were tested as well. Seventy-six wives of international graduate students at a midsized Western Canadian university completed a questionnaire. Results suggest these women are highly educated professionals who face a variety of unique cultural and situational adjustment issues. Overall, their preference is for programming with a professional development focus. Unexpectedly, few differences based on conational group size were found. Research implications for service providers and researchers are discussed. (Contains 2 tables and 4 notes.)

This study evaluated the concurrent validity of estimated Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scales-Third Edition (WAIS-III) index scores using various one- and two-subtest combinations. Participants were the Canadian WAIS-III standardization sample. Using all possible one- and two-subtest combinations, an estimated Verbal Comprehension Index (VCI), an estimated Perceptual Organization Index (POI), and an estimated Working Memory Index (WMI) were generated by prorating relevant subtest scores. As expected, two-subtest short forms were consistently more accurate than one-subtest short forms. Agreement between short-form and full-form index scores was high for two-subtest combinations (range = 88% to 96%) but only moderate with one subtest (range = 62% to 79%). Accuracy did not vary by age, ethnicity, gender, or education. However, accuracy was lowest for index scores in the high average to very superior range. These results suggest that although some two-subtest short forms are useful for estimating VCI, POI, and WMI scores, one-subtest short forms should not be used for this purpose. (Contains 6 tables.)

Exposure to print is a significant predictor of vocabulary growth and declarative knowledge in normally achieving readers (Stanovich, West, & Harrison, 1995). Research has also shown that initial differences in print exposure can be used to predict differences in reading comprehension in children studied ten years after initial assessment (Cunningham & Stanovich, 1997). The present study seeks to broaden this research by using print exposure to explore similarities and differences in both reading comprehension and vocabulary in a sample of students with well-documented learning disabilities in the area of reading (RD), and a control group without reading disabilities. Print exposure was related to untimed reading comprehension scores and vocabulary scores for the students with RD and to timed comprehension scores and vocabulary scores for the control group. (Contains 5 tables.)

Increasing numbers of Canadians are removed from contact with nature and environmental degradation is increasing, yet the Ontario government is cutting funding for environmental and outdoor education in the public school system. Statements by scientists, educators, authors, government officials, and environmentalists note the importance of instilling environmental awareness in children, and of public education's role in that regard. (TD)