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It is back to school season!

Date:

September 5, 2022

It is back to school season!

Filed under: virtual school — Michael K. Barbour @ 8:09 pm
Tags: Canada, cyber school, education, high school, Ontario, People for Education, virtual school

An item from this Ontario-based general education program that may be of interest to Canadian readers.

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Dear public education supporter,

It is back to school season. And this year, despite the fact that the pandemic is absolutely not over, there is hope that students and staff in our schools will be able to focus more on learning, on relationships, and on everyone’s overall well-being.

But to do that, schools require real plans and substantial resources.

We’ve been looking at back-to-school plans and policies across Canada, few of which have been updated since last year, and we are concerned about the lack of vision, guidelines, and funding being offered to respond to the educational impact of COVID-19 and to plan for the future.

We understand that responsibility for education lies in the hands of provinces and territories, but there is a role the federal government can play. For that reason, we support the recommendation from the Canadian Teachers’ Federation that Canada establish a Federal Advisory Table on Public Education and extend funding to provinces, territories, and First Nations with a multi-billion-dollar, multi-year Education Recovery Fund to support planning, evidence-gathering, assessments, increased numbers of staff, and vital resources.

There are nearly 6 million students in publicly funded schools across the country. The pandemic exposed deep cracks in our systems and amplified long-standing inequities. This year at People for Education, we’re going to work hard to bring more people in to the vital conversation about how we can build a better future through better public education. We hope you’ll join us.

Annie Kidder

What does the research say about tutoring programs?

imageSome provinces and territories, including Ontario, have provided funding for tutoring programs. But does tutoring really make a difference? According to researchers, it depends – on quality, frequency, and links to curriculum.

People for Education did a scan of the research about tutoring and found 3 main factors that can make tutoring effective:

  1. Tutoring is provided at least 3 days per week for at least 30 minutes, as part of the regular school day, in groups of 5 or fewer.
  1. Tutors are either classroom teachers, paraprofessional staff, teacher candidates enrolled in preparation programs, or well-trained and paid tutors.
  1. Programs build relationships among students, tutors, and teachers through structured time and alignment with regular classroom curriculum.

Funding for tutoring programs in Ontario will run out in December, but in the August throne speech, the province announced that parents would be receiving an additional $225 million in direct payments over the next two years to “help kids catch up.” Many critics argue that nearly half a billion dollars in time-limited funding for tutoring programs and direct payments to parents might be better spent on overall supports for students.

Read more 

Democratic life and the generational impact of school closures

by Vijai Kumar and Sabreena Delhon, Samara Centre for Democracy

A new article in the Conversation argues that we’re not paying enough attention to the long-term impact that school closures could have on our democracy. According to Vijai Kumar and Sabreena Delhon from the Samara Centre for Democracy, “Enabling this generation’s active citizenship through their right to education serves both our democracy and the Canadian project. We must not allow this learning loss to become our civic loss.

Read more 

Education in the news

PFE’s team has grown

imagePeople for Education is excited to welcome back Kate Blair Hagerman (from her maternity leave!).

Kate is the Manager of Evaluation and Improvement. She has focused her career on critically and collaboratively exploring big questions related to access and retention in education, and opportunities for lifelong learning. Kate is committed to using evaluation to measure and understand impact, and to create spaces to continuously reflect, learn and plan using evidence.

In her spare time, Kate enjoys being outside with her husband, son and dog and designing spaces in their home.

Kate holds a Master’s degree from the University of Western Ontario where her thesis focused on the educational transitions of d/Deaf youth in Ontario.

PFE Recommends

This month’s PFE Recommends comes from Jennifer Pearson.

image“Though written over 10 years ago, in a world without COVID-19, Rick Salutin’s Keeping the Public in Public Education remains an important read, not only for advocates in education, but systems thinkers across sectors and societies. Keeping the Public in Public Education is a concise history of the rise and fall and the rise again of privatization, and capitalization in public systems. It is an important reminder that public education “was never public enough” and that much repair and reparation is required to transform Canada’s education systems into truly equitable, anti-racist institutions. As we head back into public schools this month, Saultin’s essay simultaneously reminds us of public education’s fragility and significance:  

Canadians have tended to define ourselves as a society in terms of public health care, and that is an achievement to take pride in. But public education is an accomplishment on a different level. Health care is biological; it’s about survival on a physical level, and it’s similar for people everywhere. Education is more specific and social. It’s how we define the way we are, not simply that we are.”

Public education—when it is functioning at its best—is the path to success for Canada’s children and young people, and for our future as a country. You can support our work by donating now using the form below or clicking here.

Our donors fuel the work we do. Learn more about them here. 

Donate Now

Follow us for more regular updates on education policy and research

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