Proper testing the key to improving poor educational results of Atlantic Canadians
Study affirms validity of student testing in measuring progress and holding schools accountable for results
Testing and Accountability
Accountability, not money, is the key to improved student performance say the authors of AIMS’ report “Testing & Accountability: The Keys to Educational Excellence in Atlantic Canada" It is clear that taxpayers, and the students they help support, are getting less for their investment in education than they deserve and certainly less than their counterparts in some other provinces.
ATLANTICA – A Cross-Border Partnership for the Future
It makes sense for us, their biggest trading partner and closest ally, to work with [the U.S.]… This was the theme in an address by AIMS President, Brian Lee Crowley, AIMS Senior Fellow, Michael J. MacDonald, and Perry Newman, former Director of International Trade to the state of Maine and current President of the Atlantica Group of Portland, Maine, to the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee studying North American Integration. The presentation introduced the Committee to AIMS’ “Atlantica Initiative” and explained the benefits of re-discovering and fostering the region’s historical north-south economic ties which North American free trade has begun to reinvigorate. In their comments to the Committee, Messrs. Crowley, MacDonald and Newman also underlined how the post-11 September climate opens up possibilities for closer collaboration on security issues. The Atlantica region could be the scene of numerous pilot projects, including at the Port of Halifax and the region’s airports, as we
Standardized exams: the test of a good school
New Brunswick recently released school-by-school test results for core curriculum areas. But parents and students in Nova Scotia, Newfoundland & Labrador, and Prince Edward Island get no such regular reporting of objective test-based information on the quality of their schools. In this column AIMS President, Brian Lee Crowley, says it is time to ask why not. Crowley demonstrates that the common criticisms about standardised tests do not stand up to critical evaluation. Where the responses of students are assessed in an objective manner and the items on the test are designed to measure the core objectives of a course in a way that is consistent and fair for all students in the province, then the information collected can provide a powerful tool for accountability and improved system management. That's good for parents, teachers, employers, post-secondary institutions and, above all, students. Isn't that what the schools are supposed to be about? Publication: CHH, February 27, 2002
AIMS talks about Atlantica with Commons Committee
Three key players in AIMS’ Atlantica project met with the House of Commons Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade to discuss the concept of Atlantica and its importance to this region and the country as a whole.
AIMS On-Line for the end of February 2002
Here is what's new at AIMS, Atlantic Canada's Public Policy Think Tank