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  December 5, 2006


BC Progress Board Releases Discussion Paper on Public Education in British Columbia

Vancouver, BC - The BC Progress Board released a discussion paper today on public education in British Columbia. The paper, "Working Together to Improve Performance: Preparing BC's Public Education System for the Future", examines BC's public education system and provides six positive suggestions for change. The report was prepared for the Progress Board by Dr. Charles Jago, CM, former President of the University of Northern British Columbia.

"From its inception, the Progress Board has recognized the importance of the provincial education system in building a civil society and providing a solid foundation for British Columbia's economy", stated David Black, Chair of the BC Progress Board and President of Victoria-based Black Press Ltd. "Though BC's public education system has positive results overall, the six year completion rate appears to have stalled and there is a high degree of variability in student outcomes across the province", Black noted.

  • In 2004/05, the six year high school completion rate in British Columbia stood at 79 percent, unchanged from 2003/04, but up from 76 percent in 2001/02. Results show considerable variability district to district and in sub-populations such as Aboriginal versus non-Aboriginal and female versus male.

  • Provincial foundation skills assessment (FSA) testing also shows considerable variability in outcomes between districts and across sub-populations.

  • In contrast to highly variable completion and FSA test results, BC has very positive overall results on the OECD's Performance for International Student Assessment tests which place British Columbia students in the top 5 (or better) out of 40 participating nations in terms of reading, mathematics, science, and problem solving skills.

"BC's education system performs well overall, but the key to making further improvements in student outcomes - particularly the completion rate - is addressing the issue of drop outs", Dr. Jago noted. "Timely interventions at critical stages during primary and secondary education, together with efforts to include a broader array of trades, technical and vocational opportunities would help to provide more pathways to graduation", Jago continued.

The report contains six positive suggestions for improving British Columbia's public education system outcomes. These follow in summary form.

  • Accountability: The current Accountability Framework and its component parts - school growth plans, school district contracts, triennial reviews, and Aboriginal education enhancement agreements - have become vital tools to develop education in the province. The Ministry of Education and the Government should expand the system of using information, in an open and public way, to improve education in the province.

  • Intervention and Turnarounds: Intervention strategies to improve classroom performance must be strong, sustained and appropriately resourced. Such strategies, possibly delivered through a third party agency independent of the Ministry of Education, should be developed and implemented as soon as possible.

  • Responsibility for Literacy: School districts should be given primary responsibility for educational programming for the pre-school years, K-12, and adult education within their districts, the latter jointly with their regional college or university college board. District boards should be mandated to perform this oversight role for the purpose of identifying educational service gaps, partnering with both public and accredited private educational providers to fill gaps in educational provision and, where necessary, to augment standard K-12 programming. Districts should also strive to make schools into multi-purpose facilities that engage the community as a whole.

  • New Organizational Structures: The Ministries of Education and Advanced Education should consider developing new organizational structures to integrate secondary and post-secondary programming, to help ease student transitions, and to expand post-secondary programming options earlier in secondary schooling, especially for individuals interested in trades and technical careers. Both Ministries should examine a closer alignment of school districts and college or university college regions to better integrate secondary and post-secondary programming.

  • Testing: The provincial government should continue efforts to integrate data collection, sharing, and analysis across government departments and within the public education system, and to develop the relevant expertise for data to be used for service improvement.

  • Funding: The provincial government should review current fiscal arrangements relating to K-12 education to enhance existing mechanisms or to introduce new measures to fund strategic initiatives intended to achieve better student and education system outcomes. Government should also review the roles of school districts and their administrative responsibilities to determine where savings might be achieved that can be used to fund strategic initiatives on a priority basis.

    "BC is facing the prospect of declining enrollments over the next decade, at a time when demand for highly skilled and educated workers is increasing, and demands on public resources are intensifying", stated Tim McEwan, Executive Director of the Progress Board. "All British Columbians have a responsibility to work together to prepare the public education system for the future", McEwan concluded.

    The BC Progress Board, formed by Premier Gordon Campbell in July 2001, is an independent Panel of 18 senior business and academic leaders. The Progress Board benchmarks BC's performance on measures of economy, innovation, education, environment, health and social condition over time and relative to other jurisdictions. The Board also advises on ways to improve performance.

    Contact: Tim McEwan
    Executive Director
    B.C. Progress Board
    604 775-1664