----- Original Message -----
From: C.D. Howe Institute
Sent: Wednesday, October 02, 2013 7:10 AM
Subject: Why BC Leads in Aboriginal Education
Why BC Leads in Aboriginal Education
October 2, 2013 - British Columbia leads the provinces
in educational outcomes for young Aboriginal adults, while Manitoba,
Saskatchewan and Alberta lag badly, according to a report released today by the
C.D. Howe Institute. In "Why is BC Best? The Role of Provincial and Reserve
School Systems in Explaining Aboriginal Student Performance," author John
Richards finds that innovative approaches in BC help account for much better
high-school completion rates for Aboriginal students, compared to other
provinces with large Aboriginal populations.
"British Columbia has made a consistent effort to
improve its on-reserve and provincial school systems to tackle this problem
over the past 20 years," says Richards. "Other provinces can learn from the BC
experience."
Poor education outcomes for Aboriginals in Canada are a
critical issue for Aboriginal leaders and the provincial and federal
governments, writes Richards. Notably, 60 percent of young Aboriginal adults
living on reserves in Canada lack high-school certification. As a result, they
face severely limited employment opportunities off-reserve, and limited
opportunities on-reserve. Among young Canadians not living on a reserve, those
who identify as Indian-First Nation have better education outcomes than those
on-reserve, but they are weaker than outcomes for Métis. Non-Aboriginals tend
to fare best.
To determine why BC is best, Richards assesses the role
of education policies and institutions in Aboriginal K-12 outcomes. He breaks
down the young adult Aboriginal population (ages 20-24 at the time of the 2006
census) into subgroups defined by province, location within a province (urban
vs. rural and on- vs. off-reserve) and by Aboriginal identity group
(non-Aboriginal, Métis, Indian-First Nation). After allowing for the impact of
employment rate as a proxy for family characteristics, the author finds that
British Columbia has achieved considerably better K-12 student outcomes than
the five other provinces, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta,
with large Aboriginal cohorts.
"At the national level, Aboriginal organizations and
Ottawa have reached an impasse over how to move forward on this issue," notes
Richards. "My findings suggest that improvements in school organization can
make a real difference - both among provincial schools and reserve schools."
Richards identifies three institutional and policy
differences between British Columbia and other provinces that may explain its
superior outcomes: i) more comprehensive and regular monitoring of Aboriginal
student performance in reading, writing and mathematics; ii) incentives for
provincial school districts to innovate and consult with local Aboriginal
leaders; and iii) the encompassing nature of First Nation institutions
providing secondary services to reserve schools.
For the report go to:
http://www.cdhowe.org/why-is-bc-best-the-role-of-provincial-and-reserve-school-systems-in-explaining-aboriginal-student-performance/22981
For more information contact: John Richards, School of
Public Policy, Simon Fraser University and Fellow-in-Residence, C.D. Howe
Institute; or Colin Busby, Senior Policy Analyst, C.D. Howe Institute.
416-865-1904; email: cdh...@cdhowe.org.
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