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The Canadian Council on Learning has been responsible for many noteworthy achievements during its short lifespan.
Here is a sampling of some of our key accomplishments to date (PDF, 54 KB).
Introduced by CCL in spring 2006, the CLI is Canada’s first and only annual measure of lifelong learning. Reporting on the results for 4,700 communities across the country, the Index draws the links between learning conditions and successful economic and social outcomes. The first of its kind in the world, the CLI has received accolades from the OECD, the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre, and Jacques Delors, the former chair of UNESCO’s Commission on Education in the 21st Century. CCL is now being consulted on the development of a European learning index.
The first-ever analysis of the state of post-secondary education across Canada, CCL’s annual PSE report raised the profile of critical issues related to the capacity of Canada’s universities, colleges and apprenticeship programs to respond to our country’s social and economic goals. Launched in December 2006, the comprehensive yearly review has highlighted the need for better data about the PSE sector and put forward a proposal for an “information strategy” to help address the shortcomings.
First released in January 2007, SOLR provides Canadians with an overview of learning in all stages of life, from early childhood to the adult years. The annual report takes a unique “life-course” approach that maps the diverse connections that occur within each stage of life’s learning journey.
Since its inception in 2004, CCL has made a priority of fostering research and analysis that address the practical needs of decision-makers at all levels of government. CCL has forged numerous agreements with individual provinces and territories as well as with groups of provinces and territories to conduct research on issues they have identified as being in the public interest.
Launched in winter 2006, the large-scale survey of more than 5,000 individuals provides unique insights into Canadians’ views about learning. SCAL has become one of CCL’s most popular publications, both with individual Canadians and the media.
Developed in partnership with CCL’s Aboriginal Learning Knowledge Centre and Aboriginal organizations across Canada, this groundbreaking report offers an innovative means of assessing learning among Aboriginal Peoples in Canada. The report was accompanied by three Aboriginal Learning Models—interactive, online tools that illustrate how learning occurs through all stages of life and in many settings, such as the home, on the land, and in the community.
A wake-up call to Canadians, this 2008 report uses a unique statistical tool called Projecting Adult Literacy: Measuring Movement (PALMM) to forecast literacy levels across Canada. CCL estimates that the number of Canadian adults with low literacy will grow to 15 million by the year 2031—a finding that challenges the common belief that the literacy landscape is improving. PALMM is available as an interactive tool on CCL’s website, which also features a series of short online videos that provide a look at the human face of low literacy.
Released in September 2007, CCL’s first report on health literacy, Initial Results from the International Literacy and Life Skills Survey, introduced the concept of “health literacy”, an individual’s ability to interpret information pertaining to their own health, to millions of Canadians. The second report, Health Literacy in Canada: A Healthy Understanding, was accompanied by an interactive online map that identified rates of health literacy for 4,700 communities across the country, and made a strong case for the importance of literacy to the health and wellbeing of all Canadians. Among its findings was the fact that daily reading is the strongest factor in predicting higher levels of health literacy.
Lessons in Learning is a series of evidence-based, accessibly written articles which address various aspects of lifelong learning that are relevant to Canadians. Produced primarily by CCL’s team of researchers, each article compiles the latest information on a wide range of subjects ranging from the role of unstructured play in the preschool years to learning by seniors. Since 2005 more than 45 articles have been published and read by tens of thousands of Canadians, and many have been reprinted in books, newsletters and periodicals by other organizations.
An example of grass-roots collaboration in action, CCL’s Learning City initiative contributes to the “learning communities” movement, which endeavours to incorporate lifelong learning as an organizing principle in community planning. CCL’s initiative takes that same spirit and combines it with the power of the Composite Learning Index, to help communities across Canada develop strategies, set goals and measure progress. Vancouver, Edmonton and St. John’s are among the communities working with CCL to identify learning assets and challenges in their communities.