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The holidays provide us with a chance to relax, spend time with friends and family and reflect on the year past. Looking back on 2009, I’m happy to report that it was a banner year for the Canadian Council on Learning (CCL). Despite some adversity, CCL released an impressive slate of reports and publications that informed and engaged Canadians on an unprecedented level about the benefits of lifelong learning.
In February, we released our Survey on Canadian Attitudes toward Learning which found that parents favoured TV time for their young children over time spent in front of computers or video games. The survey also revealed that 45% of Canadians believe that Canadian schools are meeting their expectations with respect to preparing students for work—a significant decrease from 51% in 2007.
May was a particularly busy month, starting with the release of a thought-provoking Lessons in Learning article titled “Homework helps, but not always” that waded into the debate over the effectiveness of homework with evidence. The article (which has been the subject of much discussion in the months since) concluded that homework is most effective when properly assigned, meaning no more than 10 minutes per grade level—and that younger children benefit little, if at all, from homework.
Later in May, CCL published State of E-Learning in Canada, our first report looking into the burgeoning field of e-learning. The report detailed the incredible social and economic potential that new learning technologies hold, and outlined many of the challenges facing their widespread use.
CCL finished the month of May with the release of the fourth annual Composite Learning Index which included the startling news that Canada’s CLI score dropped for the first time. Driven by declines in informal learning, the sobering news generated headlines across the country and landed on the cover of Maclean’s magazine for the second year in a row.
On September 8, CCL released an interactive Prose Literacy Map in recognition of UNESCO International Literacy Day that allows users to explore adult literacy rates in 52,200 cities, town and communities across the country. The innovative and interactive map sparked a lot of interest, generating countless headlines and catching the attention of CBC Television’s The National.
We rounded out a very busy 2009 with two very important, forward-looking publications. In November we unveiled the first of a new series of monographs on post-secondary education that will pick up where our annual PSE reports left off. The first monograph, “Up to Par: The Challenge of Demonstrating Quality in Canadian Post-secondary Education,” argues that Canadians need better tools to identify and assess quality in their universities, colleges and trades programs.
Finally, we capped the year off in fine style with the December 9 release of The State of Aboriginal Learning in Canada: A Holistic Approach to Measuring Success. This ground-breaking report presented a unique portrait of the landscape of Aboriginal learning as a process that extends well beyond the classroom, encompassing learning from family, community, languages, traditions and cultures. Along with members of the media, we were honoured to have the leaders of five major Aboriginal organizations on hand with us to celebrate the release of this report.
As exhaustive as the above seems, this is but a sampling of the many achievements made by CCL’s talented core of researchers, writers and other staff in 2009. On behalf of CCL’s Board of Directors and Executive Team, I would like to express my appreciation to each and every employee for their contributions over the past 12 months.
In addition, I would like to convey my sincere thanks and appreciation to the members of the general public who have shown interest and support in our work. We wish our collective best during the Christmas season and the coming year.
Paul Cappon, President and CEO
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