Education Matters: Insights on education, learning and training in Canada

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February 2008

Literacy skills of Canadians across the ages: Fewer low achievers, fewer high achievers

Recent research finds that literacy inequality among Canadians decreased between 1994 and 2003. However, while there was an improvement in literacy at the low end of the literacy distribution, there was a deterioration in those skills at the top end. Further, the findings show that younger Canadians have lower levels of literacy than older Canadians had, at the same age and level of education ... more.

Student characteristics and achievement in science: Results of the 2006 Programme for International Student Assessment

The latest results of the Programme for International Student Assessment are in. With the focus this time on science, the results show that Canadian 15 year-olds performed very well compared to other countries. Canada was also one of the few countries where science achievement was above average while the disparity in student performance was below average. Nevertheless, gaps in student achievement persist across different groups ... more.

Quick fact...

Among females aged 12 years and older in 2005, crime rates peaked at age 15 and declined considerably thereafter ... more