What did you do in school today?: Transforming Classrooms through Social, Academic and Intellectual Engagement

This report contains research highlights of this student engagement initiative from a survey of 31,000 students in Grades 6-12 in 93 Canadian schools.

Please visit our What did you do in school today? web page to access additional supporting documents and summaries detailing this ground breaking initiative. For the latest updates visit the What did you do in school today? blog.

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CEA’s 2010-2011 School Calendar is Now Available

This free indispensable tool provides all opening and closing dates, statutory holidays, and spring breaks for elementary and secondary schools across Canada. Get your PDF copy today.

2010-2011 School Calendar (PDF)

Education Canada's Summer 2010 Edition is Now Available

Featured Articles

The Big Ideas Behind Whole System Reform (PDF)

Michael Fullan
Professor Emeritus at OISE/UT and Special Advisor on Education to Ontario’s Premier, Dalton McGuinty

Whole system reform means that every vital part of the system – school, community, district, and government – contributes individually and in concert to forward movement and success, using practice, not research, as the driver of reform. With this in mind, Fullan shares several “big ideas”, based on successful implementation, which informed Ontario’s reform strategy.

Self-Regulation: Calm, Alert, and Learning (PDF)

Stuart Shanker
Distinguished Research Professor of Philosophy and Psychology and Director of the Milton and Ethel Harris Research Initiative at York University

In the simplest terms, self-regulation can be defined as the ability to stay calmly focused and alert, which often involves – but cannot be reduced to – self-control. The better a child can stay calmly focused and alert, the better he integrates the diverse information coming in from his different senses, assimilates it, and sequences his thoughts and actions. In this article, Shanker provides a detailed account of what self-regulation is and why is it so important for learning.  

CEA Releases Class Size Reduction Reports

CEA has released two reports on reducing class size: a formative evaluation of Ontario’s primary class size initiative; and a more ‘popular’ report for a broad national audience that includes what has been learned from the Ontario evaluation, a review of the literature and other jurisdictions.

CEA commissioned a research team from the Ontario Institute on Studies in Education (OISE), headed by Dr. Nina Bascia (OISE), to undertake a study that included data analysis, site visits, interviews with educators in eight school districts, and an on-line survey completed by over 3,000 parents. The 140-page evaluation report, Ontario’s Primary Class Size Reduction Initiative: Report on Early Implementation is available in English and French on CEA’s website. Although the study focused on Ontario, it has relevance and value across the country.

Reducing Class Size: What do we Know? provides insights into how to maximize the positive impact of class size reduction policies directed at elementary schools. Written by Dr. Nina Bascia, the report concludes that reducing class size can make a positive difference to teaching and learning particularly when combined with other policies that support effective classroom practice. But, primary class size reduction is not a “magic bullet” and how it is implemented may be as important as the policy itself.

Reducing Class Size: What do we know? (PDF, 23 pages, 623 KB)

Ontario’s Primary Class Size Reduction Initiative: Report on Early Implementation (PDF, 140 pages, 910 KB)

Q & A Document (PDF, 1 page, 29 KB)

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