Employee Training: An International Perspective

Canada’s training effort relative to the rest of the IALS countries, measured in terms of hours of training per employee, was found to be average. The average employee in Canada received 44 hours of training in 1994, similar to the hours of training per employee in Switzerland, the United States and Germany. However, Canada’s training effort was considerably less than the Netherlands (74 hours per employee). One finding of particular interest to Canada is the virtual equality of training effort, measured in hours of training per employee, between Canada and the United States. This comparison is important for Canada because of its extensive trade links to the United States. Also, comparisons between Canada and the United States are more accurate than comparisons to other countries because of the similarity in training institutions between the two countries. By contrast, comparisons of Canada to other countries should be treated as broad indicators, rather than precise measures. Canada’s balance between employer- and employee-supported training was also average. Compared to the United States, for example, Canadian employees usually receive somewhat more training on their own, whereas United States employees tended to receive somewhat more training through their employer. Particularly interesting is the fact that Canada had the highest rate of employees reporting that they wanted to take more career or job-related training. Although interpretations of this statistic differ, we can reasonably conclude that Canadian employees are relatively more supportive of further training than those in the other countries.adult training

Negotiating cultures in cyberspace

In this paper we report findings of a multidisciplinary study of online participation by culturally diverse participants in a distance adult education course offered in Canada and examine in detail three of the study's findings. First, we explore both the historical and cultural origins of "cyberculture values" as manifested in our findings, using the notions of explicit and implicit enforcement of those values and challenging the assumption that cyberspace is a culture free zone. Second, we examine the notion of cultural gaps between participants in the course and the potential consequences for online communication successes and difficulties. Third, the analysis describes variations in participation frequency as a function of broad cultural groupings in our data. We identify the need for additional research, primarily in the form of larger scale comparisons across cultural groups of patterns of participation and interaction, but also in the form of case studies that can be submitted to microanalyses of the form as well as the content of communicator's participation and interaction online

What Do International Tests Really Show About U.S. Student Performance?

Evidence-based policy has been a goal of American education policymakers for at least two decades. School reformers seek data about student knowledge and skills, hoping to use this information to improve schools. One category of such evidence, international test results, has seemingly permitted comparisons of student performance in the United States with that in other countries. Such comparisons have frequently been interpreted to show that American students perform poorly when compared to students internationally. From this, reformers conclude that U.S. public education is failing and that its failure imperils America's ability to compete with other nations economically.This report, however, shows that such inferences are too glib. Comparative student performance on international tests should be interpreted with much greater care than policymakers typically give it

What a Difference Immigration Law Makes: PISA results, migration background, socioeconomic status and social mobility in Europe and traditional countries of immigration

The purpose of this article is to evaluate the importance of social class, migration background and command of national languages for the PISA school performance of teenagers living in European countries (France, Finland, Germany, United Kingdom, and Sweden) and traditional countries of immigration (Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the US). Econometric results show that the influence of the socioeconomic background of parents differs strongly across nations, with the highest impact found for Germany, the UK and US, whereas social mobility appears to be more likely in Scandinavian countries and in Canada. Further empirical results show that for students with a migration background a key for catching up is the language spoken at home. We conclude that educational policy should focus on integration of immigrant children in schools and preschools, with particular emphasis on language skills at the early stage of childhood.

What a Difference Immigration Law Makes: PISA Results, Migration Background and Social Mobility in Europe and Traditional Countries of Immigration

The purpose of this article is to evaluate the importance of social class, migration background and command of national languages for the PISA school performance of teenagers living in European countries (France, Finland, Germany, United Kingdom, and Sweden) and traditional countries of immigration (Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the US). Econometric results show that the influence of the socioeconomic background of parents differs strongly across nations, with the highest impact found for Germany, the UK and US, whereas social mobility is more likely in Scandinavian countries and in Canada. Our empirical results imply that for students with a migration background a key for catching up is the language spoken at home. We conclude that educational policy should focus on integration of immigrant children in schools and preschools, with particular emphasis on language skills at the early stage of childhood. --PISA tests,socioeconomic status,migration,social mobility,language skills

The efficiency of education in generating literacy: a stochastic frontier approach

The growing importance attached to education as a key factor to improve economic performance coupled with the persistent scarcity of resources for education makes it important that skills and literacy are produced efficiently. This paper provides an international comparison of the efficiency of literacy production. We find substantial differences between countries in levels of literacy, differences in literacy between education levels and differences in the efficiency of literacy production. There are some notable differences between more Anglo-Saxon countries and the Continental European countries. The findings suggest that in almost all countries the scope for efficiency improvements in education is large. So even without major increases in (public) funding, improvements in educational outcomes are achievable. We can get better value for the money we spend on education.

Peer Effects, Social Multipliers and Migrants at School: An International Comparison

This article analyses the school performance of migrants dependent on peer groups in different international schooling environments. Using data from the international OECD PISA test, we consider social interaction within and between groups of natives and migrants. Results based on social multipliers (Glaeser et al. 2000, 2003) suggest that both native-tonative and migrant-to-migrant peer effects are higher in ability-differencing school systems than in comprehensive schools. Thus, non-comprehensive school systems seem to magnify the already existing educational inequality between students with a low parental socioeconomic migration background and children from more privileged families. Students with a migration background and a disadvantageous parental status would benefit from higher diversity within schools.Peer effects, migration, education, social multipliers, school systems, parental socioeconomic background

High School Exit Examinations: When Do Learning Effects Generalize?

This paper reviews international and domestic evidence on the effects of three types of high school exit exam systems: voluntary curriculum-based external exit exams, universal curriculum-based external exit exam systems and minimum competency tests that must be passed to receive a regular high school diploma. The nations and provinces that use Universal CBEEES (and typically teacher grades as well) to signal student achievement have significantly higher achievement levels and smaller differentials by family background than otherwise comparable jurisdictions that base high stakes decisions on voluntary college admissions tests and/or teacher grades. The introduction of Universal CBEEES in New York and North Carolina during the 1990s was associated with large increases in math achievement on NAEP tests. Research on MCTs and high school accountability tests is less conclusive because these systems are new and have only been implemented in one country. Cross-section studies using a comprehensive set of controls for family background have not found that students in MCT states score higher on audit tests like the NAEP that carry no stakes for the test taker. The analysis reported in table 1 tells us that the five states that introduced MCTs during the 1990s had significantly larger improvements on NAEP tests than states that made no change in their student accountability regime. The gains, however, are smaller than for the states introducing Universal CBEEES. New York and North Carolina. The most positive finding about MCTs is that students in MCT states earn significantly more during the first eight years after graduation than comparable students in other states suggesting that MCTs improve employer perceptions of the quality of the recent graduates of local high schools

Peer effects, social multipliers and migration at school: An international comparison

This article analyses the school performance of migrants dependent on peer groups in different international schooling environments. Using data from the international OECD PISA test, we consider social interaction within and between groups of natives and migrants. Results based on social multipliers (Glaeser et al. 2000, 2003) suggest that both native-to- native and migrant-to-migrant peer effects are higher in ability-differencing school systems than in comprehensive schools. Thus, non-comprehensive school systems seem to magnify the already existing educational inequality between students with a low parental socioeconomic migration background and children from more privileged families. Students with a migration background and a disadvantageous parental status would benefit from higher diversity within schools. --Peer effects,migration,education social multipliers,school systems,parental socioeconomic background

What makes up a central exit examination?

A large number of econometric studies have examined the impact of central exit examinations on student attainment and repeatedly found a positive effect. This paper contributes to clarify the term central exit examination by distinguishing between central assignment and central grading. For this purpose, I use a study from Birkenfeld und Hanafy (2008), who have gathered the relevant information for the 16 German federal states. First econonometric analyses show, that the distinction between central assignment and central grading is indeed fruitful.central exit examination, school systems