Education in Alberta

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For broader coverage of this topic, see Education in Canada.
Education in the Province of Alberta
National education budget
Budget$9.8 billion[1]
General details
System typeProvincial

Education in Alberta is mostly provided through funding from the provincial, federal, and local governments which is subsidized.[2] The earliest form of formal education in Alberta is usually preschool which is not mandatory and is then followed by the mostly-mandatory kindergarten to Grade 12 (or twelfth grade). This is managed by Alberta Education (also known as Ministry of Education) which has divided the province into 379 school authorities.[3] Higher education in the province is developed and guided by Alberta Advanced Education.[4]

History

The first schools in what is now Alberta were parochial, that is, they were organized, owned and operated by Church clergy, missionaries, or authorities, both Roman Catholic and Protestant. A nominal fee was often charged for the attendance of students at these schools, and the fee was more often waived, as an act of charity or as an act of proselytizing, or as an act of local solidarity.[citation needed]

The first "free" school (which would now be called a public school) in what is now Alberta, was established in the Hamlet of Edmonton, in what was then Northwest Territories, in early 1881. The school was established before the Northwest Territories had a Territorial Assembly, and before there was any law for the Territory respecting schools, or local government, or local taxation. The people of the Hamlet of Edmonton elected trustees to govern the establishment and operation of the school, and submitted to an informal local taxation entirely on the basis of local solidarity.[citation needed]

Between 1883 and 1905 a system of education developed in Alberta by which public education was available in every community once the local population initiated its introduction; and separate school education could be provided subsequently, provided certain conditions were met. This system, by which public education was to be universally available and separate school education available under certain conditions, was the system which the federal government of Sir Wilfrid Laurier enshrined in the constitution of Alberta (the Alberta Act) in 1905.[citation needed]

The most recent significant development in the governance of education in Alberta has been the emergence of Francophone education authorities in response to the adoption of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (1982). There are now five Francophone authorities in Alberta. In the south a public Francophone authority and a separate Francophone authority share coterminous boundaries. In the north there are three authorities which provide both public and separate school education. The Francophone authorities, together, cover the province, but they are not required to provide Francophone education from place to place, except where numbers warrant, and it is the responsibility of the board of the authority to decide whether numbers warrant.[citation needed]

Funding

For many years the provincial government has provided the greater part of the cost of providing K-12 education. Prior to 1994 public and separate school boards in Alberta had the legislative authority to levy a local tax on property, as supplementary support for local education. In 1994 the government of the province eliminated this right for public school boards, but not for separate school boards. Since 1994 there has continued to be a tax on property in support of K-12 education; the difference is that the mill rate is now set by the provincial government, the money is collected by the local municipal authority and remitted to the provincial government. The relevant legislation requires that all the money raised by this property tax must go to the support of K-12 education provided by school boards. The provincial government pools the property tax funds from across the province and distributes them, according to a formula, to public and separate school jurisdictions and Francophone authorities.[citation needed]

In addition to the property tax collected, the provincial government allocates money, each year, from the General Revenue Fund, for the support of K-12 public and separate school education. In the case of the money drawn from the General Revenue Fund, it is also used to provide full financial support for charter schools, a type of public school that does not charge tuition (and receives the same funding per student that a public district school would receive). Private schools and homeschooling receive some funding, but parents will pay a substantial portion of the cost.[citation needed]

Since 1994 all boards with a civil electorate (public, separate, Francophone)[citation needed] are funded almost entirely by the provincial government. School boards may, and many do, allow the school administration to levy fees for art supplies, textbook rentals, and transportation. There is however an appeals process which family's can undertake who can not afford the fees.[5]

Educational stages

There are often multiple terms for each level but these are the terms specifically given from Alberta Education.[6]

Legislation

The School Act is a provincial statue governing primary education and secondary education within Alberta.[7] The Act authorizes the creation of and regulates public, separate, and Francophone school authorities and that Alberta Education will oversee the school authorities.[8][not specific enough to verify] Responsibility for oversight of the administration of individual schools lies with the district school board. The ministry has the ability to dissolve school boards, which has only happened twice in provincial history, as recently as 1999. One of the trustees who was a member of the 1999 dissolution was notable Alberta politician Danielle Smith, whom as of 2012 is the Leader of the Official Opposition.

The Post-Secondary Learning Act is a provincial statue governing post-secondary education within Alberta. Government oversight for post-secondary education across the province lies with Alberta Advanced Education.[9] This ministry provides funding to Alberta universities, colleges and other post-secondary institutions.

K–12

The ministry responsible for kindergarten to grade 12 education is Alberta Education. The ministry has divided the province into 379 school authorities.[3] There are both public, private, charter, and separate school authorities. In accordance with the School Act children are required to attend school from age 6 to 16, roughly kindergarten to Grade 11.[10] Public and separate schools, charter schools, and approved private schools all employ teachers who are certificated by Alberta Education, they administer Provincial Achievement Tests and Diploma Examinations set by Alberta Education, and they may grant high school graduation certificates endorsed by Alberta Education.[11]

Curriculum or Programs of Study

Changes in Curriculum

On Jun 15, 2016 the government announced that "Alberta Education would begin to develop new curriculum" "unlike any seen in Alberta" from K-12 within 6 years.[12]

Western and Northern Canadian Protocol

In 1993 Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, Yukon Territory and Northwest Territories ministers for education signed the Western Canadian Protocol for Collaboration in Basic Education (WCP). In February 2000, Nunavut also joined NWCP. It's main goal is to create frameworks with learning outcomes in mathematics, language arts and international languages.[13] In 2014 the agreement was placed in abeyance. Therefore, the WNCP is no longer developing curriculum frameworks.[14]

City of Lloydminster Situation

The City of Lloydminster straddles the Alberta/Saskatchewan border, and both the public and separate school systems in that city are counted in the above numbers: both of them operate according to Saskatchewan law.[citation needed]

Issues

Current issues for K-12 education in Alberta include, but are not limited to:

  1. the balance of power between school board trustees and the province[citation needed]
  2. the level of funding, which school boards tend to feel is inadequate[citation needed]
  3. disputes between the school boards and the province, over ownership and control of schools and local facilities;[citation needed]
  4. issues over who locally elected school boards, and their employees, are accountable to[citation needed]
  5. curriculum taught and the manner it is taught in, such as discovery learning, personalized learning and reform mathematics are being implemented by the education ministry, accompanied by much controversy.[15][16][17]

Canada takes part in Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and reports specifically about Alberta are released by Council of Ministers of Education, Canada (CMEC). Education in Alberta is considered to be one of the best education systems in the world with the top PISA test results in Canada and second in the world in Science and Reading.[18]

Initiatives

Alberta Initiative for School Improvement

The Alberta Initiative for School Improvement (AISI) was an Alberta government initiative which sought to "improve student learning and performance by fostering initiatives that reflect the unique needs and circumstances of each school authority." [19]

Funding for AISI was suspended as part of the 2013 Alberta Budget.[20]

Standardized Testing

Provincial Achievement Tests (PATs)

Provincial Achievement Tests or P.A.T.s for short are exams taken in grades 6 and 9 by almost all students of the province in the subject areas of mathematics, sciences, language arts, and social studies. They are based on the Exams are administered in both French and English.[21]

Higher education

Main article: Higher education in Alberta

Higher education in Alberta may also be referred to as post-secondary or tertiary education.

Alberta's oldest university is the University of Alberta in Edmonton. The University of Calgary, once affiliated with the University of Alberta, gained its autonomy in 1966 and is now the second largest university in Alberta. The University of Lethbridge has campuses in Lethbridge, Calgary, and Edmonton. Athabasca University focuses on distance learning. In September 2009, the Government of Alberta designated two colleges as universities, creating MacEwan University in Edmonton and Mount Royal University in Calgary.

There are 13 colleges that receive direct public funding, along with two technical institutes, NAIT and SAIT.[22] There is also a large and active private sector of post-secondary institutions, including DeVry University.

Students may also receive government loans and grants while attending selected private institutions. One such scholarship is the Rutherford Scholarship. There has been some controversy in recent years over the rising cost of post-secondary education for students (as opposed to taxpayers). In 2005, Premier Ralph Klein made a promise that he would freeze tuition and look into ways of reducing schooling costs.[23] So far, no plan has been released by the Alberta government.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Budget 2016". Government of Alberta. Retrieved 12 July 2016.
  2. ^ "Fees & Waivers".
  3. ^ a b "Authorities and Schools Directory". Retrieved 21 July 2016.
  4. ^ "Advanced Education". Retrieved July 21 2016. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
  5. ^ "Elementary and secondary". Alberta, Canada. 23 December 2014. Retrieved July 21, 2016.
  6. ^ "Alberta Education".
  7. ^ Alberta Queen's Printer. "School Act". Retrieved 30 April 2012.
  8. ^ Alberta Ministry of Education. "Ministry of Education Website". Retrieved 29 April 2012.
  9. ^ Alberta Ministry of Advanced Education and Technology. "Ministry of Advanced Education and Technology website". Retrieved 29 April 2012.
  10. ^ School Act, Revised Statutes of Alberta 2000 Chapter S-3 (PDF). Edmonton, Alberta. 2015. pp. 21–22.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  11. ^ Provincial government website about school diversity
  12. ^ "Alberta updating curriculum to better prepare students for future success". Alberta Government. Retrieved July 16, 2016.
  13. ^ "Welcome". Western and Northern Canadian Protocol. Retrieved July 16, 2016.
  14. ^ "Alberta K – 9 MATHEMATICS Achievement Indicators" (PDF). Retrieved July 20, 2016.
  15. ^ Hopper, Tristin (28 February 2014). "Does 'discovery learning' prepare Alberta students for the 21st century or will it toss out a top tier education system?". National Post. Retrieved 4 March 2014.
  16. ^ Wente, Margaret (4 March 2014). "Canada's math woes are adding up". Globe and Mail. Retrieved 4 March 2014.
  17. ^ Staples, David (26 February 2014). "Alberta government plans radical rewrite of education system: But based on the discovery math fiasco, parents and teachers should be wary". Edmonton Journal. Retrieved 4 March 2014.
  18. ^ "Alberta PISA results". Alberta's 15-year olds place among world's best in reading, scientific and mathematical literacy. Government of Alberta. Retrieved 24 September 2011.
  19. ^ "Faculty of Education". University of Alberta. Retrieved July 16, 2016.
  20. ^ 2013 Alberta Budget Full text of the 2013 Alberta Budget
  21. ^ "Provincial Achievement Tests". Alberta Education. Retrieved July 16, 2016.
  22. ^ Post Secondary Education
  23. ^ University of Alberta - Ralph Klein promises tuition freeze

External links

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