When the Three Block Model of Universal Design for Learning (Katz, 2012a) is implemented, outcomes related to student academic and social engagement were investigated in this study. 631 students from Grades 1 to 12 attending ten schools located in two rural and three urban school divisions in Manitoba took part in the study. Intervention and…

This article examines the possibilities when shifting what we have come to call a pedagogy of Land from rural to urban contexts. The authors explore some persisting questions around what it means to bring a pedagogy of Land into classrooms and communities in urban settings. The authors consider the ways a pedagogy of Land might translate from…

This article reports key findings from a project that focused on the academic literacy development of children who are born and/or begin their formal schooling in Canada but are raised in homes where the societally dominant language is not the primary idiom. Analyses involved characterizing students' home ecological environments; assessing the…

Growth curve modeling was utilized to examine change in the educational aspirations of adolescents from early high school through to three years beyond high school, as a function of gender and other adolescent characteristics. Significant gender effects were found for level of education aspired to, rate of growth, and degree of acceleration: boys'…

Post-secondary education has increased in importance as the world's economies become more knowledge-based. Employment trends suggest that a high school diploma may be insufficient in some jurisdictions to meet the skills and demands of the 21st century workplace (HRSDC, 1998). In addition, immigration trends are resulting in more ethnic and…

This study explored how diversity among newcomer youth may explain differences in engagement and school success. Youth identifying fear-based reasons for relocation reported being less involved within their schools than those who identified social mobility. In fear-based relocation, youth often viewed Canada as a temporary place to live and gain…

This study examines the educational experiences of 39 First Nations youth, ages 16-20 years, from two, First Nations, on-reserve, communities in northern Ontario, who share their reflections and experiences of reserve and public schooling. We drew on the Indigenous metaphor of the "new warrior" to analyze how these youth experienced and responded…

This paper raises awareness concerning the education gap between Aboriginal youth and the non-Aboriginal youth population in Canada. It argues that the historical consequences of colonialism that resulted in diminished sense of self-worth, self-determination, and culture have placed Aboriginals at the low-end of the socio-economic strata. This…

Through 14 years of teaching music in the Greater Toronto Area, the "music makes you smarter" notion has imbued many of the conversations I have had with multiple stakeholders in public education. Such conversations have suggested that the ancillary benefits of teaching music have now become the principal reason why we teach music--what I refer to…

Self-efficacy or the belief in one's ability (Bandura, 1977) on the part of both teachers and students is thought to be directly related to teacher and student success. Few studies have compared teacher efficacy, student efficacy, and student ability at once. This study examined the relationship between teacher self-efficacy, student…

This study examined whether student tobacco, alcohol, marijuana use, and sedentary behaviour were associated with the educational outcomes of health-related absenteeism, truancy, and academic motivation in a nationally representative sample of Canadian youth. Descriptive analyses indicate a high proportion of students missed school due to health,…

Certainly in the past and even in the present day, the term "research" for Indigenous people has been fraught with strong, negative, emotional associations; however, despite the many remaining challenges there is a shifting within the landscape of academia to recognize that research on Indigenous issues must cultivate respectful and reciprocal…

This study examined academic and social outcomes for high-risk youths in Manitoba, using longitudinal, population-based data. All children born in Manitoba in 1984-1985 who resided in Winnipeg the year they turned 18 were included in analyses (N = 11,703). High risk youths were defined as those involved with child welfare services, living in…

Although a positive relationship between socio-economic status and academic achievement is well-established, how it varies with age is not. This article uses four data points from Canada's National Longitudinal Study of Children and Youth (NLSCY) to examine how the academic achievement gap attributed to SES changes from childhood to adolescence…

One hundred and fifty-five students (average age, 10 years 7 months) were initially tested on reading, arithmetic, and academic self-perception. One year later they were tested again. Initial academic scores accounted for a large proportion of the variance in later academic scores. The children's self-perceptions of academic competence accounted…