National Adult Literacy Database

A federal program in the United States, still in its infancy, is supporting research that pairs partners that often operate in isolation — educational technology and scientific research on learning — with the goal of transforming teaching and learning in schools.

Employment rose by 40,000 in December, the fourth increase in five months, according to a new Labour Force Survey from Statistics Canada. December's increase was all in full-time work. The unemployment rate declined 0.1 percentage points to 7.1%, the lowest in four years.

Each month NALD releases Library user statistics in a feature known as the Top 20 downloads. The report examines the number of NALD Library documents which are viewed and downloaded by visitors to the NALD website.

Don’t you just love the start of a new year? It’s like a get-out-of-jail-free card that lets us put all the things we didn’t like about the previous 365 days behind us and push the reset button for the next 12 months.

Can employers videotape employees’ activities in a parking lot behind the plant? Can an employee snoop in another’s personal e-mail or view what has been stored on their hard drive? Or can the employer? British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Yukon and Quebec all have legislation that allows for a lawsuit for invasion of privacy.

Through the Skills and Training Plan, the B.C. government is committed to accelerating student transition to the workforce by exposing students to technical trades and skills and by expanding opportunities for students to begin apprenticeships before graduation and earn graduation credits.

CMEC has just published PCAP-13 2007: Report on Reading Strategies and Reading Achievement, the third in a series of research projects in which the PCAP-13 2007 data set is used to examine questions of interest to educational policy-makers and practitioners in Canada. It focuses on the factors that contribute to the performance of 13-year-old Canadian students in reading.

The Ontario Jobs and Prosperity Council has made a number of important recommendations to ensure more people get access to career-specific, post-secondary education and training, Ontario's colleges have said.

CMEC has just published a new report that examines how better data and evidence can be developed to support jurisdictions' efforts to improve the academic achievement and attainment of Aboriginal students in provincial and territorial elementary and secondary schools.

Workers who ring in the new year with a new job may find learning the ropes to be their biggest challenge, a new Accountemps survey suggests. Nearly half of employees and 39 per cent of managers interviewed said mastering new processes and procedures tops their list of concerns when joining a company. Twenty-three per cent from each group cited getting to know a new boss and colleagues as the greatest hurdle.

The key to giving financial literacy gifts is to make them fun, says Gordon Pape, co-author (with his daughter, Deborah Kerbel) of Money Savvy Kids: The best ways to teach your children about money for a strong financial future.

The Nunavut Literacy Council has launched a pan-northern research project to find out why Inuit women outnumber men in government jobs and in post-secondary school enrolment. The three-year project also aims to discover what can be done to encourage more men to take part in formal education and in the workforce.

The Quebec English Literacy Alliance has created its own unique rendition of a seasonal, musical favourite.

Steven Blaney, Minister of Veterans Affairs, along with representatives from the True Patriot Love Foundation and the Canadian National Railway Company (CN), have announced two new initiatives to further support veterans as they transition to civilian life. The first, the new Veterans Transition Advisory Council, will bring together industry leaders and government with the goal of helping veterans transition into meaningful jobs in the private sector.

Canadian Literacy and Learning Network (CLLN) and ABC Life Literacy Canada are seeking a Project Manager. The organizations have received funding to develop increased awareness on the part of Canadian small, medium and large enterprises - in all regions of the country - of the need for Literacy and Essential Skills (L/ES) workplace training and its implementation as a business solution.