Are Canadian Students Ready To Compete in the Global Economy?
A key question facing all countries is how well education
systems are preparing students for their role as citizens and workers able to compete in a global knowledge-based economy. The Youth In Transition Survey (YITS) combined with the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) will answer that important question and many others.
The Applied Research Branch has arranged for Statistics Canada to develop and conduct the YITS. This longitudinal survey will track the same individuals over time, providing information on school-work transitions and identifying any problems youth face as they make these transitions. The first cycle of YITS collection, which took place in spring 1999, focused on young adults aged 18 to 20. The second cycle, planned for the year 2000, will sample youth 15 years of age.
Another element of YITS is to test Canadian students' achievements. To fulfil this purpose, PISA will be used in the second cycle of YITS. PISA, an initiative of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, is designed to profile 15-year-old youths' reading, mathematics and science competencies and to relate these skills with demographic, social, economic and educational variables. The Applied Research Branch is supporting PISA in Canada through a partnership with the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada, and Statistics Canada. PISA will allow achievement assessment on an internationally comparative basis. YITS/PISA will be conducted with a sufficiently large sample of 15-year-olds in Canadian schools to provide statistically significant data that are comparable across provinces.
YITS/PISA will answer questions like the following:
- Are children acquiring the necessary skills and knowledge?
- How well are schools preparing students to meet future challenges? Will students be ready to enter the labour market, to analyze, reason and communicate ideas effectively? Will they possess the skills needed to continue learning throughout life?
- How do Canadian 15-year-olds compare to other countries' youth in reading, mathematics and science?
In addition the YITS study, by tracking the same Canadian young people over time, will help answer questions such as:
- What are the impacts of school curricula and experiences on educational and occupational outcomes?
- How do youths' expectations and aspirations affect investment in further education and career choice?
- What other factors influence educational and labour market pathways?
- What are the key school and work transition points in the lives of youth?
- What are the characteristics of the school-leaving “event”?
- Which educational and occupational pathways provide the smoothest transitions into the labour market?
- What are the contributing factors, effects and incidence of leaving school early?
A YITS/PISA pilot survey was conducted in April 1999. The main survey, which will take place in April 2000, is to be a two-hour test including a 60-minute student questionnaire, a 30-minute school questionnaire and a 15-minute telephone interview with parents.
YITS/PISA will be an important tool to provide governments and the general public with solid evidence of educational outcomes and school-work transitions.
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