Ontario needs to improve teacher training in math, the province’s Education Minister has said in response to standardized test results that revealed students are losing ground in the subject for the fifth year in a row….At issue is how prepared graduating teachers are to teach math and a variety of other subjects. “The arts are always a valuable foundation for teaching. However, we do need more applicants to our programs with math and science backgrounds,” said York University Dean of Education Ron Owston in The Globe and Mail Aug. 28….Dean Owston said the government’s plan to increase the length of teachers college from one year to two will allow more time for math education. “Although the design of our new program is far from completed, I expect us to increase the emphasis on math education.” Read full story.
The case for careful change
One of the many maxims bandied about to parents is: “You do the hard work now or you do it later.” Whether this is actually true of parenting remains under debate, reported The Economist Aug. 28. But if you believe a recent article in MIT Sloan Management Review by two Canada-based academics, Ellen Auster of York University’s Schulich School of Business and Trish Ruebottom of Brock University, it is true of change management. The authors’ goal is to review what they have learned about organizational change projects from working with students in Schulich’s executive MBA program, on which Professor Auster teaches. Read full story.
London doctor Tarek Loubani and Toronto filmmaker John Greyson face hearing in Cairo Thursday
Family and supporters of jailed London emergency room doctor Tarek Loubani and York University film Professor John Greyson have their fingers crossed the pair will win their freedom Thursday at a hearing in Cairo. But nobody is certain of the outcome despite an international outpouring of support. “We are really unsure of what will happen.[…]We are not sure if we should be positive or a little nervous. We take it hour by hour,” said Cecilia Greyson, sister of John Greyson, in the London Free Press Aug. 29. Read full story.
Teachers’ reduces stake in proxy adviser Glass Lewis
The Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan has sold a chunk of Glass, Lewis & Co., the proxy advisory firm that has come under regulatory scrutiny for potential conflicts of interest. “This is a step in the right direction,” said York University Professor Richard Leblanc in The Globe and Mail Aug. 29. “It’s an attempt to forestall and exert industry leadership on resolving conflicts.” Read full story.