Education Indicators for the Nova Scotia Genuine Progress Index
Authors: Linda Pannozzo, Karen Hayward and Ronald Colman
Assisted by: Vanessa Hayward
"Education Indicators for the Nova Scotia Genuine Progress Index: How Educated Are Nova Scotians?" explores what is meant by an educated populace, how that can be measured, and whether Canadians have the knowledge required to create a healthy, wise, and sustainable society. Ideally, evidence of positive learning outcomes should be seen in desirable societal outcomes such as good health, equity, environmental stewardship, cultural diversity, and social wellbeing.
Specifically, this new GPIAtlantic report includes important information and trends in basic literacy, civic literacy, and ecological literacy, access to education (including student debt and tuition), the independence of university research, and financing of public education. The report also examines the inadequacy of conventional education indicators like graduation and drop-out rates, and the need for new indicators of educational attainment that assess how educated and knowledgeable the populace actually is. A comprehensive list of potential education indicators has been developed to provide examples of the types of indicators that can be used to create a broader and more meaningful assessment of knowledge and learning outcomes in the populace than is presently possible, along with descriptions of some of the best measurement tools currently available in these areas.
Nova Scotians Value Friendship and Generosity over Material Wealth
Authors: Mike Pennock, Martha Pennock, Linda Panozzo, and Ronald Colman
These Community GPI Profiles summarize key results from unique community-level surveys conducted by GPI Atlantic in Kings County and Glace Bay - two Nova Scotia communities that have very different socio-economic profiles. GPI Atlantic surveyed more than 3,600 residents, randomly selected, on key aspects of wellbeing, including health, jobs, livelihood, safety, social supports, volunteer work, and environmental attitudes and behaviours that are rarely addressed in conventional surveys. The surveys also provide first time results on the core values that Nova Scotians hold, with respondents asked to rank ten values in terms of their importance as guiding life principles, and to rate their own life satisfaction, happiness, health, and stress levels. The surveys were constructed after extensive community consultations, and took at least two hours to complete. Response rates were more than 70% in Kings County and a remarkable 82% in Glace Bay.
In addition to the Kings County and Glace Bay GPI Community Profiles, a third volume titled A Tale of Two Communities, compares some key results from both communities. Four PowerPoint presentations are also offered here as summaries of key results - one each for Kings County and Glace Bay, and two providing longer and shorter comparisons of key results. The full Kings County GPI survey results and database are housed at Acadia University and can be accessed by filling out the data access forms available on the GPI Kings website. The full Glace Bay GPI survey results are housed at Cape Breton University and can be accessed by filling out the data access forms available on the GPI Glace Bay website. The surveys themselves are available here.
Direct and indirect costs of crime in Nova Scotia, including public costs, defensive expenditures, victim losses, trends over time, relation to demographic and social variables, and inter-provincial comparisons.
