Mr. Bhullar: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Many of the world's leading educational thinkers believe that education systems around North America are systematically draining creativity out of our children by focusing on standardized curriculum, standardized instruction, and standardized testing. To the Minister of Education: what is your department doing to ensure our system is developing and building upon the natural ability and passion of our students? Mr. Hancock: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. A...

Today, the Obama administration launched a new program called "Educate to Innovate," which President Obama described as "a nationwide effort to help reach the goal this administration has set: moving to the top in science and math education in the next decade."...

The draft K-12 Arts Education Curriculum Framework proposes a unified vision for arts education in Alberta across the four arts disciplines — drama, dance, visual arts, and music — from elementary through senior high school. It outlines opportunities for learning in, about and through the arts. This means retaining the traditions and rigour of each discipline, while exploring opportunities to infuse the arts across subject areas. I have heard concerns that the draft framework proposes...

Mr. Chase: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The fine arts contribute so much to our society, economy, and the development of our young people. However, this government is using a curriculum review to deliberately weaken valuable fine arts programs in our schools. Students, parents, and teachers are outraged. My questions are to the Minister of Education. If the government truly believes in the importance of our fine arts programs, why is this minister dramatically cutting...

Linda Lantor Fandel, the Des Moines Register's deputy editorial page editor, has won first place in the opinion category in the 2008 National Awards for Education Reporting for her series, "World Class Schools for Iowa?" As part of her series, Linda visited Alberta to discover what makes Alberta's schools among the very best in the world. Her in-depth article "Alberta keeps pushing to improve its schools" is well worth reading and sharing....