National Adult Literacy Database

Large-scale educational reform requires a significant investment of resources and, if unsuccessful, risks wasting students’ and teachers’ time. The authors of this paper look at previous attempts at educational reform in many countries and ask what lessons Canada can take from these efforts.

Educational change is a slow process that requires adequate time and resources, but decision-makers often wish to see rapid results, the authors note. Educational reform efforts have typically swung back and forth between different ideologies, with resulting criticism that reforms are based on educational trends rather than evidence; are implemented too hastily; and are without effective assessment systems.

These common criticisms point to the importance of considering empirical evidence when initiating large-scale educational reform programs, and of the need for ongoing monitoring and evaluation of the impact of change.