Ottawa report: Education

Ottawa Wellbeing Report – Education This is part of a series of reports that provide a snapshot of community wellbeing for Ottawa.

Following the Canadian Index of Wellbeing framework, each report presents data from the eight domains of wellbeing. These domains are: Community Vitality, Democratic Engagement, Education, Environment, Healthy Populations, Leisure and Culture, Living Standards, and Time Use. This report presents data for the Education domain. Due to gaps in available data at the local level, data are presented on selected indicators within the eight domains of wellbeing. Furthermore, some of the indicators found in Ottawa reports differ from those in the Canadian Index of Wellbeing. In this report, the data are presented for the City of Ottawa, unless otherwise specified. Where possible, data for Ottawa are compared to those for Ontario and/or Canada.

Key Messages • • • •

In Ottawa, the need for childcare spaces far exceeds the number of spaces that are available.

The majority of Ottawa’s senior kindergarten students achieved the developmental expectations to be able to meet demands of school for the period 2010-2012.

In 2011, more youth aged 20 to 24 years in Ottawa completed high school compared to Ontario and Canada.

Compared to Ontario and Canada, a higher proportion of Ottawa residents held a university degree in 2011.

The Canadian Index of Wellbeing defines education using a lifespan approach (Guhn et al., 2010).

Education is recognized as a form of learning process that continues throughout the life course. In addition, it is transferred from one generation to the next through teaching and training. As such, the indicators found in this domain begins with early childhood education, to school readiness for kindergarten-aged children, to competencies of youth in middle school, to high school completion, and to postsecondary education. These indicators encompass three areas of education – social and emotional competencies, basic educational knowledge and skills, and overall academic achievement and attainment (Guhn et al., 2010). This report presents selected indicators from the Education domain of the Canadian Index of Wellbeing for Ottawa (refer to Table A1 of the Appendix for a list of indicators).

What is the current data telling us?

Early childhood education Early childhood education is not only an important part of development but it also lays the foundation for lifelong learning (Child Care Canada, 2002). In Ottawa, the availability of licensed childcare spaces for children aged 12 and under experienced steady growth. According to the City of Ottawa (2001-2014), the number of licensed childcare spaces per 1,000 children aged 0 to 12 years increased from 121 to 148. Between 2008 and 2009, the number of licensed childcare spaces increased from 19,975 to 20,950 1

(Community Foundation of Ottawa, 2010). Despite the increase in the number of available spaces, demand for childcare also increased. The number of children on waiting lists for licensed childcare went up from 6,895 in 2008 to 7,373 in 2009. Furthermore, data stratified by ward indicate that the demand for childcare far exceeds the number of available spaces for half of the city’s wards (i.e., 12 out of 23) (Pearson, 2012). In 2012, 246 childcare spaces were offered in River ward, all of which were filled. In addition, 298 children were waiting to get a spot (Pearson, 2012). Similarly, in the Gloucester-South Nepean ward, 295 children were on the waiting list for one of 195 licensed spaces (Pearson, 2012).

Transition to school: developmental health in kindergarten The Early Development Instrument (EDI) is a measurement tool that assesses developmental outcomes of the early years in five domains – physical health & wellbeing, social competence, emotional maturity, language & cognitive development, and communication skills and general knowledge (Jubenville et al., 2013). It is used as an indicator of developmental health among senior kindergarten (SK) students prior to their entry into the school system (Jubenville et al., 2013). Results of the 2010-2012 EDI show that the majority of SK students in Ottawa met the developmental expectations necessary to be able to meet the demands of the formal school system (Jubenville et al., 2013). The percentage of SK students classified as “Not On Track” (i.e., categories “at risk” and ”vulnerable”) was lower than the Ontario baseline in all five domains, with the largest differences observed in the Physical Health and Wellbeing and Language and Cognitive Development domains (see Figure 1). Compared to previous years of the EDI, Ottawa’s general performance against the provincial baseline in vulnerability improved slightly in 2012-2012.

Specifically, a significantly lower percentage of SK students classified as “vulnerable” was observed in 2010-2012 compared to previous EDI cycles in the Language and Cognitive Development and the Communication Skills and General Knowledge domains. However, there was a decline in performance in the Physical Health and Wellbeing and the Social Competence domains where a significantly higher percentage was observed.

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Figure 1. Developmental health by EDI domain and cycle

Source: Adapted from Jubenville, K., Lafrenière, A., Millar, C., de Quimper, C., and Woods, K. (2013).

Developmental Health at School Entry in Ottawa – Results from the 2010-12 implementation of the Early Development Instrument and Kindergarten Parent Survey in Ottawa. Program Effectiveness Data Analysis Coordinators, Parent Resource Centre, Ottawa, ON.

The percentage of SK students in Ottawa who scored low on one or more domains was 25.6% in 20102012, which presented no significant changes from previous EDI cycles. However, when compared to the Ontario baseline of 28.0%, the Ottawa percentage was lower. Similarly, the percentage of SK students scoring low on 3 or more domains was lower in Ottawa (3.1%) compared to Ontario (3.8%) (Jubenville et al., 2013).

High school completion Often used as an indicator of educational attainment for a population, high school completion indicates overall attainment and has been recognized as a predictor of later socioeconomic status and health outcomes (Guhn et al., 2012). In 2011, 93.3% of the youth population aged 20 to 24 years completed high school in the Ontario part of the Ottawa-Gatineau census metropolitan area (CMA) (Statistics Canada, 2014). The youth high school completion rate in Ottawa was higher compared to the rates for Canada and Ontario (88.6% and 91.3%, respectively) for the same year (Statistics Canada, 2014).

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Postsecondary education Postsecondary educational attainment for adults aged 25 to 64 years is indicative of the education involvement of the workforce and is consistent with the life course approach to education. This is important as Canadian society is getting increasingly knowledge-based where high levels of education are often a requirement for employees (Guhn et al., 2012). For the Ottawa-Gatineau CMA (Ontario part), the proportion of adults aged 25 to 64 years who held a university degree or certificate at or above bachelor level was 41.7% in 2011 (Statistics Canada, 2014). This is higher compared to the rates for Canada and Ontario were 25.9% and 28.9%, respectively, for the same year (Statistics Canada, 2014).

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References Child Care Canada (Childcare Resource and Research Unit). (2002). Building a firm foundation for lifelong learning: The importance of early childhood education and care.

City of Ottawa. (2011-2014). Child Care Services. Retrieved from http://ottawa.ca/en/cityhall/accountability-and-transparency/corporate-planning-and-performance-management/childcare.

Community Foundation of Ottawa. Ottawa’s Vital Signs 2010 – The City’s Annual Checkup. Retrieved from http://www.cfo-fco.ca/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/VitalSigns2010.pdf.

Guhn, M., Gadermann, A. M., & Zumbo, B. D. (2010). Education – A report of the Canadian Index of Wellbeing (CIW). Waterloo: Canadian Index of Wellbeing.

Jubenville, K., Lafrenière, A., Millar, C., de Quimper, C., and Woods, K. (2013). Developmental Health at School Entry in Ottawa – Results from the 2010-12 implementation of the Early Development Instrument and Kindergarten Parent Survey in Ottawa. Program Effectiveness Data Analysis Coordinators, Parent Resource Centre, Ottawa, ON. Ottawa Parent Resource Centre. (2014). Ottawa Community Profiles. Retrieved from http://www.parentresource.ca/en/ottawaprc/Ottawa_Community_Profiles_p3010.html.

Pearson, M. (2012, August 7). Urgent need for more child care spaces across city: Data shows 12 wards where demand is highest. The Ottawa Citizen. Retrieved from http://www.theottawacitizen.com.

Statistics Canada. (2014). 2011 National Household Survey, Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 99-012X2011040.

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Appendix Table A1. A comparison between deadline indicators from the Education domain of the Canadian Index of Wellbeing and the indicators presented in this report.

Domain Education

Canadian Index of Wellbeing Headline Indicators Early childhood education and care – Ratio of available childcare spaces to children 0-5 years Transition to school: developmental health in kindergarten – Percentage of children doing well on five developmental domains (age 5) High school completion – Percentage of young adults (20-24 years) who completed high school Postsecondary education – Percentage of 25 – 64 year olds in population with a university degree Student-educator ratio in public schools – Ratio of students to educators in the public school system Social and emotional competences in middle childhood – Average of 5 selfreported scores on social and emotional competence (i.e., peer belonging, friendship intimacy, self-concept, prosocial behavior, empathy, and bullying) for 12 to 13 year olds Basic educational knowledge and skills of youth – Math, reading, and science skill test scores for 13 to 15 year olds Equality in education: the socioeconomic gradient – % of Programme for International Student Assessment scores explained by their parents’ socio-economic status

Indicators presented in this report Early childhood education and care – Number of available childcare spaces Transition to school: developmental health in kindergarten – Percentage of children doing well on five developmental domains High school completion – Percentage of young adults (20-24 years) who completed high school Postsecondary education – Percentage of 25 – 64 year olds in population with a university degree

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