2007 News Releases

For the second time in a week, international test results have placed Alberta students among the world’s best.
 

Alberta Grade 4 students achieved top three in the world in the latest international literacy tests.
 

Teachers’ Pension Plans Amendment Act, 2007, which was introduced in the Legislature November 21, will authorize government to pay $25 million to cover the teachers’ share of the pre-1992 unfunded pension liability from September 1 to the end of December.
 

Young Albertans are encouraged to ‘reverse it’ and ‘be better than bullying’ to make Alberta’s communities safer. The “Reverse it. Be better than bullying,” awareness campaign encourages youth to change behaviour that may cause hurt or harm to others.
 

The Alberta government and the Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA) have reached an agreement in principle to address the $2.1-billion teachers’ pre-1992 unfunded pension liability.
 

Education Minister Ron Liepert will represent the province at the 39th WorldSkills Competition in Shizouka, Japan from November 14-18.
 

The Alberta government has invited construction industry applicants to submit their qualifications for the public-private partnership (P3) new schools pilot project. The project, announced in June, will result in the construction of 18 new schools in Edmonton and Calgary.
 

A new $1 million partnership agreement between the Government of Alberta and Microsoft Canada will benefit more than 2,000 students participating in a wireless learning project in Alberta.
 

Alberta students are becoming global citizens thanks to teacher exchange programs coordinated through Alberta Education. To acknowledge these contributions to education, teachers from Alberta and abroad are being recognized on October 5, World Teachers’ Day.
 

Students have significantly improved in many areas of learning including staying in school and excelling on diploma examinations; they're also reporting that they are receiving a quality education, according to Alberta Education's annual Accountability Pillar results report. However, student performance on Provincial Achievement Tests (PATs) and Diploma Examinations (DIPs) at the acceptable level has declined, leading to an examination of ways to address these results.
 

Alberta students are benefiting from enhanced second language instruction thanks to a Government of Alberta scholarship and bursary program that awarded a total of $85,000 to 24 current and future Kindergarten to Grade 12 teachers.
 

More Alberta youth have new opportunities to stay in school, thanks to five new outreach programs launched this September.
 

Education Minister Ron Liepert is exploring innovative new approaches to career programming during a one-day tour of facilities in Portland, Oregon and Vancouver, Washington on September 17.
 

The Government of Alberta is investing $97 million, in unanticipated 4th quarter surplus dollars, into 17 school infrastructure projects as part of an overall $350-million commitment to capital maintenance. These new dollars will be allocated to 17 school jurisdictions across the province to significantly enhance learning environments for students and staff.
 

Government has allocated $100 million from Alberta Education's 2007-08 capital budget to the four major school boards in Edmonton and Calgary to support school infrastructure modernization projects.
 

Premier Ed Stelmach is accelerating discussions with the Alberta Teachers' Association (ATA) to find a lasting solution to the teachers' unfunded pension liability.
 

The provincial government has released two reports, which identifies promising practices used by several Alberta schools to heighten academic achievement and support high school completion among First Nations, Métis and Inuit (FNMI) students.
 

A new partnership between government and business will increase student access to technology careers by making an internationally recognized technology certificate available to students at a reduced cost.
 

An innovative approach to new school construction by the Alberta Government will result in 18 new schools opening in Edmonton and Calgary by September 2010, the largest Kindergarten to Grade 9 (K-9) schools project undertaken in Canada.
 

An innovative approach to new school construction by the Alberta Government will result in nine new schools in Calgary by September 2010.
 

An innovative approach to new school construction by the Alberta Government will result in nine new schools opening in Edmonton by September 2010.
 

The Government of Alberta has committed $1 million to fund the modernization of a new Career and Technology Studies (CTS) lab at J.A. Williams High School (JAWS) in Lac La Biche.
 

The Government of Alberta has committed to support multiple school projects in the St. Paul region, including funding for St. Paul Education Regional Division (SPERD) to support a second phase of modernization for the St. Paul Regional High School’s Career and Technology Studies (CTS) lab.
 

The provincial government has appointed Allan Scott of Edmonton as the third member of a provincial task force to review options to address the teachers' portion of the pre-1992 unfunded pension liability.
 

Education Minister Ron Liepert expressed his disappointment in the Alberta Teachers' Association's (ATA) decision not to participate as a member of the task force established to seek long term solutions to the teachers' portion of the pre-1992 unfunded liability issue which currently sits at $2.1 billion.
 

The provincial government today announced the members of a provincial task force to review options to address the teachers’ portion of the pre-1992 unfunded pension liability.
 

Twenty-three outstanding teachers will have their contributions to Alberta's students celebrated at a special awards ceremony in Edmonton on May 12.
 

Grade 5 students at Rideau Park School in Edmonton and Irvine School in Irvine used the latest videoconferencing technology to take a science-focussed art lesson from celebrated Canadian wildlife artist Robert Bateman in Victoria , British Columbia .
 

As part of Budget 2007, the province is providing $4.5 million to help Alberta schools enhance and improve existing facilities and equipment used for Career and Technology Studies (CTS).
 

Findings from a province-wide consultation aimed at keeping students in school demonstrate that a shared commitment from the Alberta government and communities is needed to effect change.
 

The important role language development plays in a child's education will be recognized this September when the Alberta government extends English as a Second Language (ESL) and Francisation programs to children as young as 3½ years old.
 

The government has submitted a letter to the Alberta Teachers' Association (ATA) to commence discussions on seeking a fair, final and lasting solution to the teachers' portion of the pre-1992 unfunded pension liability.
 

Alberta's Kindergarten to Grade 12 education system for the 2007-08 fiscal year will reach nearly $5.8 billion - an increase of $204 million or 3.7% over the previous fiscal year.
 

The 2007 Excellence in Teaching Awards Program is recognizing 130 Alberta teachers as award finalists, celebrating their outstanding creativity and innovation in our province's Kindergarten to Grade 12 education system.
 

When it comes to new ideas for improving student learning, educators are once again showing made-in-Alberta solutions are second to none.