A Delaware Delegation Studies in Alberta

Yesterday, a Delaware education delegation landed in Alberta, Canada, beginning a four-day international study tour. The delegation, including our own President and CEO Paul Herdman, joined policymakers, state and district education officials, thought leaders, and foundation executives from across the U.S. to participate in this study tour hosted by the Education Funder Strategy Group. The group will examine the policies and practices that are propelling this high-performing education system, as well as share insights to inform their respective state’s efforts to improve student learning and achievement.

Alberta’s education system is recognized as one of the world’s best. If Alberta were considered an independent country/jurisdiction, it would be among the top 10 in the world on PISA for reading and science and among the top 15 in math. Over the past few years, there have been many innovations to support a vision for 21st century learning, including a focus on personalized learning.

To dig deeply into the education system, the group will be attending many school visits, meeting teachers, principals, and policymakers in Edmonton. Edmonton is the capital of Alberta and is a top performing school system in the province.

Edmonton mirrors Delaware in many respects. We have roughly the same number of schools and students, share similar poverty rates, and share similar percentages of racial/ ethnic minority populations. We also both share a commitment to early learning and have prioritized improving the quality of and access to early learning centers, as well as alignment with the K-12 system. However, Edmonton’s student performance is better than Delaware’s, despite having less per-pupil student expenditures.

Since our communities are very similar, yet Edmonton is outperforming our state, there is much to learn from this trip. Recognizing this unique opportunity, we will be publishing a blog series from the Delaware delegates. Check back to our blog to read their reactions throughout this tour.