September 1999 Fraser Forum

	September 1999 - Contents

	Features
Claudia Rebanks Hepburn	Canadian Student Achievement: A Texas-Style Celebration? Our students’ achievement is mediocre compared to that of their peers in other countries. There is a solution to the problem.

John Bishop	How Provincial Diploma Exams Improve Student Learning What effects do provincial diploma examinations have on student achievement? Evidence suggests that curriculum-based examinations increase student achievement.

Laura Jones	Green Education or Indoctrination? Many environmental textbooks miss the point that when it comes to improving environmental quality, economic growth and technology can be part of the solution.

Peter Cowley	September Questions & Answers and September Graph Is there any evidence that girls do better than boys in school, or that affluent neighbourhoods affect children’s achievement in school?

John McCarthy	An Update on Canada’s First (and Only) Charter Schools In 1994 Alberta became the first province to enact legislation establishing charter schools. The movement is now at a cross-road.

	Articles
Owen Lippert	When Anything Goes, Everybody Stays When the policy ambitions of Canada’s Supreme Court are increasingly viewed as both "Liberal" and activist, the "majesty" of the law suffers.
Marc Law & Jason Clemens	Cost Competitiveness Is Not Productivity Canada is cost competitive because of the low value of the Canadian dollar. Unfortunately, its productivity growth has been among the worst in the OECD.

Brigitte Pellerin	The Other Side of Political Discourse By using rhetoric skillfully, opinion leaders can spread their ideology in such a way as to not arouse suspicion in their audience. Quebec separation offers a case in point.
Kare Selick	Equality is not the Goal People are born with different capacities and different natural talents. These differences will produce disparities, no matter how much equality under the law they receive.

Helke Ferrie	Dr. Krop’s Punishment: Alternative Medicine at Risk? In January, Dr. Jozef Krop was found guilty of "professional misconduct" for treating six patients using unconventional therapies, his patients’ support notwithstanding.

Jason clemens	Investment Climate in the Provinces is Mixed Respondents to the Summer 1999 Fraser Institute Survey of Senior Investment Managers say that not all provincial governments offer equally good investment climates.

William McArthur, MD	Canadian Medical Technology - A National Disgrace Among OECD countries, Canada has a poor record for high technology equipment. But the constrained availability of this equipment does not reflect a lack of demand.

Patrick Basham & Jason Clemens	Does the United Way Offer an Alternative to Government Regulation? "Voluntary intermediaries," such as the United Way, that act as a link between donors and organizations, offer an effective alternative to government regulation.

	From Fraser Friend to Founder’s Circle ...The Fraser Institute Introduces Six New Membership Categories

	Fraser Students

Kristin McCahon	Editor's Notes

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Last Modified: Thursday, September 23, 1999.