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Current Grants

The Foundation is currently supporting the following active projects.

The goal of this pilot project is to contribute to school planning approaches that develop and support preventative, self-sustaining, positive environments. The project will plan, implement, and evaluate whole school strategies aimed at creating a social environment that promotes all children's mental health & well-being in 3 elementary school and 1 junior high school within the Calgary Board of Education. Results will be communicated in professional journals and public forums.

In December, 2004, Max Bell Foundation committed an investment of $259,382 over three years (2005-2007) toward this three year, $731,000 project.

C. D. Howe Institute
BC & Alberta School Performance Indicators and Rankings

Publicized school rankings can contribute to improved education policy and practice in a number of ways. They keep public attention focused on the need for continued improvement in student achievement and school accountability. They provide information that parents may use in making choices about where to send their children to school. The method used in this project disaggregates school-based factors from socio-economic status (SES). Schools that are comparable in terms of SES but different in terms of achievement provide an opportunity to investigate what school-based factors account for the differential.

The goal of this project is to help ensure that school accountability is improved, student achievement remains in the public eye, and that public acceptance of quality measures is bolstered in BC and Alberta.

In September, 2006, Max Bell Foundation committed an investment of $57,500 over two years to this two year, $98,000 project.

C. D. Howe Institute
The Education Papers

This series of high-quality analyses relevant to current and emergent debates over issues in education in Canada is intended to shape the agendas and inform the debates of engaged citizens and policy decision makers.

In December, 2003, Max Bell Foundation committed an investment of $100,000 over three years toward this three year, $347,000 initiative.

To date, C. D. Howe Institute has published the following papers from this initiative:

• Canada's Future in the Balance: New Approaches to Effective Education (speech given by Jack Mintz at Economics Club of Toronto, January, 2004). (.pdf)
  "I bet you are asking yourself right now: Why is the C.D. Howe Institute, Canada's leading economic policy research organization, devoting so much effort and resources to education? Well, the answer is simple: There is no single issue - none - that will so directly affect the overall economic well-being of our nation and its citizens in the decades that stretch before us, as far as the eye can see. Creating an education system that is the envy of the world must be a national priority."

• Stay in School: New Lessons on the Benefits of Raising the Legal School-Leaving Age (.pdf)
  One in five young adults lacks a high-school diploma. This paper examines one possible response: raising the minimum school-leaving age above 16. Doing so yields small increases in an individual's length of schooling, decreases the dropout rate, and increases the fraction of young adults with at least some college or university. An additional year of compulsory schooling not only lowers the probability of being unemployed but also boosts weekly earnings.

• Redirecting Rae: Some Proposals for Postsecondary Education in Ontario (.pdf)
  The government of Ontario undertook a Postsecondary Review in 2004-2005. Led by Bob Rae, the purpose was to review the design and funding of Ontario's postsecondary education system and recommend improvements. This paper argues that the Ontario government was right to respond quickly to Rae's advice about the importance of post-secondary education, but should begin to deviate from Rae's recommendations. Tuition fees should be treated not as a residual source of funding available to ensure that the PSE system meets the government's own version of society's priorities, but as a significant source of revenue that individual institutions should be free to compete for by responding quickly to the ever changing priorities of their students.

• Carrots & Sticks: The Effect of Recent Spending and Tax Changes on the Incentive to Attend University (.pdf)
  Current debates over university funding are dominated by the view that tuition fees and student debt loads are increasing as government support is decreasing. This focus has eclipsed the effect of tax measures on the incentive to invest in human capital. This paper shows that the effective subsidy rate fell only slightly between 1998 and 2003, while the effective tax rate fell substantially more. Consequently, net encouragement to university studies increased from 5.8 percent to 10.8 percent in that period. The form of public encouragement of university participation has changed somewhat and increased in recent years.

• Selling Postsecondary Education: The Role of Private Vocational and Career Colleges (.pdf)
  Private Career Colleges play an important and unique role in Canada's education system. This paper argues that the sector and the Canadian labour market would be better served if an expanded system of self-regulation replaced the current approach to regulating private career colleges. Further, there are no compelling reasons to exclude private institutions or their students from public assistance, and students who graduate from private career colleges fare better, economically and socially, than students who possess only a high school credential. Because private career college students typically pay higher fees than community college or university students, governments could increase the level of public support by upping the student loan limits for students in this sector.

• Public Investment in Skills: Are Canadian Governments Doing Enough? (.pdf)
  Canadians do not perform well on international tests of literacy and numeracy for adults, particularly when compared to other highly developed countries. There is a clear and significant relationship between investments in human capital and both long-run economic growth and long-run labour productivity. Literacy and numeracy test results are connected to economically important, quantifiable outcomes, and therefore underline the importance of producing publicly available indicators of student and school performance based on standardized skills tests. Further, policy incentives for job-related training and lifelong learning, particularly measures targeted at people with very low skills, would likely generate substantial economic rewards.

• School Class Size: Smaller Isn't Better (.pdf)
  There is no solid base of empirical evidence to show that smaller classes improve student achievement beyond kindergarten and grade one, when pupils are being socialized into the classroom environment. Even in those first school years, the gains in achievement observed are relatively small and do not carry through to later years. Recent standardized test scores from Canadian pupils aged 13 to 16 years old show no evidence that smaller classes are better, either for achievement or classroom atmosphere. Because reducing class size is enormously expensive, it is very likely that the money being spent there could be better spent on other educational policies, such as continuous teacher training, which, unlike class size reduction, have been shown to improve student performance.

• Aboriginal Off-Reserve Education: Time for Action (.pdf)
  The links among income, employment and education levels exist for Aboriginals as much as for other Canadians. Among Aboriginals in their prime income-earning years, the employment rate ranges from below 45 percent for those living on-reserve in the three prairie provinces to above 70 percent for off-reserve Aboriginals in Alberta and Ontario. Jobs matter, but to get a good job, education matters more now than in generations past. This paper argues that Aboriginal education results must be a higher priority than in recent years. Two thirds of Aboriginals now live off-reserve, and off-reserve education is under provincial jurisdiction. Bringing coherence to Aboriginal education policy will require engagement by the provinces. The authors recommend a combination of strategies: enhanced student mobility, creation of magnet schools, and school enrichment.

• Reframing Education: How To Create Effective Schools (.pdf)
  Research reveals that eight major characteristics have been widely identified as factors that positively influence student achievement: a focus on student achievement, effective classroom instruction, a shared vision about educational purpose among school staffs, an orderly and secure climate for learning, strong leadership (particularly from principals), a linkage between assessment and curricular practices, high standards and expectations for students and, finally, supportive home-school links. Taken as a whole, these eight factors provide educational policymakers with useful guidelines to improve student performance and the quality of schooling that young people receive. Research on effective schooling also furnishes important insights for school administrators and policymakers into the complexities of large school systems. Most importantly, effective schools research points to the necessity of looking at school systems as a whole and promoting research into organizational factors that lie outside schools, but within school systems.

• How We Pay Professors and Why It Matters (.pdf)
  Academic salaries now account for more than twenty percent of total university operating expenditures. Salary structures set the incentives for faculty to advance the mission of their university: the transfer and creation of knowledge. This paper argues that salaries of university professors should substantially recognize performance. Evidence shows that the performance of universities with merit-based salaries exceeds that of other universities. They perform better in a variety of research-based and quality measures such as entrance grades, the success of faculty in gaining research grants, and the citations received by faculty publications. Elimination or reduction of the seniority-based element in university salaries would benefit higher education. Provincial governments may need to foster greater competitive pressures among universities by making funding follow students, rather than the other way around. Such pressures may force universities to rethink their salary policies.

Campus Calgary
City Hall School

Campus Calgary provides Calgary teachers and students with opportunities to spend a long term (approximately 8-week) period of interdisciplinary study focused on a week in a local setting such as the Zoo, Glenbow Museum, Science Center, Canada Olympic Park, etc. This project adds Calgary's City Hall to Campus Calgary's offerings.

In May, 1999, Max Bell Foundation committed an investment of $274,250 over five years toward this five year, $322,000 project.

The Fraser Institute
Centre for Entrepreneurship in Education

Based on the premise that improvement through innovation in K-12 education in Canada would be fostered in part by parental awareness and advocacy, the goal of the proposed project is to encourage the consideration of alternative education delivery models.

In December, 2005, the Foundation committed an investment of $100,000 over 3 years to this 3-year, $313,000 project.

McGill Institute for the Study of Canada
Innovation and Implementation in Public Policy

The goal of the initiative is to generate, test, and disseminate for use a model of policy analysis that synthesizes the insights of policy inquiry in three domains (Media, Health Care, and Food). The new model will be transferable across domains, and based upon evidence-based answers to the following questions:
- what catalyzes policy change?
- what innovations produce new policy outcomes?
- what role do the media play in fostering public concern in policy matters?
- how do policies perpetuate themselves?

In April, 2005, Max Bell Foundation committed an investment of $320,000 over three years to this three-year, $320,000 project.

McGill University Department of Educational and Counseling Psychology
University Teaching: Meeting Challenges and Demands

Some form of pedagogical development could help faculty carry out their teaching responsibility with greater competence and confidence, resulting in more positive learning experiences for students.

The overall purpose of this demonstration project is to enhance the quality of teaching in Canadian universities. The project involves:

• Developing the pedagogical competency of new faculty;
  

• Assessing the effectiveness of pedagogical development programs with respect to the improvement of teaching as well as the learning experiences of students, and
  

• Promoting institutional policies to support teaching and its development and the commitment to dedicate resources for this purpose.

In September, 2005, Max Bell Foundation committed an investment of $250,000 over three years to this three-year, $550,000 project.

McGill University Department of Educational and Counseling Psychology
A Dynamic Assessment of Early Intervention Model for Children with Developmental Delays

The goal of this project is to create a blueprint for Service Provision for Early Intervention (EI) for Families and Children with Developmental Delays that policy makers across Canada can use to guide policy change.

In September, 2005, Max Bell Foundation committed an investment of $237,000 over three years to this three-year, $550,000 project.

Society for the Advancement of Excellence in Education
Follow-Up Research to the 2005 National Survey of Parents and Teachers on Education Issues

This goal of this one year research and communication project is to enrich understandings and advance public discussion of policy and practice alternatives related to school assessment and accountability, and teacher evaluation and compensation.
In September, 2006, Max Bell Foundation committed an investment of $34,150 over one year to this $70,000 project.

Society for the Advancement of Excellence in Education
Baseline Survey of Teacher Preparation Programs in Canada

Teacher education in Canada is controlled by the provinces and delivered by some 89 education-degree-granting institutions which graduate some 15,000 teachers every year. Europe, Australia and the United States are undertaking major evaluations of their teacher preparation programs, but no large scale evaluative research has occurred in Canada. The goal of the proposed project is to document the range of current programs in order to highlight variations and provide a baseline against which improvements can be encouraged and tracked.

In December, 2005, Max Bell Foundation committed an investment of $102,000 over one year to this one-year, $202,000 project.

United Way of Lower Mainland
Evaluation of Success By 6® Partnership in BC

Success By 6 British Columbia (SB6-BC) is an innovative way of organizing and funding service delivery for children. The goals of the proposed evaluation are to:

• improve the SB6-BC strategy framework in order to improve the capacity-building and locally-valuable, locally-supported, coordinated early childhood development service delivery that occurs within that framework;

• improve the positive impacts on children and families of local service delivery programs supported by SB6-BC;

• document and communicate the successes and shortcomings of the SB6-BC partnership as a model for enhancing early childhood development in order that other jurisdictions (e.g., provinces) can use the model for ECD or other policy domains (e.g., youth, seniors, mental health, etc.).

In May, 2005, Max Bell Foundation committed an investment of $420,000 over 3 years to this 3-year, $870,000 project.

University of Calgary Faculty of Nursing
Policy-Relevant Evaluation of Calgary Urban Project Society Intervention Programming

The primary goal of the study is to identify costs and the key elements of CUPS programming that improve and sustain positive health and developmental outcomes for children and their families over the short and long term. A secondary goal is to provide valid evidence to support decision-making about the most effective policies and programs for vulnerable children and their families.

In December, 2003, Max Bell Foundation committed an investment of $195,000 over 4 year to this 4-year, $195,000 project.

Atlantic Institute for Market Studies
Hospital Outcome Assessment in Canada

Using publicly available information from both public and private sector sources, this project assesses the developing framework for hospital accountability in Canada, critiques the systems, methods, and measures being used or proposed, and points to alternatives for improvement.

In December, 2003, Max Bell Foundation committed an investment of $105,000 over five years toward this five year, $160,000 project.

To date, AIMS has published the following outputs related to this project:

• A Finger on the Pulse: Comparative Models for Reporting the Quality of Hospital Care (.pdf)
  Consumers need to be able to compare the quality of different products and services if they are to make an informed choice. That is true whether it is the gas mileage of different models of cars or the quality of health care provided by different hospitals.

• Taking the Pulse: Hospital Performance Indicators from the Patient's Perspective (.pdf)
  The goal of indicators should be to allow meaningful comparisons to be made between hospitals, which can lead to improvements in quality of care and more informed choices for patients. Currently, these goals are only partially being addressed, and in many assessment types, do not appear to be part of the goal at all. If quality of care is to be improved, then providing indicators that aim at measuring true quality differences need to be developed and published widely.

  Recommendations:
  1. Any evaluation of hospital performance should be based on indicators of the quality care for a large number of different conditions.
  2. Indicators should be chosen based on the following criteria: that they use only discrete, high volume diagnoses (to avoid detecting random errors rather than systematic variation); that data collection is standardised; and that data are validated as markers systematic variation.
  3. Assessment of hospital performance should include an adjustment to reflect differences in case mix and illness severity between hospitals.
  4. All organizations should submit severity adjusted information about their outcomes care, using a common methodology.
  5. Quality of care information should be presented in such a way as to facilitate effective and regular use by health consumers in making informed choices about their care.
  

Canadian Caregiver Coalition
Making Caregivers Count

The first goal of this project is to build, through broad consultation, a Canadian Caregiving Strategy (i.e., an integrated, comprehensive set of public policies and programs that will recognize and support family caregivers). The second goal is to have the strategy adopted within health systems at multiple levels across Canada.

In October, 2004, Max Bell Foundation committed an investment of $116,180 over three years to this three year, $232,000 project.

To date, the project has generated the following output:

• Working Paper for a Canadian Caregiver Strategy (.pdf)
  

Canadian Institute for Advanced Research
Successful Societies

CIAR's research program on "Successful Societies," launched in Fall 2002, aims to explore the social processes underlying key health and human development outcomes within populations. In broader respects, the program also seeks to examine the social conditions that underpin the collective development of social communities at the national and local levels. By collective development, we mean the capacity of a society, at any level, to develop features fundamentally tied to social well-being, including social equality and non-violent inter-group behaviour, access to political participation, cultural tolerance, social inclusion, and access to education and employment.

In June, 2005, Max Bell Foundation committed an investment of $250,000 over five years to this initiative.

McGill University - Division of Geriatric Medicine
The Canadian Initiative on Frailty and Aging (www.frail-fragile.ca)

The Canadian Initiative on Frailty and Aging seeks to improve the understanding of the causes and trajectory of frailty, promote wellness and improve the quality of health care and life for older Canadians. Goals of the initiative include proposing a research program on frailty, and developing policy recommendations for decision makers and intervention guidelines for health care professionals.

In December, 2002, Max Bell Foundation committed an investment of $400,000 over four years to this four-year, $700,000 project.

McGill University - Center for Indigenous Peoples' Nutrition
Improving the Health and Health Care Services in Aboriginal Communities Across Northern Canada

The goal of this project is to contribute to building Aboriginal capacity in health research and to improve the health of Aboriginal peoples. The project has three components: promotion of human health and improving health interventions and practices in Aboriginal communities; improving the quality of services and programs offered by Canadian educational institutions related to Aboriginal communities; and improving the ways in which health care services and programs are communicated to Aboriginal communities.

In September, 2004, Max Bell Foundation committed an investment of $240,000 over three years to this three-year, $240,000 project.

McGill University - Faculty of Medicine
McGill Skills Centre Clinical and Communication Skills Program

The goal of this project is to increase the clinical competency of graduates of health professional schools and to nurture a culture of continuing quality control.

In April, 2005, Max Bell Foundation committed an investment of $130,000 over two years to this two-year, $130,000 project.

McGill University - Faculty of Medicine
McGill Curriculum on Physicianship

The goal of this project is develop and employ a medical curriculum within a framework of the physician as healer and professional.

In April, 2005, Max Bell Foundation committed an investment of $412,000 over two years to this five-year, $2.45 million project.

McGill University - Faculty of Medicine
Evaluating Today's Surgeons - A New Surgical Skills Centre

The goal of this project is to contribute to the development of a new paradigm for teaching and learning surgical skills.

In April, 2005, Max Bell Foundation committed an investment of $250,000 to this project.

McGill University - Faculty of Medicine
The McGill Centre for Integrated Whole Person Care

The goal of the Centre for Whole Person Care project is to bring together scholars and clinicians from different disciplines to collaborate on research, teaching programs, curriculum development, and clinical projects related to whole person care. The Centre will act as a locus of excellence for issues related to healing and suffering and will be an academic home for leading scholars, both from McGill and from around the world.

In April, 2005, Max Bell Foundation committed an investment of $194,950 over three years to this three-year, $2,120,000 project.

McGill University International Centre for Youth Gambling Problems and High-Risk Behaviours
Helping Youth with Gambling Problems through Online Interventions

The goals of this pilot project are to assess the feasibility of an on-line therapeutic intervention for adolescent problem gambling, and to inform treatment providers and policy decision makers how such an on-line therapeutic intervention compares to traditional therapeutic models.

In September, 2005, Max Bell Foundation committed an investment of $144,400 over 18 months to this 18-month, $144,400 project.

Pollution Probe
National Child Health and Environment Policy Consultation

While the degree of risk remains uncertain because of an incomplete research base, we can be certain that our children are at some risk as a result of exposure to environmental toxins. This proposal is based on the premise that the best way to address this situation is to try to reduce or eliminate toxic exposures through the creation and implementation of child health-protective legislation and policies. The goal of this project is to bring together scientists, policy experts and a diverse group of stakeholders to begin an ongoing process of educating decision-makers about the value of pursuing child health-protective legislation and policies.

In December, 2005, Max Bell Foundation committed an investment of $150,000 over 18 months to this 18-month, $410,000 project.

Ducks Unlimited
Incentives for Watershed Protection in the Beaver Hills

The goal of this project is to develop approaches for conserving natural capital that can be tested in the Beaver Hills/Cooking Lake Moraine region of Alberta. The outcome will be a preliminary assessment of natural capital in the region, and a strategy for testing key policy options for managing natural capital in an area experiencing impacts from the rapid expansion of adjacent urban areas.

In September, 2006, Max Bell Foundation committed an investment of $35,000 over one year to this one-year, $75,000 project.

McGill University Brace Centre for Water Resources Management
New Policy and Decision-Making Tools for Water Quality Management

The overall goal of this study is to develop new tools that will improve Phosphorus management policy and reduce Phosphorus pollution in rural watersheds.

In June, 2005, Max Bell Foundation committed an investment of $382,900 over four years to this three-year, $550,000 project.

Athol Murray College of Notre Dame
Upgrades to Max Bell Hall

During his lifetime, Max Bell had a special relationship with Athol Murray College of Notre Dame. The Max Bell Hall houses 60 boys of the total 350 co-educational student body, and has two house parent residences and a dean suite. The physical plant of Max Bell Hall required renovation.

In December, 2005, Max Bell Foundation committed an investment of up to $325,000 toward this renovation.

Lester B. Pearson College of the Pacific
Improvements to Max Bell Hall

At the centre of the Pearson Campus, Max Bell Hall includes several classrooms, and a 300-seat theater.

In December, 2005, Max Bell Foundation committed an investment of up to $204,000 toward this renovation.

NeuroScience Canada
Building a Coalition of Neuroscience Organizations

The goal of this project is to build a coalition of neuroscience groups in order to present one voice for the neurosciences, and to foster greater coordination and collaboration among neuroscience stakeholder groups. The coalition will erve to more effectively capture the interest and attention of the general public and all levels of government, and develop public policy solutions to the needs of those impacted by brain and nerve-related conditions.

In September, 2006, Max Bell Foundation committed an investment of $240,152 over two and a half years to this three year, $557,000 project.