Economics for Canadians

This past week I distributed inspection copies of Economics for Canadians to English-language CEGEPs in Quebec while next week I will be visiting many of Ontario’s community colleges to do the same.

Meanwhile, I am pleased to have received a few orders for class sets of the book from Ontario high schools. I am surprised to have received these orders as it was almost the summer holidays by the time I was able to get inspection copies into some Ottawa-area schools and to some other interested teachers I had met during the OBEA spring conference. Anyway, I am happy that these teachers (and department heads) had some money in their budgets and will be able to use Economics for Canadians with their students right away!

One question that came up on my tour of Quebec this week was whether the book had been peer-reviewed. On reflection, I can say that the book has been professionally reviewed three times. First, I engaged the lead teaching assistant for first-year economics at Queen’s University as the book’s proofreader. He shared with me his opinion that students using the book would be well-prepared for university-level economics. Second, I paid for a formal evaluation by Curriculum Services Canada in hopes of getting the book placed on the Ontario Ministry of Education’s Trillium List of approved textbooks. While the book was not recommended for inclusion on the Trillium List, the evaluators stressed that “the textbook is of excellent quality, overall.” Lastly, this book grew out of my first book, Workbook for the New I.B. Economics, which has so far sold over 2500 copies to International Baccalaureate schools around the world. The feedback I received from the I.B. teachers using the book definitely had an impact on the form and content of Economics for Canadians. Overall, while of course I did proofread and edit Workbook for the New I.B. Economics, I have to admit that I now regard it as almost a first draft for Economics for Canadians, and cannot wait to improve it later this year when I anticipate having to reprint it.

Last week I received the evaluation report from Curriculum Services Canada for “Economics for Canadians.” The good news? The evaluators stressed that the book was of excellent quality overall. The bad news? Due to concerns regarding issues of bias and sensitivity, the book was not recommended for inclusion on the Trillium List.

Sadly, I am not allowed to share the evaluation report in full, as despite my having had to pay CSC to prepare the report, it is the property of the Ministry of Education of Ontario and is confidential. I wish it weren’t because the report is overwhelmingly positive concerning the book’s content, methodology, and assessment. As my proofreader put it to me after handing back the manuscript, students using the book will understand what economics is about and will be well-prepared to study it at the university level.

While I am disappointed that the book will not be on the Trillium List I also feel that the bias and sensitivity issues raised in the report are somewhat frivolous. Understandably, the Ministry is extremely cautious about ensuring that nothing it approves could lead to accusations of bias or insensitivity. However, as my graphic designer and style editor (who is herself quite aware of matters of sensitivity and bias) did not find anything objectionable in the book I continue to feel confident recommending the book be used with Ontario students.

As I will be distributing the book liberally at both the OBEA and OHASSTA conferences this fall I hope that as many interested teachers as possible will have the opportunity to see the book and judge for themselves. In the end, it is the responsibility of teachers to select the materials which best fit the learning needs of their students.

I attach below the letter from the Ministry for your perusal. The bias and sensitivity issues raised by the Curriculum Services Canada evaluators can be found on the “Errors and Corrections” page of this website.

Non-Approval Letter – Croecko Publishing Economics for Canadians

Dr. Michael Burry gave this commencement speech recently to the economics graduates at UCLA. Two things stand out – his insistence on asking questions and on questioning assumptions in order to arrive at the truth, and his advice to, as much as possible, take short term risks in order to enjoy long benefits while avoiding situations that demand that you take on long term risks in order to enjoy short term benefits.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CLhqjOzoyE&feature=player_embedded

The books (both student texts and teachers’ guides) have been delivered and are safely in storage ready to ship. Today sample copies were sent to ministries and teachers in British Columbia, Ontario, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, PEI and Newfoundland for inspection and evaluation, so hopefully you will be hearing about the books from them in the near future.

As well, I have replaced the sample pages (the previous ones were from an interim draft) and have put up a curriculum coverage guide for CIA 4U to give people a clearer idea about the contents of the book. Again, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to send me a message.

Thank you for stopping by my booth at the OBEA conference held on April 19th and 20th at the Holiday Inn on Dixon Road. I really enjoyed meeting many excellent teachers and appreciated the feedback I received concerning “Economics for Canadians.”

The textbook “Economics for Canadians” will be published in early May, 2012. This website will support that book in a number of ways. Over the coming weeks and months, look to see additional exercises, links to learning resources, tutorials and models to enhance student writing and sample quizzes and tests. Sample pages from the book, ordering information and background information about the book and its author will also be available.

So, thank-you for coming today and please stop by again to see what is new over the next few weeks.