Asset Building Conference Belle Auld and Rebecca Featherstone

Recently I attended the Asset Building Learning Exchange (ABLE) conference in Calgary. The student that I tutor (Rebecca) and I (Belle) decided to write up some of the most interesting things I heard at the conference, for On the Same Page.

Evelyn Tait (with the Alberta government) described the ABLE conference very well:

“A national conference on financial empowerment entitled Asset Building Learning Exchange (ABLE) was held Nov. 5 - 6, 2013 in Calgary with many speakers addressing such issues as municipal financial empowerment, predatory lending and unique ways that other jurisdictions have put practices into place which have led to poverty reduction. Minister Hancock and Mayor Nenshi were guest speakers along with specialists in the field of financial literacy and asset building.
In Calgary and in Edmonton there are financial literacy collaboratives - partnerships of non-profit, government and the financial industry working together to increase financial literacy and more recently also involved in poverty reduction initiatives. See www.financialfuturescalgary.ca to learn about Calgary’s collaborative network.”

First of all, here’s an activity for you.

Match the quote to who said it. Some of them are obvious; some of them may surprise you.

“Appreciative enquiry – I hate that term. It keeps us from doing the real work.”
“I think I paid for my son’s Nintendo ten times over”
“...a progressive Republican – we don’t have those in the US anymore.”

Choices:

• Keynote speaker Michael Sherraden
• Panelist from the Financial Inclusion/Financial Exclusion presentation
• Mayor Naheed Nenshi

At the conference I learned from Jennifer Robson (Asset Poverty and Financial Capability:  Canadian and Global Perspective workshop) that people in the highest income bracket get 50% of their assets from tax subsidies. According to keynote Michael Sherraden, in the US most asset building is in the form of tax benefits (especially retirement and home ownership benefits) that go to the top 10% wage earners. Those tax benefits add up to ½ trillion dollars. In Canada, Robson said, $50 billion in tax subsidies (such as RESPs, RRSPs and TFSAs) go to rich people. The richest 10% of Canadians own 60% of the wealth.

The aim of asset building policies, according to Sherraden, should be to benefit everyone, not just the wealthy, and that policies should aim at fairness. Sherraden also said “income support equals getting by; asset building equals doing better.

Sherraden talked about the global phenomenon of rising inequality in nations’ incomes.

1. More money is going to capital now and less to labour
2. Of the money going to labour, more money is going to the top income earners and less to low income earners.

An example of this is that in 1976, a person working at minimum wage had to work 42 hours/week to reach the Low Income Cut Off (LICO). The latest data is that a person working at minimum wage now has to work 95 hours/week to reach the LICO.

In New York City, where Jonathan Mintz launched the first Office of Financial Empowerment, the Financial Empowerment Centres have helped people reduce $14 million in debt in four years. They have served 30,000 people in that time. One of the most unusual places that New York offers financial counselling is in coffee shops for people just out of jail.

One powerful presentation at the conference was about fringe banking services such as payday loan companies and pawnshops. Payday loan companies are now moving into offering products like lines of credit where there are no regulations. Part of this session involved a panel of three former consumers of fringe banking services. All three panelists had attended financial literacy programs that changed their lives. [We now have the Adult Basic Literacy Education Financial Literacy class at Bow Valley College.] The financial literacy program was the one thing that got them out of the cycle of payday loans, pawnshops and debt. One panelist said “I think I would have turned to crime” in order to put food on the table for her family if there had been no payday loans. 250 people in the audience gasped. A payday loan can cost 780%/year.

So why would a person be willing to pay those fees?  According to Janet Murray and Dr Robert Oxoby (Behavioural Approaches that can Influence Change workshop) people display less loss aversion when they engage with an organization that they identify with. In other words, people prefer to go somewhere that they feel welcome and comfortable, even if it will cost them more. According to the field of Behavioural Economics, people living in poverty identify themselves as a part of that group. Not all banks feel welcoming to people living in poverty.

The opposite of these fringe banking service was explored in Beyond Sponsorship: the Credit Union banking system. A local example of credit unions working with a non-profit is First Calgary. First Calgary works with Momentum on financial literacy programming. Another example is Van City and the Portland Hotel Society (a housing project) who together run the Pigeon Park Savings bank in Vancouver. Tellers at the bank are clients from the housing project. Customers are made to feel comfortable. As one of the Beyond Sponsorship participants said “I quit my membership in the Fraser Institute and took out a membership in the credit union”.

 

In case you still need to know who said what

“Appreciative enquiry – I hate that term. It keeps us from doing the real work.”	Mayor Naheed Nenshi
“I think I paid for my son’s Nintendo ten times over”	Panelist from the Financial Inclusion/Financial Exclusion presentation
“...a progressive Republican – we don’t have those in the US anymore.”	Keynote speaker Michael Sherraden

 

Just One Time, I Will Take the NorQuest Passage

     

CEFL Media Lead, Lusine, supports the exam certificate map
with only her thumb.

     This past year, via emails, phone calls, and Adobe Connect, I was introduced to our co-conspirators from NorQuest. In May, the CEFL was hosting the Upgrading Online Conference with NorQuest, and wasn't it perfect that I was meeting the people of NorQuest virtually, instead of in-person? Well, yes, and no. There were names I could not pronounce, and faces designed in my mind, that I later discovered, were completely inaccurate. So last Thursday, when the CEFL curriculum group drove to NorQuest, in a harrowing 7 hour round-trip adventure, we had the chance to meet our colleagues face-to-face. We exchanged ideas, shared our current projects, talked to our plans for the upcoming year, but perhaps most importantly, had a chance to get to know one another.

Lindsay prays for a safe drive back to Calgary.

     There was Les, science instructor during the week, and talented videographer on evenings and weekends; Jason, a math instructor, with the ability to code scheduling programs for his students; Shanna, the Moodle guru, and math instructor, who was just plain nice; Kim, the outspoken ELA and social studies instructor, and curriculum enthusiast; Tracy, group leader, and resident comedian; quiet, but thoughtful, science/math instructor, Jennifer; and, Diane, the administrative assistant for upgrading online, who seemed almost as organized as our own Mark Challoner. Well, so what? I am sharing all of this, because despite our intention to exchange curriculum ideas, which we did, the biggest success for me was learning more about the people we work alongside. They are in the icy north - and I never want to drive to Edmonton in the winter again - but, they are closely tied to us in their desire to educate and lead. Through our partnership with NorQuest we grow our community, build knowledge, and support innovation. 

Questions, comments, or suggestions about our exchange with NorQuest and other potential partner colleges? Please email the curriculum leads: Lusine, Media Lead, bvcmedia2013@gmail.com; Maureen, Exam Lead, mstewart@bowvalleycollege.ca 

     

Physics 30 Diploma Exams Now Employ Virtual Labs; Student-Based Performance Standards Provide Additional Guidance for Designing Lab Experiences

Example Set-up of a Virtual Physics 30 Lab for Use in a Diploma Exam Item

Physics 30 Diploma Exams Now Employ Virtual Labs:  Will the other Sciences Follow Suit?
Physics 30 is a particularly challenging course to write items for because lab skills, as applied to virtual labs, are now evaluated on the diploma exam itself.  These are extremely difficult items to construct.  I plan to add similar sorts of items to virtual labs, unite exams, and assignments over the next few months.  Most interesting of all, the Physics 30 Information Bulletin seems to imply that these items fully address the “design-an-experiment skill mandated in the program of studies outcome B3.1:  Students will design an experiment to demonstrate the effect of a uniform magnetic field on a current-carrying conductor.”  Click here to see an example Physics 30 diploma exam item that asks questions regarding the outcomes and design of a virtual lab. 

I wonder if Biology 30 and Chemistry 30 will eventually employ virtual labs on the diploma exams?  With the extensive availability of powerful technology, there is a lot of research into interactive, high-fidelity item types.  The Quest A+ technology has some real potential to deliver these innovative item types.  For example, perhaps students could perform a virtual titration lab experiment worth three or four marks.

Student-Based Performance Standards Provide Additional Guidance for Designing Lab Experiences
Alberta Education’s Student-Based Performance Standards documents provide some guidance to the development of lab experiences for students.  For example, the Biology 30 Assessment Standards document (starting on p.15) suggests that Standard of Excellence performance on general outcome D2 is identified when students “design an experiment or a simulation to demonstrate interspecific and intraspecific competition.”  The Chemistry 30 Performance Standards document suggests that SE performance on general outcome C1 is indicated when students are able to complete this lab task: “When given evidence of reaction with aqueous bromine or potassium permanganate, identify saturated and unsaturated aliphatic hydrocarbon derivatives.”  I suppose we could develop some sort of blueprint for labs, but that might be excessive planning.  Nevertheless, it is helpful to know which lab activities are designated Standard of Excellence or Acceptable Standard so that we can achieve a reasonable balance between them on labs, assignments and exams.

Regards,
Michael Gaschnitz
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