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These included official languages, OECD testing oversight, international education connections, and experimentation with a national K-12 education agenda alongside provincial leaders.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & Report",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/the-council-of-ministers-of-education-canada-in-the-1980s-education-policy-innovator-or-broken-cog/596869/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/the-council-of-ministers-of-education-canada-in-the-1980s-education-policy-innovator-or-broken-cog/596869.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"Muffet","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-05","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":55},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",8,{"@type":57,"mainEntity":58},"FAQPage",[59,65,69],{"name":60,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":62},"What research focus does the paper propose beyond earlier studies?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"It moves from the 1960s and 1970s toward a closer examination of the 1980s, asking what role CMEC played in that decade.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"In which areas did CMEC act as an education policy innovator during the 1980s?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"The paper argues CMEC continued innovating, particularly in official languages, and in developing relationships supporting national oversight for OECD-related testing programs.",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"Was CMEC’s performance in the 1980s uniformly successful?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"No. The paper states that while CMEC pursued innovation, many initiatives had mixed results and some areas remained contentious, including its international education endeavors.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":75,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":77,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":79,"site_id":7},596869,1792165322,{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":83},"success",[84,88,92,96,101,106,111,114,119,122,126],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":85,"show_sort_weight":86,"slug":87},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":89,"show_sort_weight":90,"slug":91},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":93,"show_sort_weight":94,"slug":95},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":97,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":98,"show_sort_weight":99,"slug":100},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":102,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":103,"show_sort_weight":104,"slug":105},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":107,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":108,"show_sort_weight":109,"slug":110},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":55,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":112,"slug":113},30,"research-report",{"id":115,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":117,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":121},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":123,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":123,"slug":125},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":97,"slug":129},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":131},{"doc_id":79,"user_id":132,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":55,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":55,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":144,"read_time":145,"preview_page_count":4},962090768927,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_085a072bc5b1113ac321206ff7593b45","The Council of Ministers in the 1980s: Education Policy Innovator or Broken Cog?  \nDr. John Allison  \nSchulich School of Education, Nipissing University  \nAbstract  \nRecent historical studies on the topic of the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada looked mostly at the era of the 1960s and the 1970s. Some work has also been completed on the institution’s role in international education and its responsibilities during the economic crises of these decades. This paper proposes to take this research one step further and now look more specifically at the decade of the 1980s. This paper will argue that in this era the CMEC found its raison d’être in several fields. These included official languages, and oversight of the testing programs run by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). It also found its niche, to a lesser extent, through refining its connections to international education organizations. Finally, the decade saw the CMEC experimenting with a national agenda for education in conjunction with the provincial premiers and ministries of education.  \nKeywords: education, governance, Canada, innovation, policy  \nIntroduction  \nThe question of governance in education systems in Canada is one that remains very topical. Clearly, the issue of who rules and to what extent is of critical importance. One of the organizations involved in this is the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada (CMEC) . Originally created in 1967 by then Ontario Minister of Education Bill Davis and his provincial colleagues, this organization had as its aim  \nto be a forum to discuss policy issues; a mechanism through which to undertake activities, projects, and initiatives in areas of mutual interest; a means by which to consult and cooperate with national education organizations and the federal government; and finally an instrument to represent the education interests ofthe provinces and territories internationally. (Council of Ministers of Education Canada, 2017)  \nRecent new historical studies on the topic ofCMEC have looked mostly at the era of the 1960s, 1970s, or contemporary times (Allison, 2006, 2007, 2016; Ungerleider, 2004; Wallner, 2014) . This paper will take this research one step further and look more specifically at the decade of the 1980s. It will also be looking at this organization primarily with the topic of “education” meaning K-12 education in mind. What was the role of the CMEC in this decade? Was the CMEC an education policy innovator or was it a broken cogin the system? This paper will argue that in the era of the 1980s, the CMEC continued to pursue the role of policy innovator but often, its initiatives had a record of mixed results. It successfully innovated in the field of official languages. Moreover, it also developed relationships with Statistics Canada and helped provide national oversight for testing programs initiated by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) . Additionally, it worked to refine its connections to international education organizations. This however continued to be a contentious area of endeavor. Lastly, in conjunction with  \nprovincial premiers and provincial ministries of education, the decade saw the CMEC experimenting with a national education agenda. The Council’s roles do not “begin” or “finish” with any year or time-period. Highlighting the specific issues associated with the 1980s acknowledges the ongoing character of these questions into contemporary times.  \nTheoretical Framework and Literature Review  \nThe theoretical framework of this paper is historical and follows the arguments of Tyack and Cuban (Tyack & Cuban, 2009) . In their view, history of education provides us with a longer time frame to examine and appraise the issues of the day, whether it is school reform, or in the case of this study, the appearance of a new education-related organization on the scene (Tyack & Cuban, 2009, pp. 8-9). Also, as noted by Axelrod (1996) and Bruno-Jo","cbCaigfAUPC7HZYt","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaigfAUPC7HZYt","pdf",372071,13,"English","# Abstract\n# Introduction\n# Theoretical Framework and Literature Review","[{\"question\":\"What research focus does the paper propose beyond earlier studies?\",\"answer\":\"It moves from the 1960s and 1970s toward a closer examination of the 1980s, asking what role CMEC played in that decade.\"},{\"question\":\"In which areas did CMEC act as an education policy innovator during the 1980s?\",\"answer\":\"The paper argues CMEC continued innovating, particularly in official languages, and in developing relationships supporting national oversight for OECD-related testing programs.\"},{\"question\":\"Was CMEC’s performance in the 1980s uniformly successful?\",\"answer\":\"No. The paper states that while CMEC pursued innovation, many initiatives had mixed results and some areas remained contentious, including its international education endeavors.\"}]","The Council of Ministers of Education, Canada in the 1980s - Education Policy Innovator or Broken Cog? | PDF",1792083899,33]