New government resources @ OPL

Towards an understanding of gender differences in literacy achievement
The Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) produced this report to provide insight into the "significant differences in students' success across schools... [It] provides an initial exploration of such differences, focusing on the literacy achievement gaps that exist between girls and boys in elementary schools in Ontario."

Your guide to doing business with the Government of Canada: A 5-step approach for small and medium enterprises
"If you own or operate a business and are interested in selling your goods or services to the federal government, this guide will help you understand the basics of procurement... The guide is divided into five steps - understand the process, register your business, promote yourself, search for opportunities, and bid on opportunities."

Witness to war: Reporting on Afghanistan 2004-2009 by Adam Day
Adam Day is a Canadian reporter who has taken four trips to Afghanistan, and he says, "it's always the same experience - a comprehensive and sometimes jarring process of becoming bewildered." This collection of stories is an "attempt to document the experience of the Canadian Forces at war."

Social network site privacy: a comparative analysis of six sites
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada examines six social networking sites from a privacy perspective, "looking at the stated mandate, the financial underpinnings..., [their] history and the user demographics." The six sites that are assessed are Facebook, Hi5, Linkedin, LiveJournal, MySpace, and Skyrock.

Preparation for the English-as-a-second-language evaluation
Preparation a l'evaluation du Francais langue seconde
While these practice guides are produced for use by employees in the Public Service Commission, they may be useful for anyone studying English or French as a second language.

New Source for Parenting Information from Halton Region

Halton Region recently launched a new parenting website, www.haltonparents.ca. It is "a new online community for parents that offers the latest in local parenting news, tips, health matters, events in your community and much more. It's a place for parents to talk directly with an integrated team of Public Health Nurses and Child Development staff from across the Region, and to connect with other parents about their parenting experiences."

The website contains advice for all stages of parenting, from pregnancy to infancy, toddlerhood, elementary school years, and teenagers.

The "Haltonparents" team is also tweeting and blogging, so there are lots of ways for parents to stay informed. Dr. Bob Nosal, Halton's Medical Officer of Health, says "we hope that by offering another way for families to find us, we can build on our capacity to promote healthy growth and child development, and help create strong family units in Halton."

(Source: Oakville Beaver, Oct. 1, 2010, p. 20)