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The world today can be a tumultuous place for the younger generation, who are often bombarded with daunting visuals and discussions of global conflicts, the implications of climate change, and political division in their own community. A recent survey of over 10,000 Ontario students in grades 7 to 12 found that more than half are experiencing significant psychological distress—a figure that has doubled over the past decade.

As society continues the shift toward embracing diversity and inclusive practices, the need to understand and accommodate individual sensory preferences is becoming increasingly recognized in mental health settings. Dr. Elana Moore, an expert in sensory processing and mental health, took some time to highlight the critical role that sensory environments play in the therapeutic process.

In the evolving landscape of educational support, Ontario's Policy/Program Memorandum 169 (PPM 169) represents a critical step toward comprehensive mental health and learning needs strategies for school districts. One solution to help bolster this transformation is the Digital Assessment Library (DAL), a powerful technological solution designed to not just meet but exceed the memorandum's rigorous requirements.

As educators anticipate the opportunity to rest and recharge over the holiday break, they are also mindful of the potential for an academic “slide” that can accompany an extended pause, which can be troubling because they’ve just re-established momentum post-summer. 

However, the holiday season, with its focus on quality family time, can also allow caregivers to take more active roles in their children’s literacy. A report prepared by consulting firm Deloitte for the Canadian Children’s Literacy Foundation,  “An Economic Overview of Children’s Literacy in Canada,” found that an estimated one million Canadian children under the age of 15 have below grade-level literacy skills. 

Modeling the importance of reading at home can be a powerful way to build confidence and instill a lifelong affinity for literacy. As the holiday season approaches, here are some ways you can help your school community harness family time to boost literacy skills. 

It requires a specific kind of employee to pursue security clearance work. These individuals must embrace pressure and want to make a difference in national security. The constrained talent pool of cleared employees shows how unique this population is, and, on top of that, cybersecurity and technology roles in the intelligence community and government agencies require extremely specific skill sets. The rapid advancement of AI is accelerating this trend even further.

“The recent Executive Order from the U.S. White House on AI adoption is just the latest driver of talent demand in the security-cleared space,” says Andy Gill, strategic talent acquisitions lead with MetroStar, a digital services and IT modernization company based in Virginia, USA focused on Federal, Department of Defense (DoD) and national security customers at the highest security levels. “The need for technical skills and security clearances means it’s more important than ever to not only find the right candidates but also to retain the cleared folks you already have and ensure talent mobility,” he adds.

How can staffing firms and HR professionals manage talent acquisition (TA) with this employee population and keep key positions filled? By emphasizing learning and development (L&D) opportunities, recruiters and TA teams can address both sides of this coin — recruiting qualified candidates and retaining valuable employees.

The days of printed record forms and looking up norms tables can be put behind you when your school transitions to digital assessments. And the timing is ideal, as the WIAT-4: Wechsler Individual Achievement Test - Fourth Edition Canadian (WIAT-4 CDN) is now available to purchase on all digital platforms as well as paper-and-pencil administration.

If you’ve yet to invest in digital initiatives, this could be your pivot point. Here’s what to know about the benefits of digital assessments.