Canada's Composite Learning Index: A path towards learning communities

In the development of learning cities/communities, benchmarking progress is a key element. Not only does it permit cities/communities to assess their current strengths and weaknesses, it also engenders a dialogue within and between cities/communities on the means of enhancing learning conditions. Benchmarking thereby is a potentially motivational tool, energising further progress. In Canada, the Canadian Council on Learning created the world's first Composite Learning Index (CLI), the purpose of which is to measure the conditions of learning nationally, regionally and locally. Cities/communities in Canada have utilised the CLI Simulator, an online tool provided by the Canadian Council on Learning, to gauge the change in overall learning conditions which may be expected depending on which particular indicator is emphasised. In this way, the CLI has proved to be both a dynamic and a locally relevant tool for improvement, moreover a strong motivational factor in the development of learning cities/communities. After presenting the main features of the CLI, the authors of this paper sum up the lessons learned during its first 5 years (2006–2010) of existence, also with a view to its transferability to other regions. Indeed, the CLI model was already adopted in Europe by the German Bertelsmann foundation in 2010 and has the potential to be useful in many other countries as well. L'évaluation comparative des progrès réalisés est essentiel dans la création de cités et de communautés apprenantes. Elle permet non seulement aux cités et aux communautés de jauger leurs forces et leurs faiblesses actuelles, elle déclenche en outre un dialogue au sein des cités et des communautés concernées ainsi qu'entre elles sur les moyens d'améliorer les conditions d'apprentissage. L'évaluation comparative est ainsi un instrument portentiel de motivation, qui favorise les progrès ultérieurs. Le Conseil canadien sur l'apprentissage (CCA) a créé l'Indice composite de l'apprentissage (ICA), premier outil au monde permettant de mesurer les conditions de l'apprentissage à un niveau national, régional et local. Les villes et les communautés canadiennes utilisent le simulateur de l'ICA, instrument mis en ligne par le CCA, pour anticiper l'évolution des conditions générales de l'apprentissage selon la prise en compte d'un indicateur particulier. Cet Indice se révèle ainsi être un outil de développement dynamique et adapté aux conditions locales, et de plus un facteur décisif de motivation à