Ben Levin

Ben Levin
Born Benjamin Levin
1951/1952 (age 62–63)
Winnipeg
Education B.A. (Honours), University of Manitoba; Ed. M., Graduate School of Education, Harvard University; Ph.D., Department of Educational Administration, OISE, University of Toronto; and an Honourary Doctorate, the University of Ottawa
Title Professor
Criminal charge
 making and distributing child pornography, counselling to commit an indictable offence, arrangement to commit a sexual offence against a child under the age of 16

Ben Levin was the Canada Research Chair in Education Leadership and Policy at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), University of Toronto. As a civil servant he served for three years in the Ontario provincial government as Deputy Minister in the Ministry of Education after having held a similar post in Manitoba.[1]

Career

Levin holds a B.A. (Honours) from the University of Manitoba, an Ed. M. from Harvard University and a Ph.D. from OISE, as well as an honorary doctorate from the University of Ottawa.

As a civil servant, he first served for the Province of Manitoba as Deputy Minister of Advanced Education and as Deputy Minister of Education, Training and Youth from 1999 through 2002. He then served as the Deputy Minister for Education for the Province of Ontario for three years from 2004 to 2007 and again from 2008-09.

As an academic, Levin has published eight books, including “Making a Difference in Urban Schools” (with Jane Gaskell, University of Toronto Press), "More High School Graduates"[2] (Corwin Press) and "Breaking Barriers” [3] (with Avis Glaze and Ruth Mattingley, Pearson Canada) and more than 300 other articles on education, conducted many research studies, and has spoken and consulted on education issues around the world, including serving on the governing council of the National College for School Leadership in England.

Levin was academic director for Ontario’s new Knowledge Network for Applied Education Research (KNAER), funded by the Ministry of Education to improve the sharing of research findings and their use in policy and practice. The government of Ontario suspended him pending the outcome of an investigation.[4]

Levin headed the "Research Supporting Practice in Education" (RSPE),[5] a program of research and related activities aimed at learning more about building strong linkages between research, policy and practice, referred to as Knowledge Mobilization (KM). RSPE is headquartered at OISE/University of Toronto and supported with core funds from the Canada Research Chairs program. Levin was the principal investigator working with academic colleagues and graduate students.

Child pornography charges

In July 2013, Levin was arrested by the Toronto Police Service sex-crimes unit and charged with seven counts of child exploitation, including charges of possessing and accessing child pornography. He had been a suspect of the Toronto Police Service since the middle of 2012.[6] He was released on $100,000 bail. Levin's lawyer said: "I intend to work very hard to see that he shall be innocent".[7] In January, 2015, Levin's lawyer confirmed his client will indeed plead guilty to some of the seven charges related to child pornography, but would not specify which ones. According to a letter sent by Levin to his former colleagues he will "be pleading guilty on March 3 [2015] to three of the seven charges, namely one count of possession of child pornography, one count of making written child pornography, and one count of counselling a sexual assault."[8]

Awards

Levin was listed in the “Who’s Who of Canada”[9] and was ranked the # 5 most influential Knowledge Mobilization (KM) leader in Canada.[10]

Publications and media

References

  1. ↑ "Province Receives Levin Report". Department of Education, Ontario, 5 May 2011.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "How Schools Can Save Students from Dropping Out, Levin 2012".
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Breaking Barriers: Excellence and Equity in Education, 2012".
  4. ↑ "Newsroom : Statement by Minister Sandals Regarding Dr. Ben Levin". News.ontario.ca. 2013-07-08. Retrieved 2014-05-23.
  5. ↑ "Research Supporting Practice in Education (RSPE)".
  6. ↑ Kauri, Vidya; Morrow, Adrian (July 8, 2013). "Toronto Professor Facing Child Pornography Charges was Target of Probes in Ontario, New Zealand". Globe and Mail.
  7. ↑ Pagliaro, Jennifer (10 July 2013). "Benjamin Levin Granted $100,000 Bail, Charged with Two More Child Porn Offences". Toronto Star.
  8. ↑ "Ex-deputy education minister looks for help before guilty plea". February 18, 2015. Retrieved February 23, 2015.
  9. ↑ "Who's Who of Canada".
  10. ↑ "Who most influences your KMb practice?".
  11. ↑ "Post-secondary Education Focus of Senate Committee Study ". The Epoch Times
  12. ↑ "Lieutenant Governor's Gold Medal for Excellence in Public Administration - Past recipients". Institute of Public Administration Canada.
  13. ↑ Bennett, Paul W. "Urban school reform: Levin’s latest offering". The Chronicle Herald, 13 January 2013.
  14. ↑ "System Wide Improvement in Education, UNESCO Education Policy Series 13, 2012".
  15. ↑ Rees, Ruth. "Review: Levin, Ben. (2008) How to Change 5000 Schools." Education Review, 17 July 2009.
  16. ↑ Eisele-Dyrli, Kurt. "Recent Must-Reads". District Administrator June 2009.
  17. ↑ "Approaches to Equity in Policy for Lifelong Learning, 2003".