Grade 6 students work as a group on their EQAO standardized test prep at a middle school in Brampton, On.t in this 2013 file photo.J.P. MOCZULSKI/The Globe and Mail
A small but growing number of Ontario school boards are questioning the merits of standardized testing, and at least two are asking the government to suspend the student assessment of reading, writing and math as the province spearheads a major school curriculum reform.
Kathleen Wynne's Liberal government announced plans earlier this fall for a curriculum "refresh" of math and other subjects to make sure students have enough of the foundational skills that incorporate problem solving, critical thinking and creativity that are needed for a changing economy. Ms. Wynne said that something in the way math is taught has led to disappointing test scores and the subject would be the first to be revamped.
The Peel District School Board and the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board in the Peterborough area have called for the standardized test to be suspended while the curriculum is reviewed and, sources said, more are expected to join. Other school districts, including the Waterloo Region District School Board, are asking the province to review the test – a move that one former deputy education minister described as a defensive response to unfavourable test results.
The test of students in Grades 3 and 6 conducted by Ontario's Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) have shown that reading and writing results are strong, while math remains weak.
Peel chair Janet McDougald said her board approved a motion last month to ask the government to suspend the EQAO test while the curriculum is being reviewed.
The move by Peel came after standardized test results showed that half of Ontario's Grade 6 students failed to meet provincial standards in math this year. (The provincial standard is equivalent to a B grade.)
"Peel is not against standardized testing. We're simply saying that now that [the Ministry of Education] has recognized that there could be a problem … let's just suspend the test until we find out what they find out," Ms. McDougald said. She said that her board and others have put resources into math but students are still not faring well and that there may be a "disconnect" between what's taught in the curriculum and what's asked of students in the test.
"The sky won't fall if we don't do it for a couple of years," she added.
But Charles Pascal, a former Ontario deputy education minister and a professor at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto, said school districts are taking a "defensive" position in the face of falling math scores. The assessment, he said, is meant to measure the outcomes of the curriculum.
"Boards should embrace any chance to secure feedback, including EQAO results, and not appear defensive about what the results might be," he said. "They [the assessments] are designed to be an instrument that generates information about how to continue improving what we do."
A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Education said in a statement on Wednesday that the test will continue during the government's curriculum review.
The move by school trustees to request a review or suspend the EQAO assessment has reignited a debate over standardized testing. Supporters argue that it measures how students are learning the curriculum and keeps the education system accountable. But critics say that it is used by some as a way to rank schools and also provide real estate agents with a valuable sales tool.
In Ontario, some teachers say that the test does not reflect the curriculum. In math, for example, the curriculum encourages group problem solving and expressing ideas in a variety of ways.
Cathy Abraham, chair of the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board, said she and her trustee colleagues heard from a number of parents who do not like the test or the stress it creates in their households. Her board voted last week to join Peel in asking the government to suspend the test until the review is complete.
"We understand there is some value in testing. There is value in knowing how the kids are doing, and how the kids are doing board-wide. The question is 'Is this is the best way to do it?'" Ms. Abraham asked. "Could that money be better spent in other ways to support student achievement and well-being?"
Caroline Alphonso