The Calgary Herald published an editorial on March 10 urging the defeat of Motion 503, Genia Leskiw's private member's motion urging the government to eliminate grade 3 provincial achievement tests and consider alternative assessments for learning.
Here is the editorial:
Tory's motion deserves to fail
Standardized school tests earn high marks
Calgary Herald - March 10, 2009A Tory MLA's motion to eliminate Grade 3 achievement tests deserves to fail when it goes to a vote next week.
The goal should always be to strive for improvements in public education, facilitated, in part, by standardized testing of the progress, and the Fraser Institute's annual analysis of the results.
Bonnyville-Cold Lake Tory MLA Genia Leskiw seems to have forgotten that more accountability is always better than less. She's put forward a motion to eliminate provincial achievement tests for Grade 3 students.
Regrettably, there's support for Leskiw's opinion, with opponents of the Grade 3, 6 and 9 provincial tests arguing the Fraser Institute report card misuses the results to undermine public education. The Liberal education critic and the union representing Alberta teachers agree the report card has unintended negative consequences.
We beg to disagree. Good teachers should have no problem with the tests, or the light they shine on the performance in their classrooms. As for politics, it should take a back seat to the classroom.
The only special interests which matter here are those of the children and their parents' ability to make informed decisions over their education.
Achievement tests measure a school's performance. And only with standards, benchmarks and measurements can performance improve.
Critics commonly complain the report card places too much emphasis on marks, and not enough on the overall factors that make students excel.
Yet, that's not quite true. All the information is there for parents to read between the lines, including the parents' average income, the number of special needs students, and the number of those who didn't take the test. With that kind of data, information is power, and any attempts of gerrymandering are easily spotted.
The number 1 ranking school for three consecutive years, Webber Academy, has zero special needs students and an average parental income of $225,928. Private schools can pick who attends, public schools cannot and any parent who made it through grade school can figure that out.
Almadina, by comparison, caters to kids learning English as a second language. It's 6.7 out of 10 is amazing, considering the cultural and language barriers its students face. And it's a vast improvement from five years ago, when the score was 4.5.
Granted, a high percentage of kids didn't write the test, but the absenteeism has been consistent, while performance has steadily improved. The information is all there with which to make an informed assessment within the context of a school's circumstances.
The Alberta Tories brought in standardized testing. They should stand behind it and dismiss Leskiw's motion.
We will post Alberta Teachers' Association President Frank Bruseker's response tomorrow. Remember the debate on Motion 503 will be Monday - ensure you have contacted your MLA before then!
