Students need more supports not more tests, according to Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA) President Jason Schilling. On the first Friday of summer break, the Alberta government quietly released changes to provincial testing for the upcoming school year. In an email to school boards, government announced all schools will be required to administer provincially mandated numeracy and literacy tests to students in Grades 1 to 3 up to three times each school year. For the first time in Alberta, Kindergarten students will also now be subjected to standardized testing.
“When so many kids are falling through the cracks, we need to be giving them a safety net instead of measuring how fast they’re falling. Teachers don’t need a test to identify which students are struggling; they need smaller classes and more supports to get those kids additional help.”
—Jason Schilling, ATA President
New provincial assessments are also being added in Grades 4 and 5, meaning the students who struggle the most could be subjected to as many as 32 standardized tests by the time they leave elementary school. The previous total was 10.
Schilling says the time and energy required by teachers to administer tests takes away from time teachers could actually be helping kids.
“While the government claims to have listened to experts, it’s clear they did not hear what actual teachers had to say. Politicians and bureaucrats who have little knowledge and experience of the realities of Alberta’s classrooms might think this is a great idea, but teachers, who will end up spending hours administering tests and preparing students for them in September, January and June, do not.
All this is being foisted on the same teachers who are still trying to implement new curriculum across multiple grades and subject areas.”
—Jason Schilling, ATA President
A better approach, Schilling says, is to respect teachers’ professional judgment and allow them to determine which students could benefit from an assessment and when, rather than repeatedly testing every student. More fundamentally, the province needs to stop the distractions and deal with the real issue in public education—the gross lack of appropriate funding.
“Alberta spends the least per student on public education in Canada. That’s why we have large and growing class sizes, inadequate supports for students with special needs, shortages of aides and substitutes, and good teachers leaving the profession. Alberta is not going to test its way out of underfunding. It’s time our provincial leaders got their priorities right.”
—Jason Schilling, ATA President
Read the Minister's email to board chairs regarding increased provincial testing