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Mandatory testing also on the horizon for fall 2022
A government call for volunteers to pilot three new curriculum subjects this fall comes at an extremely inopportune time for teachers and schools, said ATA president Jason Schilling.
The province is seeking volunteer school authorities to pilot three updated draft K–6 curriculum subjects: science, French first language and literature, and French immersion language arts and literature. This is in addition to the planned implementation of new curriculum in three other subjects.
“Schools are being inundated with added expectations next year, and students will suffer as a result — something that teachers, school leaders and parents do not want to see,” Schilling said.
He also said the call for volunteers falls woefully short of the normal process for curriculum testing, and that the minister is misleading the public about how curriculums are usually piloted.
“No curriculum has been implemented in Alberta in living memory without a full pilot. Her statements otherwise are just not true,” Schilling said.
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| Jason Schilling, ATA president |
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Adriana Lagrange, education minister |
Education Minister Adriana Lagrange announced the pilot the same day that she released new curriculum drafts for K–6 science, as well as K–6 language arts programs for students in French immersion and francophone schools. She said these updates were made based on advice from the Curriculum Implementation Advisory group.
“School authorities will have the opportunity to pilot these subjects with teachers and students to help us understand how the updated curriculum transfers to classrooms,” she said in a news release.
Schilling countered that, although the Alberta government seems to ask for input on new curriculum, the approach to collecting and implementing the feedback demonstrates a lack of commitment to creating a quality curriculum.
“The minister is asking Albertans to trust her when she says that feedback has been incorporated into new drafts of the curriculum, yet she has not released any feedback publicly,” Schilling said. “This government continues to rush through curriculum changes without gaining much-needed buy-in from the public or the teachers, who will be expected to use and implement the curriculum.”
More testing
Another change in the works for fall 2022 is that all school authorities will be required to administer certain standardized assessments to every student in grades 2 and 3. Mandatory testing for Grade 1 students begins in 2023.
Taken all together, Schilling said these latest announcements represent a misapplication of fundamental principles of learning and demonstrate a lack of commitment to public education.
“It’s not testing, and it’s not curriculum, that leads to extreme improvements in student learning outcomes,” he said. “It’s teachers taking the time to work with struggling students, and that means reducing class sizes and providing appropriate access to resources and EAs.”
“But you don’t get that without funding — something this government is determined not to provide.”❚
