The Alberta Teachers’ Association

Despite having serious concerns about Education Minister Jeff Johnson’s Task Force for Teaching Excellence, the Alberta Teachers’ Association has submitted and simultaneously released a response to the report’s recommendations.

The submission and its directions are directed to teachers, parents and other supporters of public education. The submission is intended to develop constructive alternatives to the recommendations of the task force that will enhance teacher professionalism and build public confidence in Alberta’s education system.

Alberta’s teachers are committed to excellence and are essential to Alberta’s world class standing in education. Despite our concerns about the task force, we want to let teachers, parents and other supporters of public education know about the profession’s view of teaching excellence. Great Teachers, Great Schools provides a clear way forward for supporting teachers in providing quality learning for students.

—ATA President, Mark Ramsankar

The Association’s response challenges incomplete and incorrect information that has been advanced by Johnson and his task force following its release.

On the ATA’s dual union and professional functions:

• The task force has no actual evidence of a conflict of interest; the task force relies on the cheap shot of “perceived conflict”.

• The task force did not understand the operation of the professional conduct process or professional practice review and so its prescriptions are unworkable.

On the Association’s handling of competency:

• The task force notes that no teaching certificate has been cancelled due to incompetence in the past ten years in an attempt to justify returning the process to the minister of education, however for five of these years, the minister controlled the process.

• Superintendents are responsible for initiating practice review and have not done so.

On five-year cyclical evaluations:

• The task force suggests that nothing is happening to assure continuous practice improvement.

• To suggest that teachers are not monitored is a blatant misrepresentation of the current policy.

• Teacher practice is supervised and evaluations are done when a teacher is new or at any time when there are concerns about a teacher’s practice.

• Teachers have an ongoing professional duty to review and improve their own practice.

The Association’s response proposes a number of alternative strategies that should be implemented to achieve the original objectives for supporting teacher excellence, including the implementation of modified or original task force recommendations related to teaching standards, mentorship and teacher supports. The Association also proposes revisions to professional growth processes, continuing education requirements, support for administrators in teacher supervision and enhanced public awareness of professional conduct and competence processes, including expanded access to information.

Our response calls on government to focus on improving teaching and learning in true collaboration with the profession. The minister should have started this process last year by engaging the teaching profession, but he did not do that. Our submission outlines directions where the minister can work with the profession into the future.

—ATA President, Mark Ramsankar

The Alberta Teachers’ Association, as the professional organization of teachers, promotes and advances public education, safeguards standards of professional practice and serves as the advocate for its 35,000 members.

Attached to this release are a backgrounder of highlights from the Association’s response and the full text of Great Teachers, Great Schools, the Association’s response to the recommendations of the Task Force for Teaching Excellence.

For more information or to arrange an interview with President Ramsankar, contact:
Jonathan Teghtmeyer, Associate Coordinator, Communications
at 780-996-4402 or jonathan.teghtmeyer@ata.ab.ca.