Provincial Achievement Tests: waste of time or useful information?

Premier Alison Redford made a campaign promise to scrap Provincial Achievement Tests for grades 3 and 6, and expressed to our membership she was open to discussing the weighting on the grade 12 Diploma Exams. Provincial results were recently released for these tests.

Are the provincial achievement tests for grades 3 and 6 too stressful for students? Are they a waste of time? Do they provide useful data? What do you think?

A recent Primetime Alberta segment, "Achievement Tests a Waste of Time," provides a great jumping off point for a discussion around this important issue. Jonathan Teghtmeyer (Associate Coordinator, Communications -Alberta Teachers' Association), Jacquie Hansen (President - Alberta School Boards' Association) and Jim Field (Associate Professor, Faculty of Education - University of Calgary) share their perspectives in a panel discussion focused on Provincial Achievement Tests and Diploma Exams.

As well, we can look back to March 16, 2009, when Genia Leskiw, MLA for Bonnyville-Cold Lake and a former teacher, sponsored Private Member’s Motion #503. This motion asked the Legislative Assembly to urge Government to “eliminate provincial achievement tests for grade three students and consider alternative assessments for learning.” Several MLAs entered the debate which can be found on pages 416 to 423 of the Alberta Hansard record. In the end, 29 MLAs voted in support of the motion and 18 MLAs voted against the motion.

Of interest, then Education Minister, the Hon. Dave Hancock, voted against the motion. He had this to say,

Mr. Speaker, while I understand the sentiment behind the motion that the Member for Bonnyville-Cold Lake has brought forward and I understand the concerns that are being raised about people teaching to the test and about the stress of the grade 3 students, I think those are issues that can be overcome. I do think we need to make sure that we have ways of recognizing the testing standards and assessment standards and outcomes across the spectrum of our system. We have to appreciate that our system is held up as being one of the best in the world because of its strong curriculum, because of its strong teaching standards, because of its strong teachers, and because of our accountability pillar in our assessment processes. Before we change what we’re doing, we ought to know what we’re going to. That would be my comment to the hon. member. Should we look at the PAT 3 tests and, presumably, in the future the PAT 6 and PAT 9? Perhaps we should. But let’s know and understand what assessment we need to make sure that we’re effective not only for the students, which is most important, but for the system, know that we’re doing the right thing and investing in our system across the province so that our students can be ready for the 21st century – we’re into the 21st century now, so I’d better say for the latter half of the 21st century – so that they can participate in a knowledge economy, a global economy, and be good both global and local citizens.

Nearly eighteen months later, when asked by MLA Genia Leskiw in Question Period for an update on any actions taken on her motion, the Hon. Dave Hancock responded,

Well, Mr. Speaker, the tests are very effective for us both in terms of providing information for the accountability of the system and in terms of how we're doing. The school boards tell us that they can use the results very effectively and do use the results very effectively. It's important information. We shouldn't stop doing something that provides good information, is a useful tool in the education system for accountability and for development of further educational opportunities for children until we have some­thing better. We will hopefully have something better once we've aligned it with new curriculum development and new resources.

Update: In a recent Fort McMurray Today article, "Education leaders clash over third grade tests," Education Minister, Thomas Lukaszuk, is quoted as saying, '" I will be looking at PATs to make sure they serve role they were designed to serve and that they are not being misused for other purposes."'

STOP the CUTS

At last night's CAPSC meeting, parents expressed interest in connecting with STOP the CUTS. This is a joint advocacy effort supported by the Alberta Teachers' Association, the Alberta School Boards' Association and the Alberta School Councils' Association.

The website offers information, advocacy tips and an opportunity to tell your school's story.

Schools need stable funding from province

Although this editorial "Schools need stable funding from province" appeared in the Edmonton Journal last spring, it is worth reading as we embark on the 2011/2012 school year.

Editorial: Education is part of a prosperous province

An editorial that appeared in the Canmore Leader, "Education is part of a prosperous province," opens with the statement, "If you are a parent in Alberta, if you are even thinking of raising a child in Alberta, if you care about the future of this province in any way, you might consider writing a letter to ..."

Education funding is an issue across this province and touches every school board. While a few boards may weather this storm and minimize impacts to the classroom with dwindling reserves, they have shared that it is only a matter of time before their well runs dry. At the last board meeting, we learned that eight school boards in the province were in such dire straights that the province had to provide some assistance.

Education Minister: Don't expect any major funding announcements over the summer

At the Spring General Meeting of the Alberta School Boards' Association, the Hon. Dave Hancock told boards there would be no additional funding in this budget for cash strapped boards. According to this Calgary Herald article, "School Boards warned not to expect more funds," the Education Minister did make a "promise to take a look at addressing rising fuel costs" impacting transportation and approach the Treasury Board for additional funding. Check out the CTV News video, CBE considers bussing options.

CTV News also reported on the Minister's comments at the ASBA meeting and have a video available, Education Minister meets with trustees, that includes interviews with the Hon. Dave Hancock; Jacquie Hansen, ASBA President; and Pat Cochrane, Chair of the CBE Board of Trustees.

2011/2012 Transportation Fee Schedule back before the board at June 7 public meeting

The 2011/2012 Transportation Fee Schedule had been on the public agenda for the May 3 board meeting. However, it was pulled prior to the meeting to allow for changes in the recommendations to accommodate the pecuniary interests that arose for some trustees and maximize their opportunity to discuss, debate and vote on the fee structure.

The revised report came back to the public meeting of the board held May 17. Trustees, who participated in the discussion, rejected the 60% fee increase and returned the report to Administration for new scenarios for funding. This does not mean that fees will not be raised in the returning report. It means the system of rebates for High School (Calgary Transit Services), family maximums and fee increases will have to be rejigged or eliminated or some combination thereof. The revised report is expected to be on the agenda for the June 7 public meeting of the board.

CAPSC has blogged previously about government funding levels for student transportation, ways the board has and is trying to minimize fee increases, and cost factors that challenge metro urban boards like the Calgary Board of Education (see blog archive for May). CAPSC has also spoken out in the media about the impacts fee increases will have on families.

One of the issues impacting student transportation costs is urban sprawl and this has been a high profile civic issue both here in Calgary and in Edmonton. It is clear that cities with populations of 1M plus like Calgary face deeper and more complex issues and factors like sprawl and complexity may not be fully accounted for in the province's funding formula for metro urban boards. This is currently under study by Alberta Education.

Back in May 2005, the Alberta School Boards' Metro School Boards Study raised the issue of urban sprawl and the complexities metro urban boards face. Discussion of these issues start on page 43 of the report. All of this is revisited in the later report, At the breaking point: Alberta's student transportation system.

The Metro Study suggested that the following factors need to be considered in a new transportation funding framework:

1. Needs and requirements of special education student transportation

2. Location of magnet schools

3. Urban sprawl – need to transport students from high growth areas on the periphery of the cities into the lower growth areas in older neighbourhoods

4. Traffic complexities and impact on ride times

5. Student safety – traffic patterns, school bus drop off bypasses, major
traffic routes and the nature of the areas that students must pass through

6. Need to utilize a wide range of transportation service providers – from
taxies to yellow busses

7. Increasing costs of accessing public transit

8. Needs of students and demands of parents

9. Costs of securing, training and maintaining qualified drivers and other
persons

10. Programs of choice

11. Small schools by necessity

12. School closures

13. Service carrier contracts

An excerpt from the later report notes that in the 2007/2008 school year, "metro boards were provided with funding to implement a computerized transportation software program like Edulog or Versa Track. It is anticipated that the implementation of these software programs will provide for a transported student information base that can be used as the foundation for a simplified revised metro allocation formula that considers actual eligible transported students rather than expected."

The CBE had to purchase the software in the spring of 2007 and have submitted reports to Alberta Education for four years now - the first of which was during the 2007-08 school year.

Of interest, is a timely article that recently appeared in Fast Forward Weekly's Calgary Life & Style Urban Living section, "A costly ride to school," that discusses the hidden costs of urban sprawl as it applies to student transportation. Urban sprawl is a complex issue with no easy, fast answers but public awareness and willingness to address these issues seems to be on the rise.

In the meantime...

Transportation Fee Increases

An interesting study by the Alberta School Boards Association, "At the breaking point: Alberta's student transportation system," dating back to 2008 discusses in detail the transportation funding challenges of urban metro boards such as Calgary. In the study's conclusion, the ASBA had this to say:

The ASBA studies to date as well as the September 2007 board transportation survey all point to overall funding shortfall pressures faced by the majority of school boards in the province as they attempt to deliver service acceptable to their communities. In response, boards have raised transportation fees by approximately 60%in the last three years and/or have borrowed from other areas of board operation to fund their transportation system. These pressures, if left unresolved, will push Alberta’s student transportation system past its breaking point.

It should be noted that the Metro Urban Funding Framework is still under review by the province. This is the second year that funding for transporation has not increased. Another impact will be the reduction of the Relative Cost of Purchasing Goods and Services Adjustment (RCPA)for the 2011/2012 school year and then its elimination for the 2012/2013 school year. And finally, the impact of school board reserve depletion.

Cuts to Education

Jacquie Hansen, President of the Alberta Schools Board Association, has written a letter to the editor in this morning's Calgary Herald entitled, "Brace yourselves for cuts to education." She points out that while at first glance it appears government funding increased by 4.7%, the province actually turned around and cut or eliminated pieces of the basic funding formula. Previous blog posts have talked about the ELL funding cut (Calgary Board has the largest number of ELL students in the province at approximately 22,000) but her letter also points out that the grant that covered the cost of purchasing supplies in an area where there is a higher cost of living was eliminated as well - and this will cost the Calgary Board of Education $8M.

Ms. Hansen goes on to state that, "Schools are a people business. When dollars are cut, ultimately staff will be cut." This means fewer teachers and services for our children. Is this any way to "nurture and preserve" a world-class public education system? She calls for a funding model based on the current health-care model that would see "multi-year budgets with preset grant increases" allowing boards to plan long term.

Possible Teacher Layoffs are discussed on Access TV's Alberta Primetime

Access TV's Alberta Primetime sat down with Jacquie Hansen, President of the Alberta School Boards Association, to discuss the impact of cutting funding to the Alberta Initiative for School Improvement (AISI) by 50%. Ms. Hansen described AISI funding as supporting work that allows for the development of creative and innovative means to improve student outcomes. This funding has "kept us leading edge."

She goes on to give kudos to the government for honouring the promised wage increase to teachers but points out that there have been adjustments in other areas including, but not limited to, no new funding in the classroom for special needs students, removal of funding to the class size initiative for grades 4 to 6, and funding that supported new immigrants to our country. Add to this inflationary pressures and increasing costs means school boards across the province could very well be looking at possible teacher layoffs. Please take a few minutes to watch this video clip.

CBE Chief Superintendent Naomi Johnson Comments on the Budget

Chief Superintendent Naomi Johnson, in a video statement, has shared that funding to the board will be down an estimated 6% overall even as costs to educate students continue to rise. The Alberta School Boards Association, in its media release, warns that "services to students will be cut because of the budget." The Alberta Teachers' Association adds "that this budget will result in a loss of teaching positions." Education Minister, Dave Hancock, comments on education impacts during this CTV news presentation from Edmonton.

Tripartite Discussions: Alberta Education, ASBA and ATA Issue a Joint Statement

A joint statement was released today by Alberta Education, the Alberta School Boards Association and the Alberta Teachers' Association regarding the Tripartite discussions. The letter stated that they will "not be moving ahead with an agreement at this time." These discussions began last fall and centred around workforce stability and the transformation of K to 12 Education.