It is unfortunate to pass on the bad news, but Canada has
dropped out of the top 10 international math education standings. Canada placed
13th overall in mathematics, which is down three spots from 2009,
and six spots from 2006. The survey is performed every three years and measures
how well 15-year-olds around the world are doing in math, reading, and science.
It is believed that the math curriculum put in place within the past decade is
the cause of the lower scores. Why you ask? Well, more emphasis is being placed
on real world concepts, rather than abstract thinking and practice. In fact,
the top performers in the survey had more exposure to formal mathematics than
word problems. Our poor international performance also raises concern for the
country’s ability to innovate and produce in a global economy. How you ask? A
lack of math knowledge early in school can discourage students from pursuing it
in university. Employers say that they are facing a shortage of qualified applicants
with math and engineering backgrounds. Believe it or not, Quebec is Canada’s
leader in math for the reason that the teachers in the province have studied
math during their training. By doing this, they have developed a confidence in
teaching the subject.
The link to the article is: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/education/canadas-fall-in-math-education-ranking-sets-off-red-flags/article15730663/
The Ministry of Education has been taking steps toward this as I recently came across an email offering a subsidy of $450 to teachers who successfully complete a math AQ or ABQ, and are currently employed by a school board. Unfortunately, I am not currently employed by a school board so I cannot make use of this subsidy. May you can! As teachers pursue AQ and ABQ courses as options for professional development, their confidence in teaching the subject will increase.
Do you think we will rise in standings the next time the survey is conducted in 2015? Or do you think we will continue to drop in the ranking? What is your opinion on how we can raise math scores on an international level?
Great article to bring to our attention.
ReplyDeleteI have also wondered and been in many discussions with peers about how other parts of the world are much more advanced than our students here in Canada. What I mean is, students here seem to learn skills that other parts of the world have learned years ago. Often times exchange students have come into our school and into the math class, already knowing the lessons from years ago.
I don't really know if the problem is real world concepts being taught. It very well could be if the elementary curriculum is based on real world concepts. I believe it is at this level that students need to spend the most time learning the skills necessary to become abstract thinkers. I do not believe there is enough time spent in the elementary level on math skills, and in some cases it is not even being taught by math qualified teachers. The subsidy would come in handy here for some of those teachers, but is it enough?
If students can match other parts of the world at a younger age in what they learn in math, they can use that knowledge at the secondary level to further their development, and still be able to apply their knowledge to real-world applications.
I think it is easy to see this happening if you're around to see the differences in math skills in students over the generations, but politicians should not be hiding or masking the results to save their own ideas or political party. The future of the country and the skills needed by the next generation is the most important thing to take from this. We can not fall any more behind on a global scale. We need elementary students to spend much more time on math and get taught by more qualified math teachers at a young age. We cannot be afraid to make math and science the focus of the elementary curriculum.
Thanks for posting, that was really insightful and depressing. I was curious to why the Ministry of Education were offering a subsidy of $450 to teachers who successfully complete a math AQ or ABQ, and are currently employed by a school board. I would like to add that they also offer $450 subsidy to teachers who have to take and successfully complete an undergraduate course which is necessary to qualify to take the math ABQ/AQ course.
DeleteI really hope that this well help to improve our standing.
I also stumbled upon this link http://www.additudemag.com/adhd/article/963.html, which provides 12 Ways to Boost Test Scores for Children with ADHD and Learning Disabilities.
This link http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/admin/admin366.shtml which explains the Principals Strategies to Boosting test scores.