Good evening all,
I've included my original post from the Course Website with additional comments below.
Every student has a gap in their learning. Whether it be in their writing and the correct use of then or than, appropriate comma or colon use or just how to structure an article or letter, there are gaps. The same is true of mathematics, and the province is aware of it. The EQAO is focused on improving students' abilities by analyzing trends in cohort, province wide testing achievement. This analysis is showing a negative trend in achievement, and has since tracking began. So with all this attention being placed on province wide testing, why are students' abilities in decline? A simple answer is the data is not being analyzed and utilized correctly, but obviously there is always a few jacks in the deck and it can't be that simple. If you are a fan of George Clooney or Mark Wahlberg, you'll know of the Perfect Storm, and that is what I believe we are creating in our Province.
I think the EQAO province wide testing could indicate why students have gaps, but I'm not seeing the attempt in their findings. I'm not an activist against the EQAO's province wide testing, in fact, I'm the complete opposite, I think the testing has great potential to right this ship, but I think it is being misused. The current longitudinal study is only focusing on student achievement as pass/fail. The last time I checked, the Ontario Curriculum was not a pass/fail document, but a listing of skills that students should display by the end of each grade. If the EQAO would analyze and publish the skills expected by the end of the respective grades, and not just pass rates, a clearer picture of where students show weakness on a class, school, community, board and province wide could be viewed and used to reverse the increasing failure rates in mathematics.
Now the EQAO does publish findings "linking EQAO assessments to 21-century skills," which is a fantastic idea, but these skills are not specific, clump together numerous expectations, and cloud the picture. They are not a waste of time, but they are not specifically assessed in the Ontario Mathematics Curriculum. I like the idea for preparing students for the future, but how about just preparing them for what's next. A great Australian comedian, Tim Minchin, gave an inspiring and thought-provoking graduation speech for the University of Western Australia wherein he said, "You don't have to have a dream... I advocate for passionate, dedication for the pursuit of short-term goals... If you focus too far in front of you, you wont see the shiny thing out the corner of your eye." Like Tim, I believe if you have a dream, great but it takes a million steps to get there. What about those steps? This is where I think the EQAO should shift the focus from pass/fail reports to an intricate analysis of the specific curricular expectations, published for the province to see.
Below is the extension to the original post.
As seen in all the reports being published by EQAO, students who show math weaknesses early on in their education have a difficult time rebounding and achieving a passing grade on EQAO assessments. What I find the most troubling is the fact that this is well know and documented but still the number of Educational Assistants has been in decline, and in some areas drastically, over the last few years. In 2012, the Toronto District School Board cut 430 EA positions. Their reasoning, declining enrollments. Instead of looking at the number of bodies in a classroom, why not shift the focus onto something more pressing like the province wide testing results that show a steady decline in math scores. Instead of laying-off EAs why not provide them with specialized training to help rectify the more serious problem. Education is about the results, not the bodies in the seats, why else would Ontario worry itself with EQAO testing if were not true.
In my board, EA positions have decline over the last 4 years. Continual cuts to classroom support undermine the very ideal of education in Ontario. The EQAO report bulletin from 2012, updated 2014, justifies the extra help for students, citing "Early and ongoing intervention to support students who are at risk in kindergarten or the primary or junior level can help them meet the provincial standard in mathematics in later grades." Why on Earth are we taking the very instruments that can apply the interventions, that would help students improve, out of the classroom? In one word, Money. To balance budgets, we are removing support that could help improve math scores. The old adage "You have to spend money, to make money" rings true. Nothing comes for free and I think it's time we stopped lying to ourselves and get some support in the classroom for these students, who are clearly in need.
Feel free to follow the bouncing ball through the information below. In my opinion, enlightening but aggravating.
http://www.eqao.com/en/research_data/Research_Reports/DMA-docs/bulletin-21st-century-skills.pdf
21 Century Skills and the EQAO
https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2017/09/06/ontario-to-launch-review-of-how-students-are-tested.html
Testing Review
http://www.eqao.com/en/Our_Data_in_Action/video_library/Pages/about-ontarios-province-wide-tests.aspx
What the EQAO is all about: Province Wide Testing
http://www.eqao.com/en/research/research-reports
Reports
http://www.eqao.com/en/research_data/Research_Reports/Pages/student-achievement.aspx
Student Achievement Reports
http://www.eqao.com/en/research_data/Research_Reports/DMA-docs/cohort-tracking-2012.pdf
Longitudinal Study 3-6-9 Cohort 2012
http://www.eqao.com/en/research_data/Research_Reports/DMA-docs/bulletin-cohort-tracking-math-2012.pdf
Bulletin of Findings from Longitudinal Study
http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/early-childhood-education-1.4374820
Gaps in Early Education
https://www.thestar.com/yourtoronto/education/2012/04/11/toronto_district_school_board_to_allow_430_laidoff_education_assistants_to_retrain_as_early_childhood_educators.html
TDSB EA Layoffs 2012
https://www.simcoe.com/news-story/5613196-layoffs-looming-for-bruce-grey-educational-assistants/
Bluewater EA Layoffs 2015
http://www.owensoundsuntimes.com/2016/05/01/layoff-notices-for-bluewater-ed-assistants
Bluewater EA Layoffs 2016
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