Assessing Assessment in Our Schools (From the President)
It’s not often that I’m able to deliver good news in this column. But this is one such occasion. I’m happy to be able to tell you that we have made progress on the issue of EQAO-related initiatives.
In the December 2010 issue of Voice I wrote about ETFO’s ongoing efforts to have the ministry of education reduce the numerous literacy and numeracy activities ETFO members are expected to implement.
A survey of ETFO locals conducted last year told us that teachers are spending an excessive amount of time administering and marking tests. Some of these are mandated by the ministry and the Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat; but others are put in place by boards and administrators.
ETFO has been lobbying the government to step in and address this issue for quite some time.
I met with Minister of Education Leona Dombrowsky in December and shared the results of the ETFO survey of locals. ETFO staff also met with the Premier’s staff in January to discuss the issue. At both meetings, we suggested that the government needed to get a handle on what was happening in terms of assessment in elementary classrooms across the province. We suggested the government conduct its own audit of school boards.
The government has responded. The ministry posted an online survey requesting input from local presidents in the federations that represent elementary teachers – ETFO, the Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association (OECTA), and the Association des enseignantes et des enseignants franco-ontariens (AEFO). It has also asked school boards to complete the survey.
The list of assessment instruments that the survey is addressing is in itself a good indication of the problem. There are 17 categories of assessments on the ministry list, including those pieces with which teachers are only too familiar: PM Benchmarks; Diagnostic Reading Assessments ( DRA); Comprehension Attitude Strategies Interests (CAS!); Early Development lnstrument (EDI); and the list goes on.
Our members struggle to teach while having to cope with an agenda of “testing for its own sake.” But another consideration is the cost of all this activity. The Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat spends approximately $78 million annually. The Education Quality and Acoountability Office (EQAO) has a budget of $33 million. Another $14 million is spent to support 80 student achievement officers who duplicate the work of school board consultants.
The fact the ministry is conducting this survey shows that it has heard our concerns. But clearly this is just the first step. Once the ministry has gathered the information it must take action to ensure that assessment activities in our schools are significantly reduced.
Teachers know best which students will benefit from additional testing and their professional judgement should determine when and if they use testing beyond that prescribed in legislation. Putting an end to testing for its own sake would free up resources to support students in the classroom and allow teachers to do what they do best – teach!
