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Not Rocket Science
Further to Doretta’s posting on the Ontario test results, the Minister of Education has been quoted as saying that while she is “concerned by some of the results, the government has measures in place to help students, which include lowering class sizes in the early years, putting more money into literacy and math coaches, and an ambitious plan that would integrate full-day kindergarten and childcare programs for Ontario’s four- and five-year-olds.” But the first two reforms have been in place for years, yielding little or no improvement, and there is no reason to believe that the planned childcare programs will increase student learning, assuming they materialize. It’s actually kind of pitiful to see these Ontario politicians so desperately wanting better student achievement but having no idea how to make it happen. Yet a low-cost, fast-acting strategy is readily available - simply switch to proven teaching methods and materials.