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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.
Hello,
As we all know, spending money has not helped improve student performance.
What is needed which the government refuses to do is have accountability—teachers need to be held accountable.
I had first-hand experience when I discovered my daughter, by the age of ten, had no idea what a fraction was, and couldn’t add nor subtract.
When I got the curriculum, I found out that the children were years behind. This wasn’t only at our school. Any parent whose child was the same age, regardless of the school or city for that matter, had the same story.
Bringing in children at a younger age won’t help them learn more if the course material isn’t taught!
Of course, the government is afraid of the unions, so the McGuinty government will never do this—they’ll just keep spending.