As a new school year looms on the horizon, this will be the fourth teachers’ job action my youngest will be subjected to as she heads back to school. While the grown-ups in charge continue to bicker and fight, at stake will be another disruption to her education, which may have consequences for her post-secondary placement in the coming months.
It’s bad enough that we, her parents, have had to supplement her schooling along the way. We’ve had to teach her at home to make up for glaring deficiencies vis-a-vis weak curricula guidelines and useless standards, which are more suited for dumbing our students down than for inspiring and challenging them to higher aspirations.
The demand for a more inclusive, rigorous education has never been stronger. And it’s clear that the demand is strongest for our most disadvantaged students. According to the Cardus report, “Independent school enrolment would be even larger if lower-income families had better access. Parents value the opportunity and autonomy to select a school that they believe is the right fit for their child(ren). This is especially important for lower-income households.”
Why not allow for more options and close the inequity gap for our students?
Mastery of fractions has been determined to be one of the critical pillars of a strong foundation for success in algebra and beyond. Yet this standard has been pushed back to Grade 8, which is one year behind other provinces in Canada.
Memorization of math facts, the key to understanding arithmetic, has been eschewed in the curricula guidelines, deemed “not intended for this level” in Grade 3 and Grade 4. Mastery of math facts using straightforward methods, daily practice, and timed quizzes used to be included in our elementary math curricula, and they are a significant part of daily classroom instruction in high-performing math nations. However, they are notably absent today.
More significantly, between 2003 and 2012, the proportion of B.C. students who performed below level 2 (the baseline level of math proficiency required to participate fully in modern society) increased by 3.9 percent, while the proportion who performed at levels 5 and 6 (the highest end of the spectrum) decreased by 5.1 percent. This decrease was larger than the Canadian average for that same period.
Three years later, the 2015 PISA study found that “in mathematics, after a significant decline between 2003 and 2012, the performance of Canadian students in mathematics remained unchanged between 2012 and 2015.”
Combined with this discouraging data is what appears to be a rising trend in tutoring over the past 10 years. While no specific data on this trend is available, anecdotally, tutoring companies and private tutors are reporting an upward spike in enrolment.
Why do taxpayers tolerate it?
As parents scramble to fill their children’s educational deficit via private tutors and extra learning at home, it’s maddening to know our pleas to our education leaders are being ignored. I, and many others, have spoken ad nauseam at public events and board meetings, presented petitions to members of the legislative assembly and other politicians, written editorials, and presented at education conferences. We’ve spoken to thousands of parents, teachers, and other concerned citizens across the country.
Unfortunately, our efforts to protest and seek change are ignored by our governments. I personally was threatened with legal action merely for questioning the methods demonstrated at a math night sponsored by our school district years ago. In my specific example, the school district dealt with the matter quickly, but it was an important reminder that parents are not supported when they question authority—even when our kids’ futures are at stake.
