Focus on Education
By Matt Watkinson
Dave Johnson survived his trial-by-error debut as education minister and has emerged with a package of changes for Ontario’s high school curriculum.
Throughout the two-week strike over Bill 160, Johnson protected the government’s vision of the school system against massive opposition from the people who actually run it.
Now, with the bill passed, the government has given Ontarians a first glimpse at that vision.
Specifics of the new curriculum were released early last month in a statement playing up a back-to-basics angle: “High school reform increases emphasis on math, language and science; and promotes responsible citizenship.”
This increased emphasis actually amounts to a couple more compulsory credits — one in math and one in science — combined in a strange twist with 40 hours of mandatory community service and a literacy test based on Grade 9 material, which must be passed before graduation.
The death of Grade 13 means university-bound students have to incorporate the extra credits into a four-year stint. This may make it seem like the two credits make a big difference, but in reality they don’t.
The current curriculum has the same credit requirements for students who choose to graduate in Grade 12, and are not headed to university, as it does for those graduating in Grade 13. Both groups receive the same diploma based on the same 30 credit system. The so-called emphasis on language skills is even more of a farce. Currently all students need five English credits to graduate. Under the new system they will only need four.
Ministry officials say the focus is on more than numbers — the whole package will improve students.
In Alberta, where students out-perform Ontario and consistently score above the national average on School Indicators Achievement Program tests, the number of required courses in core subjects is comparable with Ontario’s new numbers.
But what makes them perform well, according to Alberta’s director of curriculum standards Keith Wagner, is that Grade 12 math, science, English and social studies courses have government-set exams that count for 50 per cent of final grades.
This maintains a consistent standard of education as all students are primed for the same finals. The exams guarantee the material covered in class takes students to the level expected of them by the government.
The package put forward by Ontario doesn’t have anything with this kind of bite, or with any teeth at all for that matter.
Officials point to literacy testing. Passing a literacy test will be a graduation requirement, but it will be written in Grade 10 and based on Grade 9 material.
Graduating students should have a solid grasp of the literacy skills learned in Grade 9. The fact that the government feels this test is necessary simply proves the system needs more solid reforms.
Students will also have to perform 40 hours of community service beyond the 30 credits needed to graduate. The ministry claims these hours will “encourage civic responsibility” and make graduating students better, more well-rounded citizens.
No. 1, making the service mandatory in order to graduate goes beyond encouragement and into the realm of coercion.
No. 2, though valuable lessons can be learned from community service, it certainly isn’t going to teach anyone how to read, write, solve problems or do calculations.
And isn’t that what school is for?