Re: Commentary: New curriculum should be scrapped
While I agree with most things the author says, I come to a different conclusion. This is a concerted attack on the UCP, to make them look bad. When a government talks about cutting budgets, those affected will do what it takes to make them lose the next election regardless of the effects on the students.
In 2000 Alberta would have ranked 1st in the world if it was a country, in the PISA international education tests. We were first in literacy, third in math and science, with scores of 551,547 and 548, for a total of 1,646.
By 2018 (the last tests) we had dropped to 1,577.
We went from first in literacy to third, and discovery math dropped us from third to eighth . The government has cherry picked some data, but reality is almost as bad.
Grade 4 students, went from first in 2006 to 17th in 2016, math went from 16th in 2007 to 39 in 2019. Science went from fourth to 16th. Yet the ATA will tell you, that what they are doing works better than what we used to do.
The number of people who don’t know if they have received the correct change has soared. In 2019 the ATA gave Dr. George Georgiou the educational research award, for his work in finding a method to dramatically lower illiteracy.
The UCP want to use his methods to cure illiteracy. But the ATA who gave him an award in 2019 for his work, say it must be scrapped in 2021.
Clearly the ATA believe they know better than the scientists they gave awards to. I think this puts them in the same class as the anti-vaxers, who think anecdotal evidence is better than scientific research.
I see over and over how people hate the social studies curriculum, yet they won't teach literacy, math or science, that researchers have shown works better.
Don’t use the social studies curriculum, which is harder to measure, but use the methods that have given the best results in science, math and literacy.
If you don't, then you obviously can’t argue with people who are climate skeptics, or anti-vaxers, because you are saying the scientists are wrong, just like they are.
We have to do what is best for the students, rather than what teachers and school boards want.
Bob Wilson,
Calgary
