Manitoba's education overhaul focuses on accountability, but critics say schools already offer that

The Manitoba government says it wants accountability from a school system with lagging test scores, but it's unclear what that will look like or what consequencesmay emerge if schools fall short.

The province set out two years ago to review itskindergarten to Grade 12 school systemwith the knowledge its students rankedamong the worst in Canada in math, literacy and science.

The government wanted somebody to answer for these scores.

Kelvin Goertzen, then the province's education minister, said in 2019 that he was frustrated when he asked school division officials who was responsible for improving student results, and wastold everybody is.

"If we're all responsible, then really nobody is responsible," Goertzen said at the time.

Two years later, the government's strategy for K-12 education reform, released on Monday, prioritizes accountability. Within five years, it saysManitoba will possess an education system that is "accountable for results" so "our children perform better and stop falling behind."

The strategy also calls for theeducation system to be accountable to taxpayers and a newgovernance model which will see the province dissolve all37 of its English-language school divisionsto be accountable as well.

It says the province should consider creating a regulatory body for teachers to ensure the professionanswers to the public.

Asked Wednesday what happensif certain goals aren'tmet, Education Minister Cliff Cullen wouldn't say.

"Clearly, there will be an evaluation," he told reporters at the Manitoba Legislature. "We're looking at increased assessment of our students as we go forward so that we can gaugeif we're making increases in terms of marks and student achievement."

The acting dean of the University of Manitoba's faculty of education worries the province will rely onstandardized testsas its sole metric for success.

"If you ask parents what they want to see their child develop into, they will not list, 'Well, they will get an 85 per centon the standardized test,'"ThomasFalkenbergsaid.

"What they will say is, 'I want my child to get a good job, I want my child to live a happy life, Iwant my child to be a contributing citizen.'"

There's nothing wrong with seeking more accountability in education,Falkenbergsaid, butthe province must firstoutlinewhat it wants from the public school system and then measure successagainst those goals.

The end goal shouldn't be getting high marks, he said. Rather, it"might be to become a participating active democratic citizen. And then you can establishthe means to assess, to hold the school system to account to what degree they actually accomplish that."

The Progressive Conservative government has signalled it wants better test scores from students. It is planning to develop new provincial assessmentsone in Grade3 or 4, one in Grade 6 or 7, and one in Grade 10 and share that data with "local school communities" on a schoolwide level.

In 2018, Manitoba started breaking down Grade 12 provincial test scores by school division, after two decades in which only the provincial average was made public.

Manitoba Teachers' Society president James Bedfordsaid moving to release that data would prompt the general public to start ranking schools.

"No, we don't have good schools and bad schools," Bedford said."We have schools in this province that are hugely overpopulated by impoverished students.'"

Government must focus on poverty: MTS

Bedford has continually argued the province is over-valuing standardized tests, while failing to address one of the root cause of slumping grades: Manitoba's high rates of child poverty.

"Who is responsible for poverty?" Bedford asked. "I would saythat it's a shared responsibility and there's an enormous role the provincial government has to play in addressing the symptoms of poverty and, quite frankly, fixing poverty."

The government's call for accountability seems to fly in the face of the work of school trustees, saidLouise Johnston, board chair of the Louis Riel School Division in Winnipeg.

"For me as a trustee, I'm publicly elected, so I am accountable to my communities. They keep me on task."

Johnston adds Louis Riel keeps its community informed on student outcomes. The divisionreported on its website Wednesday the number of kindergarten to Grade 8 students who needhelp with recovery learning.

Opposition NDP education critic Nello Altomare a former school principal said the government's messaging suggests the school system doesn't already prioritize results, which he says is apatronizing claim.

"My colleagues find it kind of insulting some of the insinuationssaying we were never accountable before. That's the furthest thing from the truth."

He said as a principal, he regularly worked in collaboration with teachers and division officials. He feltaccountable to the kids entrusted to his school's care, and their parents, he said.

Manitoba's education revamp

4 years ago

Duration 2:11

The Manitoba government says it wants accountability from a school system with lagging test scores, but it's unclear what that will look like or what consequences may emerge if schools fall short.