EDUCATION TRANSFORMATION IN BRITISH COLUMBIA
become familiar with the new requirements, in this
time period it was at risk from backlash or political
turnarounds. Only the ending of the traditional provincial
exams really received heated media attention, however,
when it was formally announced in 2016. Pushback
contributed to the changeover to the new assessments
being delayed by a year, by which time COVID-19 had
become the much greater concern for school news.
The release of PISA scores in December 2019 also
received some coverage, as B.C. saw a statistically
significant decline in 2018 PISA scores compared to
2015. However, this decline was not sufficient to derail
the reform process, likely because other Canadian
provinces also experienced some declines and Canada
still ranked highly overall. With the exception of the
Fraser Institute, a prominent Canada-wide think tank
with a conservative-libertarian bent, there has not been a
consistent voice of opposition to the reforms.
One key to its sustainability is that the new curriculum
received support from both the province's main political
parties, the Liberals and New Democrats. In part this
is because it was spearheaded not by officials but by
educators. While the Liberal George Abbott, education
minister from 2011-13, played a vital role in supporting
the initial vision, it has been influential secondees and
network leaders who have sustained it. Consequently,
even when some later civil servants in the ministry
were more skeptical, elected officials continued to hear
support for the curriculum from the field.
As of 2022, teachers and parents support the curriculum
and the new graduation requirements. The latest
addition to these-that all students take credits in
Indigenous courses-met with a positive response,
and many districts have already begin teaching such
courses in the past school year before the formal
introduction of this requirement. Another indicator
of confidence is that Canada's Northwest territories
have switched from using the curriculum of Alberta to
that of B.C. Overall, education leaders are optimistic
that despite or in some views because of-lagging
investment in assessment, the pedagogical practice to
realize the curriculum's vision is emerging.
4
UNFINISHED BUSINESS: ASSESSMENT
A central question in B.C.'s reform journey has been
whether to attempt to use provincial assessment as a
lever for change. On one side are those who feel that
the new core competencies should not be assessed
summatively with a view that teachers should not
be "waiting for the assessments" to start teaching
to. On the other are those who see assessment as an
outstanding "hole" in the reform-raising questions
as to what extent the core competencies really are
the "core" of the curriculum-and how they relate to
literacy and numeracy, which remain the only skills
that are monitored through provincial-wide centralized
assessment in grades four and seven. Currently, in new
report card designs, teachers provide comments on
student development against the core competencies,
and students have opportunities to self-assess. While
there is relatively widespread agreement that the core
competencies should not receive a score or grade,
there are calls for more investment in assessment
tools to support teacher feedback.
The assessment debate is linked to the challenge of
defending the curriculum reform against accusations
of "dumbing down" education. While, as noted above,
there has been no widespread opposition, the revised
math curriculum has come under fire from some
journalists and parent groups due to the reduction of
required content and more inquiry-based approaches
(in parallel with the earlier U.S. "math wars"). In
addition, the efforts to reduce external provincial
exams have been framed by some as a lowering of
standards. To counter this, proponents of reform
have tried to educate the public about assessment
for learning (for example, publishing on the ministry
website a compilation of recommended works of
contemporary educationalists and learning scientists).
An aim of the reforms is that assessment throughout
the school years should be in the service of "learning
not sorting."4 In order to achieve this goal, ministry
officials have had to work very closely with universities.
A dual appointment to the Ministry of Education and
The guiding principles of the Advisory Group on Provincial Assessment (AGPA, a collection of academics and stakeholder representatives
convened by the ministry to provide expert advice) sought to project this message in this way: ... stakeholder groups that are external
to the K-12 education system (e.g., employers and post-secondary institutions) have commonly relied on graduation data to inform their
decisions. While we recognize these "external" needs, we also acknowledge that meeting the needs and purposes within K-12 must remain
the primary drivers for assessment, and that the functions of the K-12 system should not be controlled by external needs. (AGPA 2015).
EDUCATION TRANSFORMATION IN BRITISH COLUMBIA
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