Standardized tests: Is it time for a rethink?

Quebec could benefit by taking lessons from Finland

It’s a brand new school year, which means it’s time once again to talk about the challenges facing Quebec’s education system.

This conversation thread was left dangling back in June when, after years of cost-cutting measures, the Liberal government announced a new plan for improved student success in Quebec. They allocated $1.8 billion for education over the next five years, much of which would go toward bolstering infrastructure and hiring new teachers. They set out a number of targets, including increasing the province’s slumping high school graduation rate from the current 74 per cent to 85 per cent by 2030, while also reducing the graduation gap between boys and girls.

However, as others have noted, just how the government plans to meet these targets in the coming years remains unclear.

While the province has been enjoying accolades for bolstering the economy, our education system continues to underperform. Although Quebec’s English schools have a higher success rate than the French schools, the province’s overall secondary-school graduation rate is still among the lowest in Canada. Almost one in three boys in this province drops out of school before graduating. Quebec’s literacy rate is among the worst in this country; more than half of Quebecers are functionally illiterate.

So what are we doing wrong?

There’s no easy fix to Quebec’s educational challenges. But here’s a question that I think warrants more attention: Is Quebec wasting time and money on our system of mass standardized testing? Does this system really work?

On this, Quebec could benefit by taking a few lessons from Finland, the small Nordic country that has one of the highest performing school systems globally, and has been ranked as the most literate nation in the world. In Finland, education is not seen as a competitive race driven by mass standardized test scores. Instead, children are assessed by their teachers every day. It is the “joy of learning” that underpins the country’s formal and highly successful educational approach.

But there’s more. In Finland, formal compulsory schooling does not start until age 7. Childhood is considered a time to develop a love of discovery and play. Instead of compelling children to memorize by rote, stress out over standardized tests, or sit still for hours of homework each night, they’re encouraged to learn through play and socialization — this includes an emphasis on physical activity outdoors, music and songs and conversation.

There is a focus on equality among students, and the system eschews school selection and streaming according to ability. There are no private schools. Advocates have called it a lowstress, highly supportive system.

Unorthodox? Definitely. Controversial? Maybe. But there’s no denying that the Finnish education system is a model for success.

This is not to say that the education system in Finland is perfect. Like any other place, it’s grappling with challenges, including the impact of increased “screen time” and digital technologies on student attention spans, concentration and information processing skills. The country is also dealing with budget cuts in an economic downturn.

As a result, its Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) ranking, a study that measures academic achievement in 73 countries, dipped slightly last year. Nevertheless, it remains a model that Quebec, with our low graduation rates and literacy levels, should seriously consider.

Test-driven learning has limits, and I wonder if Quebec has reached them. Standardized exams force teachers to tailor their teaching to the test, rather than the needs, strengths and weaknesses of a particular student. It can be stressful for everyone. By contrast, Finland prepares students to love learning, not to take a standardized test. Inculcating a love of learning is the key to Quebec’s long-term economic success and societal well-being.

At the heart of Quebec’s educational mission should be the idea that learning matters. It’s a challenge that will require all hands on deck. Welcome back to the classroom, everyone.