Math tests for teachers unlikely to help students

TORONTO — Giving teachers standardized tests often doesn’t lead to better outcomes for students, the agency tasked with developing a new math test for Ontario teachers said in a report this week.

The review by the Education Quality and Accountability Office of existing research on compulsory teacher competency testing was released days after the provincial government revealed details of a standardized math test it will soon require new teachers to pass.

Starting at the end of this academic year, new teachers will have to score at least 70 per cent on the test to register with the teachers’ college.

The Progressive Conservative government has repeatedly promised to take measures to improve student math scores, which have been declining for a decade across the province.

But the EQAO literature review found that while many studies show a positive correlation between teachers’ scores and student outcomes, it is only weakly to moderately predictive of student performance. In fact, teacher experience, grades from college or university, the number of post-secondary math courses they have taken and professional math certification courses are all better predictors of student outcomes, the EQAO said.

“While these tests may receive support from policy-makers, educators and the public, the fundamental goal of these tests — to improve student learning — is often not met,” the agency said in the report.

“Current research demonstrates that standardized teacher tests is not linked with a level of performance consistency that justifies their widespread implementation at this time. The use of caution with these tests is advised by many researchers on the basis that these tests are not consistently associated with the positive benefits that are often claimed.”

Education Minister Stephen Lecce said the government is strengthening the foundation of mathematics primarily through a four-year, $200-million math strategy and updating the curriculum with a “back-to-basics” approach.

“(The test) is a component of the broader vision,” he said. “It is certainly not the central vehicle, but it helps to create a metric.”

Lecce noted the positive correlation in the EQAO report between teacher testing and student outcomes, specifically referencing a North Carolina study that showed an increase of between three and six per cent in student achievement when teachers pass a standardized test used in the United States.

“The bottom line for me is ensuring there’s a way to measure success, measure improvement and raise the bar.”