Grade 9 math tests in air with rolling teacher strikes
Education minister concerned union actions have left students unprepared for EQAO exams
Standardized math tests slated to start Monday for Grade 9 students have been thrown into uncertainty as Education Minister Stephen Lecce gives school boards across Ontario the authority to postpone them until June.
Lecce said he’s concerned rotating teacher strikes have left students poorly prepared for the Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) testing and estimated a “majority” of school boards will delay it. The Peel and Toronto district school boards quickly said they would do so.
“There has not been a major emphasis on EQAO preparation to date in many public schools,” Lecce told a news conference Wednesday.
“Local boards making the right decisions for their students makes the most sense,” he added as the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF) held the fourth in a series of one-day strikes, this time impacting eight boards, including Peel and Niagara.
Union president Harvey Bischof said Lecce’s decision shows the government is feeling the pressure with negotiations for a new contract stalled.
“That’s certainly what was intended by our job action,” he told the Star.
Lecce acknowledged there will be a “learning loss” for students in the semester system who won’t be in math classes this winter and spring but insisted educators could help them study for June.
“There’s ample time to do that between now and then.”
New Democrat MPP Marit Stiles said Lecce’s decision to allow boards to postpone EQAO “defies logic” because it undermines the purpose of standardized testing.
“He’s absolutely passing the buck here,” added Stiles, her party’s education critic.
The Ontario Public School Boards’ Association president Cathy Abraham said “clear direction is needed” because it’s tough to administer the tests without help from teachers who are on work-torule.
The Peel and Toronto district school boards pledged to provide more information soon for staff, students and parents on dates and arrangements for the June tests.
“Given the ongoing selected withdrawal of services by members of OSSTF, the TDSB does not have the ability to properly administer the EQAO Grade 9 math assessment scheduled to begin next week,” the Toronto board said in a statement.
Teens in first semester math at half the city’s 110 public high schools will be impacted.
The postponements came as the union representing English Catholic elementary and high school teachers — which has until now steered clear of job action in a bid to reach a new contract — said it will begin an administrative work-torule campaign Monday.
That means teachers will not participate in the EQAO tests unless a new deal is reached by Monday. Bargaining sessions are scheduled Thursday and Friday.
During the job action, the 45,000 members of the Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association (OECTA) will not provide comments on report cards, sit in on staff or other meetings, or participate in Ministry of Education initiatives.
Union president Liz Stuart said the education minister’s idea for teachers to bring first semester math students up to speed for the EQAO test is vague.
“They actually won’t be doing math in the second semester so I’m not sure what the plan is to give them supports in June,” she told the Star.
Public high school teachers have been working to rule in addition to their rotating strikes to protest a stalemate in contract talks. No further negotiations have been scheduled since a government-appointed mediator said the two sides are far apart.
Teacher unions are fighting the government’s plans to increase class sizes, require students to take online courses to graduate from high school, and to limit public sector wage increases to one per cent under a controversial new law.
The province initially said average high school classes would increase to 28 students from 22 and four online courses would be required. It has since reduced those targets to class sizes of 25 and two online courses.
But Stuart said the changes are still “regressive” and reiterated “we cannot agree to that.”
The OSSTF began its one-day walkouts with a province-wide job action that closed schools Dec. 4 and has since moved to weekly rotating strikes hitting various boards.