👏 The Globe & Mail editorial team absolutely nailed it with this. People are paying attention. No more excuses. Canada has an education problem and we have to fix it.
Summary:
🔸 Canada's education scores are declining on both PISA and TIMSS
🔸 We have way more low performers and fewer high performers
🔸 Canada spends significantly on education and needs to better allocate those resources
🔸 Downward trend started before COVID
🔸 Movement away from methods that work, like explicit instruction, has likely had a negative impact
🔸 Rampant grade inflation, with a mention of U of Waterloo instructor, Dan Wolczuk
🔸 Open door to tech in the classroom has not helped
🔸 Teachers unions have pushed back against things that could help like early screening for reading
🔸 Faculties of education have not always been on board with equipping teachers with the tools that will help teachers teach effectively
🔸 Look towards England, which has managed to buck the trend. Regular phonics screening, a times table check, calculator ban on standardized tests, etc.
🔸 Provincial governments must take action.
Last paragraph is amazing:
"PISA might seem like a test for Canadian school children, but it’s really a test for policymakers and educators on how they are running the schools. Right now, they are failing. In order to turn around test scores, and put children back on the path of achievement, they need to fundamentally change how students are being taught."
theglobeandmail.com/opinion/…