The province says the new assessments are not graded and are instead intended to measure cognitive ability
Alberta Education announced Thursday that students between kindergarten and Grade 5 will undergo new proficiency assessment tests, a move the government says will help identify struggling students, but one the province’s teachers say is unnecessary.
Some of the new literacy and numeracy assessments will begin next fall with the start of the new school year, while others take effect months later:
- September 2024: screening assessments for all students in grades 1 to 3. There will also be an additional assessment in June for students requiring additional supports
- January 2025: new assessments for all kindergarten students
- September 2026: new assessments for students in grades 4 and 5
The provincial achievement tests for Grade 6 students will continue while learning assessments for students in Grade 3 will be dropped.
The changes were conveyed through an emailed letter to board chairs during the first week of summer break and via a government news release Thursday afternoon.
“These additional assessments will tell teachers, schools and parents about potential learning issues and better position them to support students,” a statement from Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides reads.
The ministry says the new assessments are not typical tests in that they are not graded and are instead intended to measure a given student’s cognitive ability.
“The assessments will enable school authorities to make local decisions to better support students’ specialized learning needs.”
In the letter to board chairs, Nicolaides said the changes are intended to demonstrate which students need further help from teachers as soon as possible.
“Assessing students in their early years provides essential information needs and ensures that students requiring additional supports receive the help they need early in their education.”
The ministry also pointed to $10 million set aside in the most recent provincial budget to assist with the new assessments.
“If a student is found to be below where they should be, teachers and staff can use made-in-Alberta interventions.”
‘Safety net instead of measuring how fast they’re falling’
The Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA) issued its own statement Thursday criticizing the changes, saying students need more supports, not tests.
“When so many kids are falling through the cracks, we need to be giving them a safety net instead of measuring how fast they’re falling,” said ATA president Jason Schilling in a statement.
“Teachers don’t need a test to identify which students are struggling; they need smaller classes and more supports to get those kids additional help.”
Schilling asserted that the new assessment regime means some students could be subject to as many as 32 standardized tests by the time they leave elementary school, compared to a prior total of 10.
He said administering the new tests will be a burden for teachers and take away valuable instruction time.
“Politicians and bureaucrats who have little knowledge and experience of the realities of Alberta’s classrooms might think this is a great idea, but teachers who will end up spending hours administering tests and preparing students for them in September, January and June do not.”
Schilling said a better approach was to defer to teachers, and let them determine which students need help, and called on the province to boost education funding that he claimed was the lowest per student in Canada.
“It’s time our provincial leaders got their priorities right.”