April

14, 2014
Standardized Testing Rebranded, Now Going Full Speed
AheadWhat to make of the Student First consultations ?
Marc Spooner

With the announcement that directors Liam Choo-Foo and Don Remple will be
leading the charge on assessment and focusing on reading, writing and arithmetic,
the Ministry of Education is doing exactly what I predicted in the Leader-Post back
in Oct of 2013-- before the Student First consultations!

Rebranding exercise?
Spooner, M. (2013, Oct 31). Rebranding exercise? Leader Post.

I write regarding the Oct. 25 Leader-Post story entitled "Showcasing school success
stories". It was about recent Saskatchewan Ministry of Education assessment
initiatives.

Assistant deputy minister of education Greg Miller assures us that these initiatives are
not a repackaged push for standardized testing. Sadly, that is precisely what they are.
One need only look at the article's featured school division and director, Liam Choo-
Foo. Only a few months ago, in an op-ed piece in these very pages, Choo-Foo was
arguing the merits of standardized testing in a piece entitled "Standardized tests
contribute to student success."

Moreover, a cursory glance at the comprehensive supports for student achievement
link in the student achievement section of the ministry's own website, reveals the bullet
point: "Align curriculum, instruction, and assessment in response to provincial
assessments", which serves to further confirm the fears of concerned parents and
educators in Saskatchewan - that the ministry's previously announced standardized
testing plans were merely on pause long enough for them to rebrand and relaunch the
unpopular and misguided, top-down directive under a more slick public relations
strategy.

Unfortunately, the considerable funding lost to this costly and ineffective testing
initiative will only take away from more pressing areas such as overcrowded
classrooms, reduced teacher development days, and growing provincial inequity.
Sadly, all of this comes at the expense of our children and Saskatchewan's education
system.

Marc Spooner
Regina