ZWAAGSTRA: Early student screening good first step but it’s not enough

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The Alberta government plans to require all schools in the province to provide annual screening tests to third-grade students. While screening tools are often used by Alberta teachers, Bill 6 would codify this practice into law.

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Screening instruments are diagnostic tests to assess students' reading and math skills. To ensure the reliability of the results, all students in the same class are given the same tests. This is a smart move because it is important to diagnose learning disabilities early so that teachers can develop appropriate programs. When disabilities go undiagnosed, students slip through the cracks.

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Basic Skills

However, beyond this, it is useful to have a clear assessment of basic skills such as reading, writing and mathematics. By testing all students from kindergarten to grade 3, the province can determine which schools are seeing student academic growth each year and which are struggling. This allows additional resources to be directed to schools in need of support.

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Unfortunately, critics were quick to condemn the government's plan. The Alberta Teachers Association argues that because teachers already know how their students learn, screening tests are unnecessary. Other critics say the provincial government should open the spending spigots.

The problem with these arguments is that they overlook the important role standardized testing plays in student learning. While it is true that most teachers have a good understanding of their students once they get to know them, it is unrealistic to assume that every teacher is equally skilled at developing accurate assessments. And in Canada, there is no correlation between per-pupil spending and student academic performance.

For example, although Alberta's per-pupil spending is lower than other provinces, Alberta ranks first among provinces in reading and science and second in mathematics, according to the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA). Thus, there is no reason to believe that turning on the spending spigots will help improve academic performance.

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Interestingly, Alberta used to have a rigorous standardized test at the 3rd grade level. Back in 2013, the Redford government scrapped provincial achievement tests for Grade 3 and set the province's education system back by removing an important accountability tool that measured student performance. While the Smith government's plan to create mandatory testing tools for K-3 schools is a welcome development, it would be better if 3rd grade tests were not eliminated altogether.

Selection is impartial

This is also not a partisan issue. British Columbia and Manitoba, both of which have NDP governments, recently announced plans to provide screening tests to all first-grade students.

But again, mandatory screening is a good first step, but it is not enough. The government should get serious about promoting evidence-based teaching methods, which means mandating structured literacy instruction (also known as phonics) as the primary method of teaching reading in the province. And this should provide all students with a knowledge-rich learning environment. Research shows a strong correlation between reading comprehension and background knowledge of a topic. The more you know about a topic, the easier it is for you to read and understand an article on that topic. Rewriting textbooks to focus more on knowledge is a key long-term reform.

So, while it is good that the Smith government plans to mandate annual assessment tests, there is no reason to stop improving Alberta's education system.

Michael Zwaagstra is a senior fellow at the Fraser Institute.

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