We are three teachers in learning measurement and evaluation with a specialization in edumetrics. In other words, we love figures and statistics. The recent media outing from the Minister of Education, Bernard Drainville, regarding a dashboard providing real-time data should have made us sparkle. But this is not the case. Why is that ?
Listening to the Minister of Education, you would think that the dashboard he wants to put in place represents nothing less than a revolution. Indeed, it will one day be possible to monitor the performance of students, teachers, schools and service centers in “real time”. It must be said that between the report cards, the parent meetings, the results of the ministerial tests and the secondary school report from the Fraser Institute, the minister considered that the data was still insufficient for him to know where to intervene…
We have a suggestion for the minister: why not ask teachers directly? We train teachers in learning assessment; believe us, they are on the front lines to provide you with relevant data on the needs of students in difficulty.
The question of prize lists
The idea of a dashboard is certainly the first step in a strategy aimed at setting up a ranking of schools, as the Fraser Institute had the brilliant idea around twenty years ago. The goal ? Allow those involved in the education system to compare themselves in order to help everyone improve. In other words, underperforming schools will be able to learn from high-performing schools so that everyone benefits. You had to think about it!
In the media, the minister expressed surprise at the outcry that the announcement of this measure caused. Some would say that the minister’s rantings demonstrate a total disconnection from reality, with which we tend to agree.
Fortunately, many stood up to inform Mr. Drainville that a dashboard in the style of the Fraser Institute’s “secondary school report card” would only further stigmatize the actors who struggle to maintain a system of information at arm’s length. education which needs resources (remedial teachers, psychologists, psychoeducators, drug addiction workers, psychologists, shall we continue?) much more than dashboards.
Once again this year, the Fraser Institute published its eternal newsletter. And again this year, what do we notice? The first 10 positions are occupied by prestigious private schools. Who is surprised? Obviously, private schools can afford to select their students, whereas this is not the case for public schools. This creates a fundamental inequity that makes comparisons difficult.
Then, bringing out “high-performing schools” risks creating pressure for “less-performing schools” to imitate them. Let us remember that this is what we have observed for a decade in relation to the standardized tests of the OECD Program for International Student Assessment (PISA): countries are trying to imitate the ways of doing things in the school systems of countries that rank better (often without notable progress).
Beyond testing
However, we have already observed that using PISA results as a driver for transformation and improvement of the education system could lead to a narrowing of the teaching program by concentrating on certain disciplines, such as mathematics and reading.
Let’s not forget the miracle recipe from the United States, which consists of teaching according to the exam (teach to the test). This strategy is particularly effective, Mr. Minister! Let us not forget that the skills of being creative, collaborating and thinking critically are at the center of the concerns of the engaged citizen.
Everything written here has been known for a long time. The new generation once again notes that the charts excel above all in comparing apples and oranges.