The Alberta Teachers’ Association

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In response to a post about the curriculum report suggesting an increase to standardized testing 

Ashley Brooke 
School psychologists often won’t even test children under the age of nine unless absolutely necessary. Standardized testing can be very stressful and does not provide the whole picture when it comes to a child’s abilities and skills. There is a reason we have stopped providing standardized tests as a benchmark for children below Grade 6. This was not a spur-of-the-moment or baseless decision. It was made with the support of decades of research.

Bette Maraboochi 
Why are we wasting (OUR) taxpayers’ money to assuage something that has been manufactured by this government? This money would better be allocated to funding Calgary and Edmonton properly; better still, allowing those boards to collect their own revenue. Why is there such a distrust of the job teachers do in educating the whole child and not just that aspect that is measured by tests?

Sandra Mancuso 
All Alberta teachers should take the time to fill in this survey. It is insulting that we are going back to achievement tests for all grades — a waste of taxpayer money which could be better spent to get resources to deal with anxiety in children. This will indeed cause more anxiety in children.

Cassandra Greve 
They also spend a significant amount of money on something that in no way advances the students and therefore isn’t benefiting education.

Hillary Anderson 
Such an antiquated and misguided practice.

On Twitter

On the government’s announcement of a new funding model

Mme Kathleen @MmeKathleen
With no details. No dollar amounts. No specifics. No truths. This wasn’t a press release, as no information was RELEASED. It was a press appearance.

Aaron Fitchett @AaronFitchett
That’s interesting. I don’t read the @calgaryheraldwith any regularity, but it is interesting that so many ads for private schools would be published the day after @AdrianaLaGrange announces there will be a new education funding model for #Alberta. Puzzling.

Letters to the editor: We welcome letters to the editor. Please limit your submission to 300 words. Only letters bearing a first and last name, address and daytime telephone number will be considered for publication. Teachers are also asked to indicate where and what they teach. All letters are subject to editing for length, clarity, punctuation, spelling and grammar. Email managing editor Cory Hare: cory.hare@ata.ab.ca.