Page Content
The ATA News invited Roy Wilson, former president of the Alberta School Boards Association, and Frank Peters, professor in the Department of Educational Policy Studies at the University of Alberta, to debate whether the educational reforms introduced during the past 10 years have succeeded in improving Alberta's education system.
For
The case for education reform
Roy Wilson
"Today's public education system is more flexible, more adaptable, more change-oriented and more responsive to the demands of parents and the community than ever before. Alberta's teaching force is better prepared and more experienced than at any time in the past."
—Bauni Mackay and David Flower, Public Education: The Passion and the Politics, 1999, p. 107
That is the case I will make in this brief essay. I will show that many of the education reforms of the past decade have had a positive impact on the average student in Alberta.
Since the mid-1980s, there has been overwhelming interest in education reform worldwide. This interest has been accompanied by harsh and relentless criticism of state and/or public education systems. Yet, widespread support for public education has been maintained in Alberta. The sky has not fallen! Our students continue to score above average nationally. They are internationally competitive in the many assessments that are used to measure student performance. Parental satisfaction remains high; the business community is supportive; school and teacher improvement activities are under way. Schools are allowed to expand their autonomy. They are strong—our professionals competent and confident. This good work is benefitting the average student in Alberta classrooms.
Early in 1994, the provincial government announced the key principles of its reform agenda:
". . . focusing educational resources on students in the classroom, giving more authority to schools and parents, lowering administrative costs and instituting a fairer system of funding."
—Government of Alberta news release, January 18, 1994
This agenda has been accomplished. Regionalization has resulted in 60-plus effective school boards. Financial equity across the province is closer to achievement than at any time in our history. Classrooms have first-call on allocated resources. Site-based management has led to a significant parental role. Together, community and professionals define missions and goals, articulate and build upon strengths, and offer special programs to parents who are seeking the best for their children. Teachers have been encouraged and supported in their desire to institute innovations.
Numerous alternatives within public education are available. The government's considerable support for more radical approaches such as independent and charter schools, and home schooling, has served primarily as a safety valve: these drain away only insignificant numbers of dissatisfied families while holding loyalty and support of the vast majority of parents to their neighbourhood public school. Even charter schools have been a disappointment. Few are operating and their mandate to model innovative practice for public schools has just not happened. Public schools today are becoming innovative, supported and successful. Successful schools lead to successful students.
Reforms surrounding accountability also have been positive when managed wisely. Testing, the tool of accountability, has become publicly acceptable. Knowing this, most school systems are getting on with learning from all manner of testing. Teachers are quickly developing what Michael Fullan calls "assessment literacy": sharper curriculum focus, more sensitivity to appropriate teaching and learning practices. Testing and reporting is important to parents, and they are capable of putting this information into the broader context of what makes a good school. We can be confident that parental choices concerning schools are not unstudied. The reforms of the 1990s also enhanced reporting practices throughout the provincial school system. Alberta Learning does results reporting, as do school districts/divisions and schools. We are no longer operating in a climate where schools are islands. Everyone involved in the work of educating children is accountable. Effective, accountable schools benefit all children.
We have come through a decade of wrenching change. In spite of my initial hostility to these reforms imposed from the top, it has become evident to me that our students are the beneficiaries.
Roy Wilson is an instructor in Teacher Education and Canadian History at Medicine Hat College. Wilson has been a school trustee with Medicine Hat School District No. 76 since 1979. He also served as president of the Alberta School Boards Association and president of the Canadian School Boards Association.
Against
Reforms have not helped the average student
Frank Peters
"The government's reforms to the public education system since 1993 have improved education for the average student."
I find some of the elements in this statement troublesome. First, I am not aware of any evidence that would support the view that the average student in the classroom is receiving a better education today than in 1993. Second, while some students may have received a better education in the past seven years than they would have in differing circumstances, I am unaware of any evidence that might link such improvement to the government's reform of public education.
In setting a context for the Alberta reforms, it must be acknowledged that there was no pedagogical imperative for any of the changes. These changes were imposed because of particular ideological choices that the government made. The changes to education were driven by the government's decision to spend less money on public services.
What did the government do by way of reform in education in 1993/94? Most obviously, the number of school jurisdictions was reduced as was the number of school trustees. Funding to education was centralized and the power to tax was taken away from school boards. A new funding scheme, based on block allocations to specific operational areas, was implemented. The amount of money allocated to education was reduced substantially—by as much as 15 percent when we do the analysis properly! Cutbacks to teachers' and administrators' salaries absorbed up to 45 percent of these cuts; however, the school systems were required to adjust programs and services to accommodate the rest of the shortfalls. Services from central offices to schools were cut drastically, support services in schools were cut back and teaching positions were eliminated. Funding to early childhood services, initially slated to be cut by 50 percent, was only reduced by 40 percent. Full funding was restored in this area, more or less, in 1996.
In 1993, 91 construction projects scheduled for the 199396 period were deferred or abandoned. As a result, many school buildings need to be overhauled and new buildings are needed. The announcement by government in 1993 that it intended to substantially reduce the number of people employed in the ministry has been followed through. In addition, money spent by Alberta Learning in delivering services to students has dropped from $115 in 1992/93 to approximately $80 per student today. In fairness, it must be noted that a number of the services previously provided have now been turned over to school jurisdictions to operate.
The reforms have also seen an unprecedented expansion of centralization and control. I have referred to the changes in funding already and want to emphasize that when this monetary control is in place and the overall amount of funding is reduced drastically, neither school board administrators nor school staffs are in a position to cater to or adjust to local needs or preferences. The mandated curriculum, the program of studies, demands every instructional cent that is available and no discretion is left to schools except to decide what programs and services they will not offer! Standardized provincial testing at Grades 3, 6, 9 and 12, present teachers with "an offer they can't refuse." Their students must do well on these test—at least as well as last year's class. And the fact that Alberta currently has the highest average number of students per classroom in Canada cannot be offered as an excuse for poor performance.
The reality of school life today is one of intensification, as more and more tasks and responsibilities are pushed off to the school level, and more and more centrally developed standards and curricula, into which the teachers have had minimal input, are imposed. Overworked administrators are challenged to engage overworked teachers in their struggles to respond with sound educational practices in contexts that are becoming more demanding by the day. Many of these demands have been created, directly or indirectly, by the restructuring visited upon us by the Alberta government.
And now we're being invited to believe that these changes may have led to "improved education for the average student in the classroom." Any examination of published reports doesn't demonstrate that the average students are doing any better on the standardized tests now than they did in the past. I am deeply aware of the dangers of having any reader suspect that I am linking higher test scores to improved education, but even these scores don't hint at improvements of any note. But even without the evidence, I am comfortable enough to accept the possibility that some students, somewhere in the wonderful classes of this province, may be doing better. But let's give credit where it is due, and that most certainly will not be at the feet of the perpetrators of the educational reforms.
Frank Peters is a professor in the Department of Educational Policy Studies at the University of Alberta. He has been a teacher and administrator in the school system in Alberta and now works mainly in the areas of educational politics and governance. He is a keen student and analyst of education restructuring in Canada and abroad.
