15°c Clear
28°c Isolated showers
Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Some schools opted out of national math test
But in Manitoba, it was written by all selected
Hadas Parush / Winnipeg Free Press Manitoba Teachers� Society president Paul Olson
WAS the deck stacked against Manitoba kids who did poorly in a national math exam two years ago?
Teachers and trustees want to know why Manitoba was the only province in which all randomly selected schools subsequently went on to write the test -- and why and how some chosen schools in other provinces didn't write the test.
"You just never know if there's a quiet conversation going on" to suggest a school with below-average academic performance opt out, Manitoba Teachers' Society president Paul Olson said this week.
"Schools can choose not to do it -- three guesses what that will do for the average," Olson said.
"There were questions raised in some people's minds -- on what basis were schools exempt?" said Carolyn Duhamel, executive director of the Manitoba School Boards Association.
Duhamel said Education Minister Nancy Allan should be asking questions of her provincial and territorial counterparts.
Allan could not be reached.
Manitoba Grade 8 students finished second-last in the national math test conducted in 2010 by the Council of Ministers of Education in Canada.
CMEC's report said 32,000 Grade 8 students across Canada wrote the test, one-quarter of them in French. Schools were randomly selected, and classes within some of those schools were randomly selected.
Olson said teachers' society staff found a chart deep within the back pages of the CMEC report that showed not all schools outside Manitoba that were randomly selected went ahead with the test.
A total of 150 anglophone schools and 15 francophone schools in Manitoba were randomly selected, and they all wrote the math test, regardless whether any of those schools suffered the impacts of poverty, fetal alcohol spectrum disorder or other factors affecting academic performance, Olson said.
Quebec had the best math score in the country, but only 86.7 per cent of the province's francophone schools and 73.1 per cent of its anglophone schools CMEC randomly selected wrote the test.
Ontario finished second -- and six anglophone and eight francophone schools randomly selected did not take the test.
Elsewhere in Canada, two to five schools opted out in each province.
Olson said anyone who understands math knows the differences among scores for most provinces and territories clustered below the top two were meaningless, because they were as tiny as 0.25 per cent and well within the test's stated margin of error.
"People lose their minds over statistically irrelevant variations," Olson said.
Olson said the CMEC made no provision to ensure its sample reflected economic, geographic or other diversities -- it was strictly random.
The teachers' society president said there's a belief that weaker kids are not there on test day when provinces or states conduct system-wide standards tests because they'll drag down the final score.
Winnipeg School Division board chair Rita Hildahl said earlier this week that some provinces "pulled out schools" from the test.
Hildahl also said the CMEC test used the Ontario and Quebec curriculum, which she said is different from the curriculum used in Western and Northern Canada.
"There may be some differences in curriculum, there may be some differences in the way math is taught," Duhamel said.
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition May 10, 2012 B2
More Local
- Back to Top
- Return to Local
More Local
(1 of 15 articles for today)
Lotteries
1:00 AM 0In the event of a discrepancy between this list and the official winning numbers, the latter shall prevail.
PICK 3
Winning number ...
Poll
Most Popular Local
- Court told driver hysterical after vehicle fatally hit highway worker
- Child in critical condition after West End crash
- Basic arithmetic back in class
- Mountie hospitalized, dog euthanized after crash near Saskatoon
- City-wide average mosquito count drops
- Province blows off wind megawatt goal
- MP Glover files new version of disputed 2011 election expenses
- Committee wants report on free replacement for garbage, recycling carts
- Pallister continues PST fight
- Teen on train tracks from York Landing
- Safeway stores likely to close
- Squirrel crawls out of Winnipegger's toilet
- Poolside feeding prompts eviction
- Court told driver hysterical after vehicle fatally hit highway worker
- Stoppage of play off the field
- Game-day planning a must
- Child in critical condition after West End crash
- Basic arithmetic back in class
- No mad dash for concessions
- Kenyan wins Manitoba Marathon
- Father blasts 'horrific' movie
- Safeway stores likely to close
- Man dies after being pulled from vehicle submerged in Winnipeg retention pond
- Flood money paid for CEO's romantic trip
- Car in deadly crash stolen?
- UPDATE: Now with FAQ: Keeping the e-party going without the party-crashers
- Squirrel crawls out of Winnipegger's toilet
- Daycare provider charged with abandonment
- Poolside feeding prompts eviction
- Two people killed in crash north of Winnipeg
- Basic arithmetic back in class
- Province blows off wind megawatt goal
- At 55, I'm wise to what's real in life
- Court told driver hysterical after vehicle fatally hit highway worker
- Bible Belt's bogeyman still haunts town
- Strong may they run: Manitobans reflect on that fateful day in Boston
- Child in critical condition after West End crash
- Mountie hospitalized, dog euthanized after crash near Saskatoon
- City-wide average mosquito count drops
- Province's new approach to teaching math long overdue: readers
- Basic arithmetic back in class
- Squirrel crawls out of Winnipegger's toilet
- Safeway stores likely to close
- Doctors blamed for death
- App could give Winnipeggers chance to report bad parking, get paid
- $110-K worth of nickel plates stolen from Thompson mine
- A day in the life of 13,380 Manitoba Marathon participants
- Province blows off wind megawatt goal
- Known as kind, outgoing men
- Stoppage of play off the field
- Basic arithmetic back in class
- Squirrel crawls out of Winnipegger's toilet
- Developers to unveil plans for bold downtown tower
- Father blasts 'horrific' movie
- Teachers support adding sexual-orientation themes to all curricula
- The crime fighter's revolution
- Safeway stores likely to close
- Car in deadly crash stolen?
- Fishing for fashion
- City's first urban reserve born
Ads by Google
You can comment on most stories on winnipegfreepress.com. You can also agree or disagree with other comments. All you need to do is be a Winnipeg Free Press print or e-edition subscriber to join the conversation and give your feedback.
You can comment on most stories on winnipegfreepress.com. You can also agree or disagree with other comments. All you need to do is be a Winnipeg Free Press print or e-edition subscriber to join the conversation and give your feedback.
Have Your Say
New to commenting? Check out our Frequently Asked Questions.
Have Your Say
Comments are open to Winnipeg Free Press print or e-edition subscribers only. why?
Login SubscribeHave Your Say
Comments are open to Winnipeg Free Press Subscribers only. why?
SubscribeThe Winnipeg Free Press does not necessarily endorse any of the views posted. By submitting your comment, you agree to our Terms and Conditions. These terms were revised effective April 16, 2010.