BCTF E-news
Vol. 4, #22, June 16, 2005
This week's headlines:
NEW MINISTER OF EDUCATION
Shirley Bond was appointed Minister of Education and Minister Responsible for Early Learning and Literacy on June 16, 2005. She was also appointed Deputy Premier. She previously served as Minister of Advanced Education and Minister of Health Services.
Before her election to the Legislative Assembly, she served three terms on the Prince George School Board, the last as Chair.
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WELL-KNOWN EXPERT ON TEACHER UNIONS SPEAKS OUT
Nina Bascia has been studying teacher unions in Canada and the U.S. since the 1980s. Her research leads her to conclude that teacher organizations are vital both to the quality of teachers' work and to the well-being of the larger educational system.
Bascia points out that the role of teacher unions has become even more important as the educational infrastructure has been shrinking. Teacher unions conduct research and provide feedback on teaching and learning conditions; they provide support for educators and opportunities for leadership; and they initiate innovation when the formal education system cannot or will not.
Teacher unions have made these contributions to education in spite of their limited authority in relation to government and school decision-makers, and in spite of their lack of legitimacy in the press.
For more information on what makes teachers unions successful, please read the full article.
Bascia, Nina. "The next generation of Canadian teacher unionism—what will it be?" CTF Perspectives 5:1, (Spring 2005).
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SAIP SCIENCE 2004 ASSESSMENT
The results of the School Achievement Indicators Project (SAIP) 2004 Science test were released today. This is a national science test of 13- and 16-year-olds.
Only Alberta outperformed B.C. in a statistically significant way. British Columbia was among the educational jurisdictions performing about the same as the Canadian average, and ahead of most educational jurisdictions in Canada.
SAIP conducted science tests in 1996 and 1999 as well. The 2004 results are high overall but show a significant decrease at most levels since the previous test. There are no data from this assessment to support any explanation but the report suggests five possible explanations, two of which are:
- increased emphasis on literacy and numeracy in schools, sometimes at the expense of other subject areas
- an "assessment fatigue" factor for both teachers and students arising from the increasing curriculum load in the classroom and perceived interruptions by a variety of local, jurisdictional, national, and international large-scale assessments.
Among Canadian educational jurisdictions, B.C. had:
- the highest percentage of students born outside Canada—13% of 13-year-olds and 21 % of 16-year-olds
- the highest percentage of 16-year-old students speaking another language (not English or French) often at home—28%
- the highest percentage of students whose teachers assign them homework a few times a week or more—90% of 13-year-olds and 87% of 16-year-olds
- the highest percentage of students reporting that slides, films, or videos are used in their science course a few times a month or more—86% of 13-year-olds and 89% of 16-year-olds
- the lowest percentage of science teachers who are female—33%
- the highest median number of years of experience teaching science—11
- the highest percentage of science teachers holding a BSc or equivalent—77%
- the highest percentage of teachers reporting that external examinations or standardized tests limit or restrict how they teach their science classes—35%
- the highest percentage of teachers who agree or strongly agree that learning science concepts and principles is more important than learning facts and rules—90%
- the lowest percentage of teachers agreeing that high school students should be streamed into different programs based on their abilities—53%
The full report of the SAIP Science 2004 assessment can be found at: http://www.cmec.ca/saip/science3/indexe.stm
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EDMONTON'S CATHOLIC TEACHERS VOTE IN FAVOUR OF HOLDING A STRIKE VOTE
Edmonton's 1,838 Catholic school teachers have been without a contract since August 31, 2004. On June 9, 428 of 738 teachers who attended the union meeting voted against a mediated settlement that would have extended the teaching week by 30 minutes, but provided a salary increase of 11.98% over three years.
A vote on whether or not to hold a government-supervised strike vote resulted in 94% in favour of such a vote although it would not likely take place until next school year.
Meanwhile, the Catholic school board wants to settle the matter before the end of the school year, and is therefore looking at taking steps to have the LRB conduct a vote on a mediated settlement.
Howell, David. "Catholic schools aim to avoid strike: May ask board for vote on recommendation."
The Edmonton Journal, June 15, 2005.
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OECTA VOTES 100% IN FAVOUR OF A NEW CONTRACT
Elementary school teachers represented by the Ontario English Catholic Teachers' Association have voted 100% in favour of a new four-year contract with the St. Clair Catholic District School Board.
"I've been negotiating contracts for 17 years and I've never seen this before," said St. Clair OECTA unit president, Mike Chater, in a press release.
"This is unanimous support for a contract that I believe meets the needs of our teachers and students for the next four years. It follows one of the most successful rounds of bargaining I've ever been involved with."
The agreement mirrors the provincial framework for four-year contracts. It includes pay raises of two per cent in the first and second years, two-and-a-half in the third and three per cent in the fourth year. A 0.7% increase follows halfway through the final year.
The Observer (Sarnia), June 15, 2005.
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STATISTICS CANADA PROVIDES ANALYSIS OF CANADIAN SCHOOL LIBRARY SYSTEM
The analysis of the Canadian school library system by Statistics Canada builds on a significant amount of research showing that larger library collections, greater funding for the library, and more access to qualified teacher-librarians correlates with higher student achievement.
The report itself, however, focuses on providing statistics for each province in Canada with regard to library funding, collection development, the use of technology, and the presence of teacher-librarians.
While B.C. fared well according to the report, it is worth noting that the figures pertain to the 2003–04 school year. There have been significant cuts to school libraries and teacher-librarians since that time. It is also interesting to note that B.C. scored third highest in terms of reliance on "other" sources of funding for the library.
Overall, the report warns of the danger posed by the trend in Canada to downsize the school library and to view technology as a substitute for teacher-librarians.
Coish, David. Canadian School Libraries and Teacher-Librarians: Results from the 2003–04 Information and Communications Technologies in Schools Survey. Ottawa: Statistics Canada, 2005.
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ONTARIO'S "PEOPLE FOR EDUCATION" ANALYZES URBAN SCHOOL NEEDS
Many of the problems faced by the Ontario K–12 education system are similar to those affecting our school system in B.C. "People for Education" found that in a typical urban classroom, 13% of students have special needs, 12% need ESL support, and as many as 36% come from low-income families." However, it is the combination of these challenges that magnify the problem.
In delineating what is so different about urban schools, Judith Bishop, former Hamilton-Wentworth School Board Chair, says, "At the same time that education resources for high-needs students have been reduced, other social programs that support at-risk children have been hit." She goes on to discuss cuts to welfare and social housing programs, and loss of funding for community support services for childhood mental health problems and for children with disabilities.
So while the numbers may be different in Ontario, the double cuts to both education and social services are producing the same deleterious effects here in B.C.
People for Education. Public education in Ontario's cities, June 2005.
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ONTARIO CUTS STANDARDIZED TEST TIME IN HALF
A 2004 review by Ontario's Educational Quality and Accountability Office has resulted in standardized tests for Grades 3 and 6 students being cut significantly. What used to be a 12-hour ordeal has now been pared down to 6 hours yet covers math, reading, and writing.
The exams are also being administered later in the school year, which may give teachers more time to cover the curriculum.
Nevertheless, educational experts still feel that issues such as lack of consistency in administering the tests have a negative impact on the accuracy of the exams and furthermore, that the time spent in testing children could be put to better use in the classroom.
Sokoloff, Heather. "Putting government to the test: Standardized exams a politicized issue in Ontario."
The National Post, June 10, 2005.
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STANDARDIZED TEST SCORE DEPENDS ON WHERE YOU LIVE (HOW WEALTHY YOU ARE)
A recent study appearing in the journal, Psychological Science, shows that how well students do on standardized tests is directly related to where they live and to poverty levels.
The study which surveyed more than 1,000 Virginia schools across urban and rural areas, found that pupils in middle-class areas were more likely to get better tuition for the tests, both in and out of school, than their peers in poorer neighbourhoods.
Tuerk, Peter. "Research in the high-stakes era." Psychological Science 16:6 (June 2005).
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U.S. TEACHERS' UNION RECRUITS CHARTER SCHOOL TEACHERS
The Massachusetts Federation of Teachers is offering associate memberships to charter school teachers, much to the dismay of charter advocates. The Federation sees the associate memberships as merely a first step in forming local unions at charter schools.
A spokesperson for the state Department of Education said a charter school could form a union with collective bargaining rights if 60% of teachers are in favour of such a move. More than 70% of teachers at a Boston charter school have said they would consider unionizing in order to address concerns about long working hours, salaries, and job security.
Although charter schools exist in 40 states and Washington, D.C., they have been slow to unionize. However, this latest move by the Massachusetts teachers' union could mark the beginning of a struggle for control over the charter schools.
Sacchetti, Maria. "Union woos teachers at charter schools: Effort dismays administrators."
The Boston Globe, June 15, 2005.
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HUGE VOUCHER EXPANSION IN MILWAUKEE FUNDS RELIGIOUS EDUCATION
Reporter Alan J. Borsuk who writes for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is writing a seven-part series on the expansion of vouchers in Milwaukee. In part four, he discusses the unprecedented level of public funding for religious education.
Borsuk notes that more than 10,000 students are using publicly funded vouchers to attend religious schools. This figure represents more than two-thirds of the total who are using vouchers. He further claims that "Wisconsin is putting money into religious schools in Milwaukee in ways and amounts that are without match in at least the last century of American history."
For many of the private religious schools, voucher payments represent 80% to 100% of their income which means they wouldn't even exist if not for the students using vouchers.
In many of the faith-based schools, religion permeates content. The principal of one particular religious school says, "Even when the religious content is not overt, religion should be part of everything that goes on in [the] school."
Borsuk, Alan J. "Religious schools are a top choice: Expansion of vouchers has resulted in unprecedented level of public funding of religious education."
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, June 14, 2005.
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PARENTS IN BRITAIN SAY "NO" TO PRIVATIZED EDUCATION
Global Education Management Systems (GEMS) is the second largest provider of independent education in the U.K. The company was set to take control of Britain's most lucrative academy project to date. However, the company has since decided to pull out because of a parents' revolt at another of its independent schools. Additionally, there has been growing public and political concern about the role of the private sector in state education. This, in turn, has found its way into the media, causing bad publicity for the company.
GEMS is owned by a Dubai-based businessman who plans to own and manage 200 schools in Britain. The owner, Mr. Varkey, claims to "provide a service like an airline, from 'no frills' through to 'business class.'" Fees would vary according to level of service of course.
Woodward, Will and Rebecca Smithers. "Blow to academy scheme as school sponsor pulls out."
The Guardian, June 14, 2005.
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