Manitoba has had 15 years of academic decline in reading, math and science. Once near the Canadian average, Manitoba now sits second last out of the provinces.
A study recently released by the C. D. Howe Institute analyzed data from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). Every three years, PISA tests more than 500,000 15-year-old students from about 65 countries in the core competencies of math, reading and science. Students from all provinces participated in the latest PISA tests.
From 2000 to the present, Manitoba was one of only two provinces (the other being PEI) to experience a statistically significant decline in all three competency areas.
When it comes to per-student expenditures in Canada, Manitoba ranks behind only Alberta. In the 2010-2011 school year, Manitoba spent an average of $13,150 per student, more than $500 higher than the national average.
Clearly, more spending does not necessarily lead to better academic results.
The worldwide PISA data reveals education policies that seem to improve student achievement. Most notably, high-performing jurisdictions give schools more autonomy while expecting them to publicly report their students’ academic achievement levels.
Unfortunately, Manitoba does the exact opposite. Schools and teachers have little autonomy since the province dictates everything from school year schedules to report card comments.
At the same time, the province has abolished all standardized tests except for two administered at the Grade 12 level. But, shamefully, the results of the tests are kept hidden from the public.
Secretive
In fact, when it comes to student achievement, Manitoba is the most secretive province in the country. No other province goes to such lengths to keep the public in the dark about how students are doing.
If it weren’t for international tests such as PISA, Manitobans would have no idea that student achievement has been falling for 15 years.
If the Manitoba government wants to improve student achievement, it needs to take a serious look at provincial curricula and ask whether the necessary academic content is clearly prescribed.
The government took a good first step last year when it listened to mathematicians and put the standard algorithms back into the math curriculum. It now needs to examine whether similar changes should be made in other subjects.
In addition, the government needs to cut down on its tendency to micromanage.
During the last decade, a huge amount of time has been wasted debating things such as school board amalgamations and the province-wide moratorium on school closures.
Finally, the government should acknowledge that standardized tests play an essential role in measuring student achievement.
Instead of relying on PISA results every three years to identify problems, the government needs to institute annual standardized tests at several grade levels and make the results public.
If implemented properly, standardized testing will bring much-needed focus to Manitoba’s education system. By highlighting student achievement, school administrators will get the message that they must not lose sight of this essential goal.
Manitoba’s education system has been in decline for the last 15 years. It is time we reverse this negative trend and make academic achievement the primary focus.
Michael Zwaagstra is with the Frontier Centre for Public Policy.
