If there’s one conversation I can guarantee having in the newsroom from one year to the next, it’s whether or not we should cover the Fraser Institute’s ranking of schools.
These rankings, go the conversations, are predictable. And whether they’re too predictable for print is the question.
Reliably, private schools continually reign triumphant, while schools whose student base face more socio economic hurdles will likely face more academic struggles that will be reflected in the standardized tests that the right wing think-tank pegs so much of the ranking on.
What the ranking won’t show, is the work that teachers in those struggling schools put into their classrooms. The way they creatively surmount the hurdles they face, and the many intangible lessons that are successfully imparted in a classroom. Nor will they reflect the sense of community that is so key to the well-being of young people.
The B.C. Teachers Federation is the reliable voice of this view, year after year pointing out that both the Fraser Institute report and the Foundation Skills Assessments, which are administered by the province each year in grades four and seven, add unnecessary stress for students and don’t aid teaching or learning.
Of course, the other side of the argument is simply that regardless of the predictability, parents deserve to know as much information as they can about the schools their children attend. The B.C. Confederation of Parent Advisory Councils has continually voiced that view, pointing out that the tests provide important information about the effectiveness a school’s programs.
And I agree. Knowledge is power, after all.
If a school is at the bottom of the barrel on these listings, then parents should know so they can find out why.
As far as I can see the best thing we can do as parents and residents of B.C. is have a serious conversation about what ails and fans the sails of our schools on a regular basis, not just when teacher contract negotiations come to the fore.
And if nothing else, the ranking —be it ever so superficial— makes way for that to happen.
Does the school near you perform poorly because there are special needs or language barriers in classes that aren’t being addressed? Are they not being addressed because of a lack of funding? Is there something that can be done to lobby for that funding?
Are there teachers who aren’t up to snuff? Can we ask this question? And what do teachers have to say about these tests? I don’t care what the union has to say. I care what the teacher in the classroom at my neighbourhood school is facing and what they’re doing to surmount it. Better yet, I care about what I can do to help.
The only thing that should matter is getting everyone on the same page so we can collectively improve the conditions we were told during the last teachers strike were so awful. So, bring on the ranking and let’s hash out what we can do to make things better.
