Mr. Chase: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Once again the Minister of Education has catered, cratered to the competitive ideology of the Fraser Institute by releasing standardized test scores from across the province, which have a more punitive than celebratory effect. To the minister: what motivational value or educational relevance does publicizing test results given at the end of the previous year for students who have left their division have for either students, teachers, or...

Mr. Marz: Well, thank you, Mr. Speaker. Yesterday we heard in the Assembly that the number of teachers has increased in the province by 10 per cent while at the same time the student popula­tion has only increased by 1 per cent. My question to the Minister of Education is: have student achievement test results seen a corresponding rate of increase during that same time frame?...

Mrs. Leskiw: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Last spring I brought forth private member's Motion 503, which urged the government to "eliminate provincial achievement tests for grade 3 students and consider alternative assessments for learning." On March 16, 2009, Motion 503 was carried. Teachers and parents across Alberta are wondering what action the government has taken pertaining to the elimination of grade 3 PATs. Mr. Speaker, my question is the to Minister of Education. What...

Manitoba's Ministry of Education, Citizenship and Youth has an interesting page about the province's Grade 3 testing program, the Grade 3 Assessment in Reading, Lecture and Numeracy. What other provinces and states offer useful lessons about assessment?...

The debate and vote in the Legislative Assembly on Monday brought to the floor of the Assembly a discussion on a very significant issue for education in Alberta, as we constantly strive to understand how students learn and provide the best possible opportunity for all students to be successful.  (March 16 — text of my comments published here; the full debate is in Hansard; or you can watch the video.)...

On March 16, the Legislative Assembly debated Motion 503, which read, "Be it resolved that the Legislative Assembly urge the government to eliminate provincial achievement tests for grade 3 students and consider alternative assessments for learning." You can read the full transcript of the debate on Motion 503 (the debate starts on page 416, which is page 30 of the 44 page PDF file). Minister Hancock spoke to the Motion during the debate, and...

The following is excerpted from Alberta Hansard on the afternoon of March 10. Information on achievement testing in Grades 3, 6 and 9 is available from Alberta Education. Mr. Chase: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Fraser Institute recently released their rankings of Alberta schools based on the province's achievement test scores. Commenting on the ranking, the Minister of Education stated, and I quote: "In my view, it is a totally inappropriate way to measure whether...