The Alberta Teachers' Association is responding to new K-6 standardized testing schedules. (Photo: Alberta Teachers' Association)

By David Opinko

Alberta K-6 schools to increase mandatory provincial testing this fall

Jul 11, 2024 | 1:58 PM

Elementary students in Alberta could soon be subject to more testing than usual.

Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides has outlined to school officials in an email the new Enhanced Early Years Assessment Framework.

“As you know, students develop critical foundational knowledge in literacy and numeracy in the early years of education,” says Nicolaides. “Assessing students in their early years provides essential information to teachers, schools, parents, and Alberta Education about potential student learning issues and needs and ensures that students requiring additional supports receive the help they need early in their education.

Beginning in the 2024/25 school year, the following changes to mandatory literacy and numeracy screening requirements will take effect:

• Kindergarten: Starting in January 2025, screening will be required in literacy and numeracy for all students in January of each year.
• Grades 1 to 3: Mandatory screening assessments will continue in Grades 1 to 3; however, the timing and frequency of these assessments will change. Starting in September 2024, the literacy and numeracy screening for students in Grades 1 to 3 will now be completed in September and January, with an additional assessment in June for those students identified in January as requiring additional supports. The administration window to complete all screening assessments in these grades will be extended to three weeks.
• Grade 3: Student Learning Assessments will be permanently discontinued and will no longer be available for use.
• Grades 4 and 5: Starting in September 2026, screening assessments in literacy and numeracy for students in Grades 4 and 5 will be introduced. Further information about this requirement will be shared at a future date.
• Grade 6: Provincial achievement tests for students in Grade 6 will continue to occur in May and June.

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Dr. George K Georgiou, a professor of education at the University of Alberta, says reserch shows that there should be early screening and frequent monitoring of children’s reading and math performances.

“Alberta’s new framework for Early Learning Assessments is perfectly in line with this research. Early screening and monitoring of children’s literacy and numeracy skills is a human right, and I am happy to see Alberta’s government prioritize this,” says Georgiou.

The Alberta Teachers’ Association, however, is opposed to the new testing requirements, as President Jason Schilling says students need more supports, not more tests.

“When so many kids are falling through the cracks, we need to be giving them a safety net instead of measuring how fast they’re falling. Teachers don’t need a test to identify which students are struggling; they need smaller classes and more supports to get those kids additional help,” says Schilling.

Previously, he explains that children would leave elementary school having completed 10 standardized tests. Under the new system, that could more than triple to 32.

Schilling adds that the time and energy required by teachers to administer tests takes away from the time in which they could be helping children to learn.

“While the government claims to have listened to experts, it’s clear they did not hear what actual teachers had to say,” says Schilling. “Politicians and bureaucrats who have little knowledge and experience of the realities of Alberta’s classrooms might think this is a great idea, but teachers, who will end up spending hours administering tests and preparing students for them in September, January and June, do not.”

The ATA president believes that a better approach would be to respect a teachers’ professional judgement and allow them to determine which students could benefit from an assessment and when.