More evidence that

the N.B. Ministry of Education is peddling backwards: in the U.S.A., according to the New York Times, reliance on standardized testing is on the way out:

A commission convened by some of the country’s most influential college admissions officials is recommending that colleges and universities move away from their reliance on SAT and ACT scores and shift toward admissions exams more closely tied to the high school curriculum and achievement.

For a government that practically boasts a line of action figures (Kelly “You won’t like me when I’m angry” Lamrock, The Invisible Shawn, Jack “The Flash” Keir, Ed “Elastic Man” Doherty, and all their rubbery friends), they sure are mired in the past.

Too good to languish in the comments

Eric just posted the following comment in response to the previous post on humour:

Why did the chicken cross the road?

Kelly Lamrock: Because the chickens on this side of the road were causing streaming which hurt our test scores! For this reason, we are eliminating chickens and will provide each child with an egg in grade 6 from which some might produce their own chickens. Children who do not opt for the egg will receive chicken manure.

Donald Arseneault: The chicken had to cross the road so we could establish a Uranium mine on the chicken’s property.

Kelly Lamrock: People who oppose the chicken crossing the road are missing the hidden X factor! You often have to cross roads in fantasy football.

Victor Boudreau: Because the other side is not paying its fair share of taxes! The Liberals will increase the taxes on both sides as well as introducing a road crossing fee.

Kelly Lamrock: Following a court ordered consultation, I have decided to compromise and just make the chicken cross halfway. We’ll just hope that no cars come by.

Mike Murphy: Because it is more efficient to have separate systems! We’ll have chickens on that side and ducks on this side.

Shawn Graham: What did Kelly say?

You know what’s really

Liberal caucus, learning to carry a tune

getting on my wick? All these apologists who think that whatever disasters the Liberals propagate, they should be forgiven as long as they appear “contrite” and “rueful”, as long as they “learn.” Of course, Graham and Lamrock set the tone themselves and their supporters are only too happy to take the hint. This from the government that wants to give merit raises to government bureaucrats. That wants performance-based contracts. That wants to “measure outcomes” and impose repercussions for anyone who doesn’t “produce”. And we are supposed to wryly shake our heads after each cock-up and say indulgently, “Well, I bet they won’t do that again! Kids, eh? But did you see how abashed they looked? How cute is that? Look at Shawnie with his hands in his pockets, and little Kelly, shuffling his feet.” The ever-consistent Marcelle Mersereau writes, “The Graham government has survived its first serious crisis. There have been lessons learned from this exercise that will not be quickly forgotten.” Not very reassuring from someone who herself seems to have forgotten the serious crisis of last fall, for starters.

Me? I say, “spare the rod.”

[Cross-posted to Living in interesting times.]

It’s … Alive??

Matt Litvak

has taken the lemons we were handed today and made lemonade. Thank you, Matt, for your much-needed perspective. It is crucial in any political battle to pace oneself. You are a balm (bet you aren’t told that very often!).

Which is not to say, any Liberals out there who may be reading this, that FSL will not be an election issue, because you can bet your little red blazers that it will.

After we have had our lemonade.

Here,

courtesy of Immersion delayed is immerision denied, is the government’s press release and here is its revised FSL plan (download PDF).

Disappointing

is the only word I could think of that doesn’t have four letters. I am listening to the press conference from Fredericton. The mandatory intensive French programme is still in place, and early immersion will be less effective as it will only start in grade three. As far as I can tell that is the only bone thrown to the critics: the retention of some form of early(-ish) immersion. The rest of the original Lamrock plan remains, and the Minister is still trotting out much of the same disinformation: that poor and aboriginal children are clustered in core, without acknowledging that EFI is frequently not offered in the rural areas where those children often live (a situation that will continue with the new gr. 3 entry point as the Minister explicitly said that there are no plans to expand early immersion to rural schools); that students in K-2 need to develop language skills in their mother tongue; that intermediate French is bilingualism. Still fixated on testing, teacher “accountability” and “rewards”. There is to be a new “Ministerial Advisory Group” and more “stakeholder” meetings. Nothing about increased FSL resources. In a nutshell, lots of rhetoric but the result is a mishmash that will make few happy, neither the entrenched anti-EFI people in the DoE and elsewhere, nor those who blame immersion for streaming, nor those who want children to have the opportunity to develop advanced language skills. And significantly, our system in N.B. will still remain out of step with K-12 education in the rest of the country, making moving to and from the province difficult.

Lots of rhetoric, LOTS of self-congratulation, but no mention of the primary causes of the woes in N.B. education: our lowest per-capita spending, per student, in the country, followed closely by a centrally controlled, un-democratic DoE.

Unintentionally hilarious moments: both Graham and Lamrock repeatedly congratulating themselves on overseeing a province-wide debate on education.

So yes, disappointing. Very disappointing.

[Cross-posted to Living in interesting times.]

Details for Tuesday, August 5th

From CEC:

There will be a press briefing at 11, and at 12 a public announcement which will be open to the public.  The main event, with Graham and Lamrock, will be at the Centennial Bldg, with public overflow a block away at the Crowne Plaza (Lord Beaverbrook Hotel) being simulcast.

I expect there will be many interested parties in attendance, and I hope as many of you who can attend will.

Link to government media advisory.

The final countdown

has started to Minister Kelly Lamrock’s announcement on August 5 about the future of K-12 education — at least for the next 2-3 years — in New Brunswick.

I hope he is thinking of the history books while pondering his decision.

Recruitment poster

Posting here

may be light in the next little while as the latest post-secondary education report has hit the fan.

One thing about the Liberals: they are consistent.

For the latest news, events, updates, and media links on FSL, go to these fine sites:

• Citizens for Educational Choice (CEC)
• Immersion delayed is immersion denied
• Facebook

And be sure to read the new hand-out from CEC, Be bilingual in this place (download PDF). It’s a thing of beauty. Pass it on.

Someone just posted this as a

comment but I thought I’d put it on the front page:

The confusion with staffing has already started. In Carleton County there are a group of schools that still have potato break. Consequently they return to school on August 14th!
The school district has now made the decision to a. not run the EFI program, b. to not run the Intensive French program for their grade 5 students for this year. Teaching staff that had been transferred\requested transfers have been re-enlisted at the school (which is the school where EFI is taught in this area).
Talk about confusing??? The parents have just been notified by a memo from the school (included in with the report cards). School District 14 obviously didn’t feel it was neccessary for them to notify parents…. The upcoming grade 5 students who would have been taking Intensive French (if the Lamerock debacle goes ahead) are now taking English, so they will be a year behind. How will that work out when they transfer up to the Post Intensive French in Grade 6 at Middle school and they are lagging behind….
Lamerock needs to allow at least a one year full consultation. Engage experts from other provinces.

Add this to the list of ongoing damage: I heard yesterday that four teachers from my child’s school have transferred to District 1. So even if/when EFI goes ahead, they are gone. And that’s just one school.

You will likely think

that I have a nasty, suspicious mind, but I have to say it:

I am growing uneasy about the online “consultation” site. Don’t misunderstand: the whole process is shockingly inappropriate, a deeply cynical move on the part of the Minister.

What I mean is, the comments themselves indicate a whiff of being … how shall I put this delicately? “Supplemented”? “Augmented”? Or perhaps “edited.” Not that one could prove it, of course. But the ratio of pros to cons has shifted precipitately over the past twenty-four hours, though no-one has been quite so foolish as to sign their comment since the earlier instance.

And why, I wonder, has my contribution of two days ago not yet shown up?

The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. It’s a three-parter.

Update: Others report the same problem (scroll down to comments).

CEC Press release sent out June 19:

Parents Demand Improved Engagement Process for FSL Program Changes

Saint John (New Brunswick) – Thursday June 19, 2008 – In light of Wednesday’s Ombudsman’s Report, parents in New Brunswick are calling on the government to improve its engagement process with parents and other concerned citizens and expand the timeframe for determining changes to French Second Language programs.

The report released by Ombudsman Bernard Richard was very clear in identifying the serious flaws in the process used by Education Minister Lamrock and his Deputy Minister Kershaw. It highlighted the fact that consultation was insufficient and that Commissioners Croll and Lee “acted unfairly to a good number of those who appeared before them”. Even more disturbingly, the Ombudsman uncovered clear evidence that the Department of Education was working on a plan to phase out Early French Immersion before the final report was even submitted. After the Minister received the report, he led the public to believe that he was considering, however briefly, public opinion. These revelations cast serious doubt on that fact. In keeping with these concerns, the Court of Queen’s Bench last week also ruled that “the decision of the Minister was unfair and unreasonable.”

The Minister has subsequently announced a six week consultation process via the internet, stating that a decision on the French Second Language curriculum in Anglophone schools will be announced on August 5th, four weeks before the 2008-09 school year starts. The Ombudsman has expressed grave concern with this schedule. Parents are also very concerned that this timeframe is unrealistic and will not allow schools to prepare in time for the beginning of the school year.

“We have no faith in the six week process outlined by the Minister, given his conduct as revealed by the Ombudsman’s investigation,” said Bruce Robertson, a parent involved in pushing for change. “What’s more, implementing massive change four weeks from August 5th is completely unrealistic and demonstrates that the government is not serious about listening to new ideas or implementing the best French Second Language system for New Brunswick.”

“We’re calling on the government to put together a committee of experts to review the issues and set a realistic timeframe for implementation,” said Paula Small, one of the parents who submitted an affidavit to the court case. “To retain any credibility on this issue and offer the best chance of meaningful improvement, the government must take the time to review the system properly.”

In order to do this, parents are asking the government to respect the Ombudsman’s recommendations and the court ruling, and support schools in reinstating Early French Immersion for Fall this year. They’re also asking the government to go one step further, and, again following the Ombudsman’s recommendation, reinstate Core French and delay implementing any changes to FSL programming until 2009-10. Parents are not advocating for the status quo, but rather want to ensure that the changes made are the correct ones based on the best available information. Given that the discredited Croll and Lee report did not provide this information, it is imperative that the government takes the appropriate time to gather it.

“At this point in the year, the government needs to promote certainty and stability in the education system,” said Tim Jackson, another parent involved in pushing for change. “Let schools plan with certainty now for the 2008-09 school year and conduct a genuine engagement process which involves experts on inclusion, literacy and FSL. Then decide what an appropriate timeframe for implementation might be.”

For more information on the engagement process the group is asking the government to follow, please see the attached backgrounder.

For more information, please contact:
Bruce Robertson

I am too

disgusted with Kelly Lamrock to make any more photoshop mash-ups, at least right now. He has been given two opportunities for a graceful out, but he is rampaging ahead. It will bite him in the a …er, arm, and hard, but he’s causing a lot of grief in the meantime.

I predict a noticeable drop in “voter apathy” at the next provincial election.