excellent, excellent commentary in the T-J, “The other side on education.” Very useful for countering Lamrock’s misinformation.

Please help the CEC prevent the government from removing choice in education. By making an anonymous donation now, CEC will be able to continue the legal battle to ensure that our children have the right to access education in the language of their choice. Go here to make a donation.

[source]

IMPORTANT CEC MEETING
Wednesday, May 7 — 6pm
UNB Fredericton — Tilley Hall room 303

More info. to come; please mark your calendars for this night!

— Citizens for Educational Choice

Found a most interesting article by Barbara A. Gill on the foundation years programme in N.B. There are some sobering passages:

“New Brunswick has the most advanced education system in North America.”

With these words James Lockyer, Minister of Education for New Brunswick, introduced the new Education Act and a number of educational innovations. Phrases like “on the cutting edge of education in Canada” were used by Department of Education personnel and suggestions made that other provinces would soon follow the forward looking reforms being introduced in New Brunswick. …

The Foundation Years Program was one of a number of innovations implemented by the Department of Education. …

… Almost from the beginning questions were raised about the program. The issues raised included the speed of the implementation process with no proper piloting, data gathering, or evaluation; insufficient teacher inservicing/training; class size and insufficient resources for the varying achievement levels within the classroom. It was also suggested that outcomes had been developed without input from teachers. … While teachers were allegedly under a “gag order” and could not publicly raise questions about the program, parents and others did not have the same restrictions. A group of parents, including three university professors, raised concerns and tried to obtain information and clarification from Department of Education personnel about the program through private meetings with Department of Education officials. They were told everything was just splendid.

Not receiving satisfaction from these meetings more public attempts were made to get the Department of Education to take a second look. Throughout April, May and June of 1997 numerous letters appeared in the local press raising concerns about the Foundation Years Program. …

… The Department admitted that the implementation of the program had some flaws and did not meet every expectation but overall the program was gaining acceptance …

However throughout the Fall of 1997 letters to the editors of local newspapers outlining concerns over the Foundation Years Program continued. …

In February and March of 1998 concerned parents held meetings across the province. These meetings appeared to have little effect on the Department of Education.

Many problems were caused by the method of implementation adopted by the Department of Education. This implementation process took no account of what was involved in educational change. The program was never piloted. The schools which started the program in 1995 were “early starters” not pilot sites so there was no data gathering or evaluation of their experiences. There was no chance to modify the program from the feedback of the teachers and students in these schools. While there was a clear vision in the minds of Department personnel, this vision was not articulated in terms of the practicalities and details of the program. These gaps in communication became more and more evident as teachers and students entered the second and third year of the program. Teachers who were positive about the program in the beginning became disenchanted in subsequent years. …

The centralization of the education system in the province caused those responsible to forget that differences existed among schools and communities and that each site was unique. …

… the Premier of the province, Frank McKenna, told the media in an interview that there was really no need for any hearings at all because as soon as the public realized that the government knew best there would be no further opposition. This statement summed up the attitude of the government of the time. …

Does any of this sound at all familiar?

The article describes a chagrined Dept. of Education and an apologetic government, all promising that such a flawed process will not happen again.

I guess the current Minister didn’t get the memo.

More to the point, one wonders if Shawn Graham knows that

• about 44% of children in Fredericton are in French Immersion from Gr 1 to 8.
• just over 50% of children in the Greater Moncton area are in French Immersion from Gr 1 to 8.
• about 50% of children in Sackville are in French Immersion from Gr 1 to 8.
• Provincially, where EFI is available, enrolment is 40.45%.
• The following percentages represent EFI enrolment in grades 1-5:
  • Grand Falls — 62%
  • Shediac Cape — 60%
  • Sackville — 50%
  • Riverview — 50%
  • Campellton — 49%
  • Moncton — 48%
  • Salisbury — 45%
  • Fredericton — 41%
  • Bathurst — 38%
  • Kennebecasis Valley — 37%
  • Hampton — 33%
  • Dalhousie — 32%
  • Oromocto — 30%
  • St George — 30%

Hardly the 20% statistic shopped around by the Minister. Perhaps he forgot to subtract Kindergarteners from his stats, as they are all listed under “English”. Oops.

These numbers reflect a significant voting block, one would think …

Ever out of step, Minister of Education Kelly Lamrock has announced tests and yet more tests in order to ensure, you know, excellence. No doubt his best bud Doug Willms, whose company KSI does such testing for the N.B. government, is, as always, completely supportive. But otherwise, the Minister is again bucking the trend. John Merrow writes:

To be forthright, I believe that high-stakes testing, in its current manifestation, is a serious threat to excellence and national standards. Unchecked, it will choke the life out of many excellent schools and drive gifted teachers out of classrooms. A more rational approach is broad-based assessment, which involves multiple measures of what a student has learned. Assessment relies on teacher-made tests, teacher evaluations, student demonstrations, etc. all over an extended period of time, instead of one score on a single, largely machine-scored test (even if it includes a writing test). Unfortunately, the supporters of high-stakes testing have more faith in machines than they do in teachers.

Of course in the U.S.A. they have been there, done that, and found it didn’t work. (See also PBS Frontline: Testing our schools.)

But don’t let little things like mountains of evidence and the opinion of credible experts stand in your way, Minister.

a quick question: if in the last two years over 70% of enrollments in French immersion were in early French immersion, how on earth does Kelly Lamrock think only offering late immersion is going to get more students learning French? Does he expect that whole 70+% to take late immersion? Anyone with an adolescent can tell him it is a lot easier to convince a six-year of something, than an eleven-year old.

will be out of the country for the next three weeks teaching a course, but has been assured that she will have regular access to the interwebs and so you, dear reader, should notice nary a difference.

Message from Jane Keith, Executive Director, Canadian Parents for French:

On May 14, 2008, Dr. Fred Genesee will be giving a free, public talk in Fredericton, New Brunswick. The title of his lecture is “Early childhood bilingualism: Perils and possibilities”. We believe this presentation will appeal to anyone interested in issues pertaining to bilingualism in education, second language learners, immersion, and the challenges associated with accommodating the varied needs of learners from varied cultural and linguistic backgrounds. Dr. Genesee is a world-renowned scholar of bilingualism, language development and language immersion programs, a Professor of Psychology at McGill University and the author of numerous scientific research books and reports on language learning in children.

We would be grateful for your assistance in circulating this message to your members, colleagues, and staff who might benefit from attending this event. Teachers, in particular, might be able to count this event toward mandated professional development requirements.

May 14, 7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. (in English)
Wu Conference Centre, UNB Fredericton
Kent Auditorium, 6 Duffie Drive, Fredericton, NB, E3B 5A3

Local Contact Info - Jane Keith, Executive Director
Tel.: 506.432.6584

For additional information on Dr. Genesee’s talk, please visit the Minerva Lecture Series page on the Canadian Council on Learning’s website.