When your children write the tests, help them cope with the process by telling them to relax and just do the best they can. The test is not about their progress; it’s about the education system. If your children are worried about the test, talk to their teachers.
Much more important than how children do on tests is how they learn. You can help your children learn.
Engage them in conversations about school and what they have learned;
Take advantage of opportunities to talk to your children’s teachers about their day-to-day learning and about their progress;
Remind your children that what they learn and how they feel about school are the most important things;
Be interested in what they care about, in their school, and in their social, emotional, and academic growth. Read with them, play with them, and learn with them.
There is a better way. Your union and other teacher unions are advocating that the EQAO:
adopt a random sampling – rather than census-based (every grade 3 and 6 student, province-wide) – approach to standardized testing;
rein in the scope of the testing and place higher value on teacher professional judgement and daily classroom-based assessment;
exert renewed, consistent, and sustained effort to reframe and reshape the public perception about the merits of standardized tests and the narrow value of their results; and
find less costly (in terms of time, resources, and money) means to collect data that can soundly inform policy decisions and contribute to improvements in students learning.
If you are concerned about EQAO testing and the impact of test results on education in Ontario, contact your MPP and your school board, and find out more at buildingbetterschools.ca.
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