By Michael Zwaagstra (AIMS Fellow) Imagine you are a public school principal. You need to hire a teacher and you have two applicants who meet the basic job requirements. The first applicant has ten years of teaching experience and regularly scores outstanding performance reviews. The second has fifteen years of experience but receives only satisfactory [...]
By Michael Zwaagstra (AIMS Fellow) In 1933, the retiring president of Harvard University, Lawrence Lowell, famously stated that his university’s school of education was “a kitten that ought to be drowned.” Of course, university presidents wouldn’t talk like this today, but Lowell was far from the only scholar to hold education schools in such low [...]
By Michael Zwaagstra (AIMS Research Fellow) P.E.I. plans to continue using standardized tests in schools and may even look to expand them. This should come as little surprise, particularly since a recent review by RMJ Assessments, an Ontario-based consulting firm, concluded that P.E.I.’s standardized tests had a positive impact on student achievement. Since these tests were [...]
By Michael Zwaagstra (AIMS Research Fellow) Last year, Newfoundland and Labrador’s government published a roadmap to better government in the future, with the title The Way Forward. This ambitious plan outlines how the government plans to modernize the public sector, build its economy for a sustainable future, and improve educational outcomes. Earlier this year, the provincial [...]
BY Michael Zwaagstra (AIMS Research Fellow) The latest test results from the Pan-Canadian Assessment Program (PCAP) reveal that Prince Edward Island students scored among the highest in the country. It is impressive, but even more so when we remember that a decade ago P.E.I. scored at the bottom of Canadian provinces. One should not read [...]
By MICHAEL ZWAAGSTRA (AIMS Research Fellow) The Chronicle Herald, 19 April 2018 Troy Media, 12 April 2018 Nova Scotia doesn’t have enough substitute teachers right now. In fact, the shortage is so severe that school boards are hiring people without teacher’s certificates to fill some substitute positions. In many cases, regular teachers are being forced [...]
By Michael Zwaagstra (AIMS Research Fellow) The longstanding no-zero policy in Newfoundland and Labrador schools is no more. The CEO of the English School District recently announced that teachers are once again free to deduct marks for late work and assign marks of zero when work doesn’t come in at all. This is a significant step [...]
By MICHAEL ZWAAGSTRA (AIMS Research Fellow) The Guardian, 15 June 2017 Journal Pioneer, 16 June 2017 Troy Media, 19 June 2017 There have been many twists and turns in the P.E.I. education system these past few weeks. Pending teacher cuts gave way to an increase of 27 full-time equivalent teaching positions across the Island. Unfortunately, this [...]
By MICHAEL ZWAAGSTRA (AIMS Fellow) • The Telegram, 15 February 2017 • Troy Media, 16 February 2017 • Charlottetown Guardian, 01 March 2017 Newfoundland and Labrador teachers are stressed. In a recent presentation to the Premier’s Task Force on Improving Education Outcomes, the Newfoundland and Labrador Teachers’ Association presented compelling data, both scientific and anecdotal, [...]
By MICHAEL ZWAAGSTRA (AIMS Fellow) • Troy Media, 18 November 2016 The recent presidential election campaign was one of the worst in U.S. history. As the two candidates slugged it out, neither showed much interest in intelligent engagement. In many ways, it was a campaign of ignorance. Fortunately, there is a remedy for ignorance – [...]